My photography studio is in a part of town called the Old North End, in a neighborhood called Bonnie Park. Right behind my building is the Bon Shopping Center, and across the street from it is Bonnie Park, which has tennis courts, a baseball field, and a nice, big, open grassy area for soccer or any other outdoor pursuit. It's a cute neighborhood with a perfect mix of Victorian and Craftsman homes, with a strip of Mid-Century Modern commercial buildings thrown in (one of which houses my studio). A few of the businesses in the immediate vicinity have the word "Bon" in their name, like Bon Shoe Repair in the building next door to me. This is Wes, the proprietor, and lest you think being a cobbler is an obsolete career choice, let me assure you that he keeps VERY busy in that little shop of his! I had some shoes that needed some repair so I stopped in their the other day, and he let me make a portrait of him. Look at all those shoes! The place is crammed to the rafters with them, as well as purses, valises, and any other kind of leather goods that Wes can apply his craft to.
We live in such a throwaway, disposable world, and it seems that no one ever gives a thought to discarding something that can easily be repaired, but I have the opposite philosophy. I'm a big fan of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and that makes me a fan of Wes and his patrons, because his is an old world value that I can really wrap my brain and heart around.
Rich Tosches at the Independent did a neat write-up on Wes and his shoe repair shop in 2009 -- click HERE to read it.
2 comments:
There are some around here too specializing in that. And though there aren't that many, there's still enough demand that the good ones stay in business.
Excellent portrait.
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