I took this photograph of Mr. Mario Gonzi (ex-Italian, 82yrs) in Le Treport, a fishing town in southern Normandy.
I had just returned from a street market, where I managed to buy a lovely old chair at a knock-down price, and while celebrating my good luck with a beer afterwards, I got talking to this very animated genteman.
He moved to this town many years ago, when he was appointed as chief construction engineer when they built the funicular railway at Le Treport, and have stayed on there since then, leaving Italy behind. I think that he does not want to be too far away from this funiculare, which he describes as the biggest achievement of his life.
His son committed suicide years ago - he showed me a picture of him. Apart from him talking about this sad event, he spoke about his Alsation dog that he once owned, and also joked that he looked quite a bit like Marlin Brando when he was young.
He asked me to take pictures of him (I have since left some prints for him at this Brasserie). The light was very poor at the time - just about dark - hence the noise present here, which I did not reduce.
I remember this chance meeting with fondness, and am glad to have this image as a reminder of that early evening.
He was using his hands constantly to gesticulate while talking, and I wanted them to be part of this image.
Thank you to everyone who assisted me in critique when this was initially rejected.