"Two Yemenite Brothers", Rockaways, NYC, April 2011.
I love meeting new people out in the Rockaways. Sometimes, it feels like a second home or a vacation getaway if I'm in the right mood. On a day's visit, I typically run into at least four or five people who have let me photograph them over the years. Last Sunday afternoon, I was introduced to the two brothers in the above photograph. They live across the street from Lulu, the woman who runs the boarding house behind the chain link fence. On a warm day, she spends enough time sitting outside in a sun chair with her husband and the friendly visitor drinking and idling on the cement steps to her front door. I suspect she knows most of what is going on or going down in the neighborhood.
"Come here, "she motions at two boys as they were walking up the street towards the boardwalk.
"They are brothers", she informs me. "Their country is at war. Yemen, right? Isn't that right?" she questions them.
They nod.
"Take their photograph."
I do.
