I went out shooting in the Mission with some Flickr friends. It was on Mission Street that I met Gary, stooped down, leaning against a building, reading a book and asking for change. I asked him if I could take his picture and hear his story for $2 and he replied, &quot;Hell yes!&quot; I think he&#39;s been photographed many times before because he asked if I was part of that &quot;photo project.&quot;<br><br>Gary is 55 yrs old and hails from Virginia. He went to Berkeley to study history &amp; philosophy and flunked out. He worked for many years and even owned his own business (I can&#39;t remember what kind). I asked how he ended up on the streets - &quot;divorce and drugs.&quot; Gary said he&#39;s not clean, that&#39;s why he&#39;s asking for spare change. He lives in a tent behind some apartments and the residents there treat him like a neighbor. Gary said he&#39;s not one of those bums who sleep in their own pool of piss. I asked him what he thinks the future holds - he has no plans to get off the street because he gets to talk to a lot of people and is able to scrape by.<br><br>There were more questions I wanted to ask, but the Flickr peeps were a block ahead and I wanted to catch up with them for dinner. I gave Gary $2 and wished him luck.<br><br>Taken 6/22/11 - Week 25<br>Posted 6/24/11