But if you come here at either end of the day when the beach is practically deserted and the bridge lights are on, there is a completely different feel about it. And the few people that are still around are generally way more interesting. It was here I met Santiago, sitting propped up in an old canvas chair, two wooden stakes driven into the sand on either side of him like markers of his own tiny kingdom.
His grey beard was lit by the glow of a small camp fire and two dogs, each no larger than one of my cats were curled up by his feet. A pair of battered brown shoes sat near him along with a plastic carrier of sorts and a thin line of smoke curled from the fingers of his left hand as he looked out over the water. His dogs stirred lazily at the sound of my feet and as I came within a few metres, I got to see him slightly better- he was maybe in his 60s with a deeply lined face and a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.
Framed by the bridge and lit by the embers of his fire, he presented an incredible sight and so I set up to shoot with him in the foreground. Turning his head, he motioned for me to sit on the sand in the half light and drawing on his cigarette asked my name.
There are moments in life which stay with you for a long time. For an hour we talked, sat in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge by his camp fire. This was his time, he said. And so, this image is for Santiago, wherever he is now. For an unexpected friendship and for his parting words as I left. It was another late night pouring over images; deleting, cataloging, organizing, choosing submissions - 'the workflow'.
I hate the workflow. It was 3 am and I'd been fighting to stay awake for a while now. I was about to call it quits for the night, when I heard a soft melody drifting, somewhere in the background. From the flat next-door? And a faint yet pugnent smell of I turned. Where were you It was her voice, but with an eerie, far away tone I'd never heard before. Dangis-i gaya" I heard her say, her voice changing to a slightly higher pitch, and taking on a hypnotic, melodic twang".
