PNDP – Portraits on Revere Beach

Here’s PNDP assignment #4: more portraits of strangers, but this time thinking about the concept of theophany (deities appearing to mortals in human form) while we were shooting. I went out to Revere Beach for this assignment. People were not as friendly out there as they were in Medford Square, except for Paul.

Paul says that the world is a hell testing us to see where we’ll go in the next life. He says his girlfriend is 6’1”, beautiful, smart, and addicted to drugs. She’s just gotten out of a Section 35 by claiming that she’s going to stay at his place, but his landlord evicted him months ago and he’s been living in the streets and the Worcester VA shelter. All of his friends have been telling him to leave her, but he doesn’t want to. He cries about her on Revere Beach, waiting for his pension check to come in. He loves her and their son, and he chooses to stay, and to try to help. “The Lord’s word is written in your heart,” he says. “Only you know what’s right.”

Click the thumbnails for a better view. More PNDP photos: week 1, week 2, week 3.