The Shoeshine
Delhi, India 2009
A young man crouches over his work at the flower market in Delhi. There is something touching about the boy’s posture and his obvious concentration on doing his job well. If you look carefully, you will see the toenails of his bare feet.
Most portraits are about a person’s eyes. The near eye must be in focus. That’s a maxim. But here we don’t see the boy’s eyes. We don’t even see his face. A portrait is what you want it to be. I think this portrait, including his toenails, tells us a story about this boy and his life.