I have had the good fortune of meeting 49 strangers now, and meeting my 49th stranger, Paul, has been one of the most enriching experiences yet!
Paul is the first stranger that actually invited me into his home. He not only invited me into his home, he showed me each and every room on all three levels! We talked for hours and hours, like we were old friends, and I would like to think we are friends now. I knew instantly that I was going to really like Paul, because as you can see in the second picture from the right, on the top row, Paul has a sign pointing to Australia and just how far away it is ("it’s a bloody long way"). Anyone who knows how far away Australia is and/or wants to visit there, is okay in my book. Paul lives in Liberty, Maine, and to some, Liberty is in the middle of nowhere. But if Liberty is in the middle of nowhere, who cares where somewhere is. The photo of Paul that is second from the right, on the bottom row, gives you a glimpse of the beautiful Camden Hills that can been seen from almost every room in his home. The Camden Hills are beautiful, but they still can’t overshadow the beauty that Paul has created inside his home.
Paul said that he always wanted to live in a Barn, so when he was 64, he bought this Barn. Paul is now 87 and he has been working on his Barn all the years in-between. Paul’s Barn was originally built in 1850, and he said it was important to him that the integrity of the building was respected. I think Paul has done just that, but he has also added his own unique blend of artistry and humor.
I had only one concern after asking Paul to be my 49th stranger, and that was that I would do a good job with this description of him, his life, and his home. I told Paul that I was not a professional photographyer and/or writer, and he said that is exactly why he agreed to be my stranger. He definetly is not a man of pretense, although his life is amazing, and he said that he liked me because I was "not pretentious". I told him that it is hard to be pretentious when you have "helmet hair", and you have been on a motorcycle for 45 minutes in 90 degree weather like I had been this day. We had a good laugh about that, as well as some other "inside" jokes that will remain just between us for now.
As I went from room to room, different facets of Paul’s personality unfolded. The artistry is immediately obvious, and many of the old tools you would find in a Barn in the 1850’s are now hanging on the walls like pieces of priceless art. Paul’s workshop (top right, corner photo) is on the first level of the Barn, right off the living room. It is very well disguised, and until I entered the room, I thought we were entering his art studio, which is on the second level and not pictured here. I asked Paul what he did if the wood he was working on was longer than the room. He just smiled and pointed to the window. I tried to envision him working on a piece of wood with an end sticking out of a window, which normally would be considered two stories up. Paul also had a draft room (top left, corner photo) where his many projects were all laid out. This is the room that also had photos of the Spitfire airplanes that he flew in World War II for the Canadian Royal Air Force. In fact, we sat at his kitchen table and looked at his flight log and scrap book (3rd photo down on the left column and second photo from the left on the bottom row) for hours. Paul showed me a photo of his aviation instructor, Helen Harrison, which at first I thought was a girlfriend or something like that. Who knows, maybe she was, but Paul just smiled and said she was a pioneering Canadian female civil aviation instructor and the first Canadian Air Transport Auxiliary ferry pilot during the Second World War. While we were looking at his flight log, he also showed me the page that said he had to land on a cabbage patch. I said that must have been a bumpy landing, but again he just laughed and said no, the Spitfire was a wonderful plane to fly and land.
Paul, like me, is an avid reader. There are hundreds and hundreds of books everywhere, but Paul also has a media room. One wall was lined with hundreds and hundreds of DVDs. It was a big room, with a big screen TV built in one wall, and big comfy chairs to fall asleep in if the movie turned out to be boring.
The center photo of Paul is my favorite of this set. I had asked Paul to please take off glasses, because I really wanted to photograph his eyes without the glare that glasses sometimes create. I think Paul has really nice eyes. Paul’s eyes do not seem to be their age, they are youthful, but you can tell they have seen and know many things. The years have not hardened Paul’s eyes either. Paul’s eyes are sensitive and caring, which is evident by all the accomodations he has set up for Headlight. Paul said that Headlight has a hard time on the stairs now, so he keeps everything that Headlight needs within easy access for him. Paul lives alone with exception of his four cats. The oldest, Headlight, is pictured in the bottom right, corner photo. Headlight is 20 years old, and one of the last things Paul said before I left was that he was afraid that one day he would walk into a room and see that Headlight had passed away.
Thank you Paul for being my 49th stranger, I know I will never meet another stranger like you. There is no way I could learn everything about you in the hours that we spent together, so I hope that we can meet again soon.
This picture is #49 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at www.100Strangers.com
You can see more strangers in my set here: www.flickr.com/photos/7565780@N08/sets/72157613766749871/
