After more than 20 years, I reconnected this week with one of my oldest friends, Stevie Jay. He's was touring with his one man show, Life. Love. Sex. Death... And Other Works in Progress, and playing in Providence. It was unexpected to hear from him and even more unexpected to be able to spend some time together.
How to describe my relationship with Steve? Well, I'd say if you are very lucky, every once in awhile, someone will turn up in your life and have an effect on it that almost is greater than its parts.
I met Steve when I was about 23 years old and freshly moved to New York City. I hardly understood how anything worked, from the subways, to winters, to life. I was a suburban boy from Miami (thus, no winter knowledge or warm clothing). We met through our mutual friend Jane, and became fast friends. I cannot underestimate just how many life lessons I learned from him during the years we both lived in the city, things I still reflect on today.
To see him again, first on YouTube, and then in person, after all this time, was, well, it wasn't just overwhelming and it wasn't just intense, but it was both of those together. I felt compelled to photograph him, and he photographed me (see my new blogger photo) and I think these photographs capture some of Steve's warmth and honesty. From Steve, I learned that it's best to move in the direction of the greater truth, and that holds even for these photographs.
