It was the second weekend in December, 2001. Key West, Florida. By choice, chance, and fluke that I found myself there. The original plan was for a “four day weekend” to San Antonio, Texas in 2000, to explore the city, the River Walk, etc. I’d never been, and believed it would be a “warm welcome” as winter settled in the Midwest. Airfare was purchased, etc. When the time came to travel, I found myself without enough “walking around money” to go. The trip was scrapped and I sat on those plane tickets for a year.
Now with enough cash to take a proper trip, I learned the difference for the airline tickets had grown too much in a year to go to Texas. Where to go for less money, but be warm? Someone suggested Key West. Sounded good to me. I’d fly down on Friday, come home on Monday.
A rental car awaited in Miami, a Mitsubishi convertible. I had no agenda or schedule. It was me, a duffel bag large enough to hold my tent, sleeping bag, and enough clothes for four days, and, of course, one camera body, a Domke bag full of lenses and a few rolls of film. Wanting to travel as light as possible, a conscious choice was made to not take a flash.
Meandering south with the top down. (The only time the top was up was for a 20 minute rain shower). It was a great run, down through the northern keys. It was all very foreign to me. I stopped when I wanted. For photo ops, food, etc. I remember mispronouncing Conch to a waitress. Driving on until I found a campground at/near Big Pine Key. That would leave me 30 miles from Key West, where I knew things would be more expensive.
After setting up camp, it was on to Key West to see what it was all about. I liked what I found. During the course of Friday evening and Sunday evening, most of the time was spent there, taking in most or all of the “touristy things” The marker at the southern most location in the continental U.S., a tour of Hemmingway’s home (cats were everywhere on the property), climbing the steps of the lighthouse…. Chickens roamed the streets, people were friendly, and it was pretty visual. Photos were easy to make.
Walking, exploring, and photographing. Making time to duck into a bar for a drink. One of them had live music, a man on guitar on a stage, playing what he knew, and taking requests. He was also inviting people to come up and sing. Alone, with no one to embarrass myself in front of, and with just enough “liquid courage” in me, I shouted out “Illegal Smile” by John Prine. The musician knew the song and called me to the stage. Nervous, I missed my cue to begin singing, forgot some lyrics, I was always coming in behind the chords and verses. I really sucked, but it was fun.
It also happened to be the weekend of the Lighted Boat Parade, or “Venetian Night”, as I heard it called. I did not know of this when the weekend to visit was chosen, it was bonus. Boats of all sorts, done up in Christmas lights, moving slowly through the water off the key. A Christmas parade on water. The only film I had was Fujichrome 100, shutter speeds were super slow in the dark. I panned with the boats the way I panned with race cars. It generally worked.
The “must see or do” thing on Key West is to take in the Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square. Arts and crafts, street performers, food carts… It’s a nightly event, year round (I think). People gather to watch the entertainment, have a drink, grab a bite, and watch the sun set into the waters of the Gulf. I saw jugglers, a high wire walker, and a little dog, jumping through hoops of fire. A huge cruise ship was docked nearby.
But it was a man playing a guitar that got my attention. Besides the guitar, he had a variety of other devices attached to himself that he could use for other sounds. Whistles, percussion, etc. He also had props. Troll dolls, an American flag, he was attracting a pretty good sized audience. I can remember at least one song he played. “One More Cup of Coffee” by Bob Dylan.
The issue was, once again, light. The sun was beautiful but low. I was using a 105mm lens with the aperture close to wide open. It wasn’t enough. I had to set the shutter speed to 1/30th at best, but I recall 1/15th and possibly 1/8th. Too slow to stop the action for a sharp photo. There would likely be motion blur. I found myself wishing I’d brought that flash!
Not willing to burn up a roll of film for one shot, I made approximately 10 frames, holding as steady as possible. Maybe a couple of shots would be acceptable. When the film came back from processing, all but one frame were too blurry or had flat lighting to be a keeper.
But that one frame… It became obvious. During one of my longer exposures, some other tourist with a camera, had made their picture at the EXACT moment my shutter was open. And they had used a flash! Their flash provided the perfect fill for my exposure. And because their light was away from my camera, the quality was perfect. The result was a mixture of blur, stop action, and color. A stranger’s camera and pure luck timing, created a decent frame.
And that’s the story of this picture.
Street musician at Mallory Square. Key West, Florida, 2001