While searching around for a photo of Attorney General Jerry Brown, I found this arresting portrait on Flickr. I hadn't see it before, and it was far better than running another shot of Brown's abstract portrait hanging in the state Capitol.
Photo by Troy Holden
This photograph comes with a story, from photographer Troy Holden, written Feb. 8:
"This past Saturday I was having coffee with my wife at Stable Cafe in the Mission District.
"We grabbed a couple of chairs in the upstairs area by ourselves. A few minutes later, a tall and slender fellow walked in and took a seat behind us.
"A phone rang. The ringtone? It was 'Bad to the Bone' by George Thoroughgood. 'Wait, sorry. Wait, you are breaking up. Let me go outside.'
"I recognized that voice. I did a Google image search for 'Jerry Brown' and showed it to my wife. It was California Attorney General Jerry Brown!
"When he came back up the stairs, I introduced myself and told him I followed him on Twitter. I asked him if I could take his portrait, and he agreed.
"I fired off three frames and showed him the LCD on my camera. 'You should get closer,' he said. So I did. I got right in his face and fired off another shot. I showed him the LCD again. 'Closer,' he said. So I stood on a chair and put my lens about 6 inches from his nose. Again, I released the shutter. And again, I showed him the above shot. He took a look, and smiled.
"I have never been so nervous while taking the portrait of a stranger. I am going to email it to him tomorrow, whether he likes it or not."
Brown shares theme music with a cybernetic organism, although Brown has wisely chosen to stay clothed when he enters public places:
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