Woman enjoying life

Cigar smoking, cookie eating, happy as a lark woman, outside 84 Diner in Fishkill, NY. I wanted to go somewhere big and busy. Here it was, the diner I had passed a hundred times on my way to Newburgh, where the parking lot is always full and you get exactly what you expect in huge quantities, served by waitresses who weave through the tables and past each other at the double. A granny, with a tender hold on her grandchild's hand is given, with a reassuring smile, the right of way in this whirlwind traffic of nimble plate carriers, as the waitress stops dead to let her safely through.

Hungry girl with chipped fingernails

It was hot, dusty and noisy. Three friends were sheltering in the shade of the overhead tracks of the F and G train on 9th Street near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. They were waiting for the shuttle bus to take them to Ikea. At first the girl wanted to get rid of the cake and drink, but I said no, they were essential to the picture and told her how terrific she looked holding them.

Salesperson with purple nails

Nobody likes to be greeted by sales people on store floors, when, as I had done, you come to buy one particular thing and want to get home and play with it. In this case, it was a dehumidifier for my new office and storage space for my prints. She greeted me as I came in, but when she greeted me on my way out again, I said, "Let me take your picture, you are the best dressed sales person I have ever seen." It was not far from the truth and it apparently pleased her as she stood quite still and said, "Only if I can have a copy."