The Leica File: The Flag Vendor

Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

"Don't Let Me Holler
Buy A Flag For 2 Dollar"

And so many people did. The vendor of United States flags did a brisk trade on May 5 on Church Street in Lower Manhattan...and why shouldn't he? The crowds had come to the area near Ground Zero because President Obama was nearby laying a wreath of flowers to honor the people killed in the September 2001 terrorist attacks, and marking the death of Osama Ben Laden.

Where I was, there were no displays of jingoism or bravado...only a sense of contentment. There were lots of locals and tourists milling about, pointing their cameras at all the flags, as well as television crews filming the crowds.  When the cavalcade of black SUVs with President Obama quickly whizzed through, the cheers were deafening....and when it quietened down, the vendors continued their spiel...Don't Let Me Holler, Buy A Flag For 2 Dollar.

(M9. 1/360 f1.4 Nokton 40mm iso 160)