nabil laoudji

First full day of interviewing / story-gathering is complete. I feel encouraged, anxious, ecstatic, and exhausted. Encouraged because I feel that I was able to access a super diverse cross-section of a new-to-me city. This bodes well for my remaining stops. Anxious because I feel that given my lack of training I may be (okay, am) making super basic and easily correctable mistakes (e.g. framing faces incorrectly in shots). Ecstatic because hey even if I’m making mistakes I’m finally actually doing it. Exhausted because, well it’s been a long day.

My interviews today included:
– Nookie, a grandfather, carpenter, and hilarious rapper
– Chris, a new manager of one of the most important stores in East Buffalo — a covered market that is at the heart of urban entrepreneurship (and will soon host a rooftop garden)
– Chris II, a Cornell-educated white collar consultant who went against the grain and left Washington DC for Buffalo
– Gary, a man who supplies Hollywood with some of the best custom-made hats money can buy
– Albert (below), a 76 year old father of 14 boys who told me a great story about stealing a whistle as a child (and his mother’s retribution)

I’m not sure when I’ll have the time to edit and upload the video (likely once I arrive in LA), however to put a face to a name, I’ve upload some snapshots into the Photo album (see toolbar above).

Tomorrow: Detroit (via Canada).

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