Picture 13 in the Iran series.

In all my years doing street photography, I’ve only paid someone to take their image once. And that was in a small village in western Uganda. The gentleman above is number two. I’ve always been against paying someone to take their image, because it completely ruins the candid nature of street photography. But strangely enough, for this image I conceded because he was so aggressive! He basically grabbed my arm when he saw me with the camera, and wouldn’t let go until I gave him money to take his picture. I even kept lying and said I didn’t want his image, but he wouldn’t let go! So I obliged, gave him some money and took the above image. In retrospect, I’m glad I took his picture, but I’m still against the idea in principle.