FIELD NOTE // FN-020 | LOCATION: RAIN, JUDGEMENT, and the 12th St. Mystery OAKLAND, CA | DATE: 2026-01-09
A typical diffuse, overcast, overly moist day in the Bay. That sort of weather doesn't stop anyone here... leg or no leg.
After a holiday spent inside, the cabin fever was real. I needed to get to the coffee shop to do some admin work on the archive, just to escape the cave of my house. But looking outside, I knew: this is the time to get the shots. We don't get much rain outside of the rainy season, and the texture of the city changes completely when it falls.
Then came the classic commuter's dilemma. It’s nice to think you’ll be a "good soldier" and always carry your full kit, but when you’re traveling on public transit, you’re always calculating the lightest combo, something that satisfies your needs but gets you through the edge cases. And let’s be honest, parking in the Bay is a gamble; leaving gear in a car is asking for it to disappear. So, I keep it on me.
In that spirit, I made a choice: ditch the camera bag, ditch the prime lens. Since it was raining, I knew I’d mostly be shooting from under cover anyway. I threw the assembled camera into the trunk of my backpack. Easy access, weight saved.
As I surfaced the 12th Street station, the "Bay Area Rainy Day" lifestyle was in full effect. The rain fashion, the attitude, the struggle against the elements. That’s when I saw them.
There was a man in the classic Bay Area puffer jacket, hat back, white EarPods in, grasping a bag of items presumably destined for home. To his right, a woman in a hoodie, seated in a wheelchair.
I didn't want to ruin the candid nature of the moment, so I employed the old trick of firing off shots in the opposite direction and diagonal to her. I was standing fairly far across the street, dead center to both of our central characters. When I finally swerved the lens in her direction, she started to move more than before. I hesitated, unsure if she had clocked me across the street and was performing for the camera.
It wasn't until I got home and inspected the images on the big screen that the scene truly revealed itself.
It appeared she wasn't just sitting there; she was praying. Furthermore, from my distance on the street, I hadn't noticed that she was missing a leg. Initially, I had assumed she was just hanging out in the wheelchair like so many I’ve seen before. Seeing the image in detail humbled me. It was a sharp reminder not to be so casual in making judgements about who I see through the viewfinder.
In the struggle with her was a pigeon, eagerly running towards fresh crumbs on the concrete to sustain it for the next few moments.
The mysteries of the shot remain. Did the man’s bag make it home safe? Were her prayers answered? Forever a mystery in The Town.
