Street Portrait – Scott at Tim Hortons

I made this portrait of Scott on November 29th, 2015 outside the Tim Hortons on Victoria Street just north of Dundas. Scott’s job was holding open the door as people went in and out from the Tim Hortons. He shared a shift with some of his friends, and they took the work seriously. He wasn’t about to give his shift to somebody who didn’t bother to show up. They made their wages from the change patrons handed them as they left with their coffees.

Scott liked the photo and asked if I would print a copy for him. I did, but it took a while for me to track him down because he and his friends liked to change things up, moving from one coffee shop to the next. I caught up with him at the same franchise on April 4th, 2016. He looked different and I asked if he’d lost weight.

Yeah, he said, seventy pounds.

That’s good, isn’t it?

Not really. It’s happened so fast and it’s not like I went on a special diet or anything. I think maybe something’s wrong.

I’d been carrying the print in my camera bag ever since I’d seen him in November. I pulled it out and gave it to him.

That was five and a half years ago and I haven’t seen him since.