Thursday, July 19, 2012

Mr. Tony

"Tony Divers, otherwise known as Mr. Tony, holds one of his pigeons out back of his Station North home in Baltimore, Md., on Friday, May 25, 2012. Divers is a lifelong resident of the neighborhood and raises dozens of pigeons."

Sometimes being observant of the neighborhood you're in is all it takes to sniff out a good story.

Recently, I was sent to Station North, a small neighborhood in Baltimore, to cover a street art project. The project transformed a typical area into a walking art museum that boasted building-side graphic wheat paste murals.

As I strolled around the block, a neighborhood I typically wouldn't walk on foot, I found myself more attracted to the locals than the art. While the art caught my eye, it was all about being in a foreign part of town close to home.

However, one building kept catching my eye. It was of a man with a great face. Little did I know, I'd soon meet that man.

While in a man-lift shooting a portrait of the organizers and main artists for my client, I saw some pigeons circling uniformly. I asked to whom the birds belonged to. "Mr. Tony - he is the face on the wall down the street," one of the artists told me.

I made it my mission to find Mr. Tony. With some help of some of his neighbors, we linked up and he introduced me to some of his birds. A great man, Mr. Tony was happy to share his time with me.

While I have many images of him, a small story worth, I kept coming back to his frame. I think it speaks volumes of him. Mr. Tony just one of the many amazing characters here in Baltimore that I never knew about.

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