FAST EDDIE March 7th 2021. This is my favorite portrait that I have ever taken to date. As I pulled up to Noho to skate one day, I caught eyes with this unkempt man drifting around the perimeter and had that undeniable feeling that he was going to come up and try to talk with me. Which he did. I had just started shooting photos for @feedthestreets_la where I was getting familiar with people of a similar vibe so he didn’t really sketch me out or annoy me at all. If this had taken place a few months earlier I might have told him to get lost. Thankfully my perception had changed. Anyways, I don’t remember how our conversation started but once it began it flowed pretty effortlessly. In the midst of our back and forth I noticed the flowers behind him really gelled with his outfit and asked if he would be comfortable with me taking some photos. He agreed. Turns out Eddie was part of the original skate scene in Venice back in the Dogtown days and ran around with all of the legends like Alva and Jay Adams. He told me freely how he had ruined his life with heroin, to the point that his wife and kids had left him and he had destroyed his career; unfortunately I can’t remember exactly what he did but it was something white collar like lawyer or engineer. Looking at the images I couldn’t help but think how he looked like a contemporary to George Clooney or some older actor like that, on the cover of GQ. We spoke for about 15 minutes and then he was on his way. Never to be seen again. Not once during the entire conversation did Eddie ask me for anything or express any kind of self-pity for himself or his situation. He just wanted to shoot the shit for a bit, which I’m grateful for. These images are among my favorites. Cheers Eddie. @sonyalpha #sonyalpha #fasteddie #portrait #streetphotography