retired

retired

Excuse me sir, can I take a picture of you? “Of course, please do so.”

Can I post it on my blog ? “I don’t care sure. My name is Robert, I am retired, you can post whatever you want, I am ok.”

Do your tattoos have any inspiration from the Pacific islands? “Yes, a friend of mine brought from Polynesia some wooden statues and they inspired me in the choice of ma tattoos. I am tattooed all over my body, I have full body tattoos.”

Why? “I like people looking at me all the time in the streets of SF, I feel different”.

 

 

just human beings

just human beings

Why did you buy these flowers? “I love flowers for my house, I like to support Guy by buying flowers whenever I come by.”

Why do you live here ? “Castro is the best area of the city to live in, close to everything, far from downtown. I have rented under rate control for the last 20 years (lower than normal rates), this is the ideal place to live as the environment is more pleasant; here we are just human beings, whether if a male or a female.”

 

 

 

duboce triangle

duboce triangle

“When I was young, I got raped and molested. I thought I was gay till I met that man, who told me that “women would like you, women would probably love your style”…I had a date with a woman, I realized I was not as gay as I thought. The reason why I live in Castro in the Duboce Triangle, is because here you can be yourself, in other places people cannot stop looking at you; here you see people completely nude, and this is not a big deal, this is just freedom of choice; nevertheless, I believe everything has its place, and if clothing is not an option, there are places for nudists as well.”

Guy has been selling flowers at the corner of Noe and 15th (Guy’s Flowers) for the last 30 years. He got that idea after visiting the flower market in Paris, France, where he decided to study french. He was then a young actor in Berlin, he did TV commercial in Greece and was a model in London and Amsterdam. Born in Baltimore, he met a guy from San Francisco in Amsterdam, and decided to move here. Guy is a very friendly and sensitive person, It was a real pleasure to sit on that bench to discuss with him for a long moment. Guy was interviewed in the 2013 Emmy Nomination documentary “We were Here” showing on Netflix.

 

tenderness

tenderness

“I was born and raised in Venice, Italy, and at 30 years old I moved to Paris France to teach psychology. While I go to Venice every month to visit my family, I have the  feeling that I would love to live her in San Francisco, although I have been here for only three days! I am not 20 anymore, and it is important to know what you are looking for in life. Here we meet friendly people in the streets, people talk to you spontaneously, I like the climat, I appreciate the sweetness all over.”

Donatella is famous in France and Europe for her dedication to children’s psychological support, through numerous initiatives and publications. I admire people who dedicate their lives to others, as well as her optimism “I believe there is always something to do to help children, there is always hope somewhere; everything is about meeting the right people at the right time’. From Donatella’s voice emanates a tenderness that is probably the clue to the children’s salvation.

This picture was taken at The Arion Press, The Presidio, San Francisco.

watercolor

watercolor

“While my husband is starting bass guitar lessons, I just started taking watercolor and drawing lessons; as two of our three kids left home last September for college in Montreal Canada, we probably have more time for us and our (new) passions but I also needed to create something, I paint 8 hours per week and I love it…too bad we have to go back to France next summer after three years in the USA, but my husband’s project is ending. Three years of sightseeing all over California, meeting so many people with different backgrounds, new strong friendships built up.”

Nathalie is a very nice person, very optimistic and happy to live, and this is so communicative. Her dream is to come back to San Francisco as soon as possible, her bedroom is probably already prepared in many houses of the French community in the Bay Area.

humanitarian

humanitarian

“I am happy because we just got married with Kino, my young and beautiful wife. But in two weeks I will go to Afghanistan for a humanitarian mission, and my wife will not be allowed to follow me, too dangerous. I will be a project manager for an NGO, and my role will be to protect detainees and help them maintain contact with their families, making sure they are treated in jail with  respect of the “humanitarian laws.”

Seo-Jun is dedicated to others in a period of his life where he could have decided to think about him and his wife only. I was impressed by his dedication to respect of human rights such difficult countries.