Met with Manuel, a man who’d been stabbed and attacked three times before going to police. In talking to him, came up with a process I might try with others who are reluctant. He wanted to tell his story, but was afraid for his boss or co-workers to see his face. What if I photographed in a way that obscured his face? What if I changed his name? What if only his children, who were born in the United States, were fully visible?
Manuel smiled and agreed to try. When the picture was done I was able to show it to him immediately, on the back of my camera. He liked it, he said. I read him what I prepared to write. He liked that, too. He said it was all true.
I told him it could appear in a newspaper, or an exhibition, or on the internet. He said he understood.
He said he felt better after having told his story.