I’ve known Tommy for a long time and we got off to a rocky start. Looking back on it I shouldn’t be surprised. Now that I think about it it could come off as awkward if a strange man approached you on the street and asked to take your portrait. At the time I’d seen him around but I don’t know if he had any idea who I was. Over the years I’ve developed a good feel for the environment when approaching people who don’t know who I am. The fact that we are all different is a wonderful thing and this means a spontaneous and open conversation might not be welcome to some.

For those of you who may not know, since 2008 I’ve been working on a photography project to capture photos of some of the city’s familiar characters. This all grew out of photos a friend was telling me about, they were portraits of people whose names I remember as a boy. I have some great childhood memories of Bucky King, Nina Watts, Ruby Red Lips, Angus the Shoe-Shine Man, and a few others. I met Angus’s daughter when I was about 15 years old, a lovely young woman, hope she is well.

I spent my childhood as a “Corner Boy” growing up on the streets of St John’s and these were the characters I remember. Each one is unique and some you could call local celebrities because it seemed everyone knew who they were. I did get Tommy’s portrait that first time and I’ve photographed him many times since.

I’ve noticed over the last several years he’s been getting a lot more attention. A young woman would walk up to him and show him some “business cards” they had done up for him or just to say hello. All in good faith. I also know of other young women in gift shops and restaurants downtown who always look out for him. But the thing that struck me most was one time I was taking Tommy’s portrait and a couple of young voices appeared in the wind, “I want to get a picture with you Tommy!” I thought it was the loveliest thing. This was in the summer of ’22 and it still warms me thinking about it. I captured this on one of my “Street Stories” videos, “Tommy’s Angels – A Newfoundland Story” which you can see here.

This brings me to a message I got last month from Vickie Ivany another one of Tommy’s Angels. She was looking for permission to use some of my photos in a collage picture frame as a present for Tommy on his birthday March 20th. I was happy to oblige. So sweet of you Vickie.

Thanks for stopping by and if you’d like to get in touch with me my email is: Brian@BrianCareyPhotography.com