To this day I wonder what he is looking at, thinking about.
The above photograph has long been one of my personal favorites. It may have no meaning to anyone else, but the main reason I make photographs is for myself actually. I remember this day clearly. I had just bought a Nikkor 50mm 1.8D lens, after thinking about it constantly for over a week. I wanted a fast lens, and a sharp one, and on my Nikon D80 at that time, it was both.
This pedestrian bridge was my favorite place in all of Tokyo. Connecting to Shinjuku station, the busiest public transportation hub in the world, the potential there is tremendous. Yet there is so much it can be and is overwhelming. The pedestrian bridge puts you just slight above it all, in a safe position where the potential, as well as the uncertainty of all things, can be observed.
I saw this ojisan taking a long stare down the street I actually lived on for 4 years. Looking at this photo now, after one of the most chaotic days of my life, it makes me feel calm, and reminds me that potential is still out there, along with uncertainty.