Gladiolus Drive in Ft. Myers. Paul Goldfinger photograph © March, 2016.
I stopped by James’ stand on the way back from the Farmers’ Market at Lakes Park in Fort Myers. We didn’t buy any tomatoes at the Market. The last batch wasn’t very good.
I wanted to photograph James’ store but also wanted to try his tomatoes. Southwest Florida experienced cold weather in January and February and also torrential rains which affected the tomato farms. Those weather conditions have caused the fruits to have thick skins and spiny areas inside—-even at the specialized tomato farm. These Fla. tomatoes can’t compare to Jersey tomatoes at their best. But maybe James can do better.
He used to be a farmer, but now he relaxes behind the stand, in the shade, while waiting for someone like me to show up. He was gracious about my request to take a few photos. Making a photograph is often referred to as” taking” a photograph, so I would, in a way, be taking something that James owns. Therefore permission is necessary, although circumstances often do not lend to asking permission (such as quick fire candid photography which I do at the Farmers Market.)
I selected two tomatoes that seemed ready to eat. James agreed that they were ready, but he was not satisfied with my choices. He proceeded to put those two back and to find me two that he liked better. They were $1.49 per pound. He rounded it off to $2.00.
We tried James’ tomatoes at home, and they were the best so far. We’ll go back.
HARPER SIMON “Wishes and Stars” from the soundtrack of the HBO series Girls.
“‘I’m as simple as a bee
As a melody in C
But it don’t matter
There are more wishes than stars.”