This is not an uncommon scene in New York—it’s a city of extremes. Just under 200 yards away from where this man was sitting are central park apartments that start at over 5 million dollars…overlooking the park. It’s hard to say how this man arrived at this bench, and it’s probably bad of me to assume that he is homeless; nevertheless, I am beginning to realize that I will never be able to bring myself to stomach this. On the contrary, I hope that I will work up the courage to engage them in conversation, because whenever I see this my curiosity runs high wondering what kind of a life brings a person to such lows. Does he have a family somewhere that cares about him? Does he have even a small glimpse of hope—or love of life? Did he make bad choices in life, or was it just bad luck—destiny?

It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation. -- Herman Melville

Nikon D80 / Nikon 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 / iso200 f5.6 1/125sec 135mm