Picture of the Week #269 "Love On His Hand" New York 1972 Signed & Stamped

Look closely at his hand and see the word "LOVE" tatooed across four fingers. If I was a homeless alcoholic living in a doorway the last thing I would have written on my fingers would be "LOVE". This image is from a series that I did when I was producing & directing Music Videos. This was for the rock group Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show and their song was called "Carry Me". Only I wasn't sure how to portray alcoholism in a video. So I went down to the Bowery where most homeless were in those days. I hid a camera in my coat and began to surreptitiously take pictures. I was caught and asked for 25 cents. I gladly gave it. By the end of the day I had spent $30 but got one of the most powerful series of pictures ever. Thirty years later an editor at Vanity Fair who saw these in an exhibit stated: "Stephen Verona's work recalls the greatness of Steichen & Weegee with all of the passion of Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans. A Must see!" I dropped everything after that review and have focused primarily on my photography.