Prelude To Chanel, A Sexy Brunette

I usually have my morning coffee with one or the other, often both of these guys. Rudy has a sign shop at the other end of the strip mall while Peter (Petr, actually), a Czech, is always getting ready to play tennis. I've yet to see him hot and sweaty afterwards, though. Well, it gives me an excuse to avoid reading the Miami Herald's daily coverage of crime, corruption, and conflict.

This afternoon I was sitting in the very same seat I was in when I shot this photo. In the back, where that other guy is sitting alone and reading, was a gorgeous young woman with warm brown skin and long black hair, obviously expensively dressed in a floral print dress and heels. I remembered seeing her there on numerous previous occasions so when our eyes met and she smiled I said "hi". Soon we were sitting and chatting at the same table. Her name is Chanel and she's in charge of membership for a club in downtown Miami.

She was intrigued by my Leicas, and by the fact that I still used film cameras. I guess by that point she could smell the chemicals on me too, as I'd just gotten out of a six hour session of developing a mess of black and white film. She mentioned how much she loved working in the darkroom when she took photography in school, and wanted to know if I lived nearby. We exchanged cards and I promised that we'd soon get together so she could check out my darkroom. She said that she was planning on shooting some black and white film again. I was thinking that I'd really like to photograph her.