From the day
Perspective: The Street Photographer · Sound
The shutter clicks over the hiss of a nearby bus, capturing a woman in an electric-blue sequin blazer with shoulder pads so sharp they could cut glass. From a crackling transistor radio on a newsstand, Kenny Rogers’ "Lady" drifts through the smoggy December air, a velvet contrast to the jagged neon signs and the frantic humming of a fax machine from a nearby storefront. The headlines scream about mob ties in Atlantic City, but the kids on the corner are too busy twisting their Rubik’s Cubes into a blur of plastic clicks. If I have to hear that sappy ballad one more time today, gag me with a spoon, but with Reagan headed for the White House and the economy on a razor's edge, maybe we all just need a little sentimentality to drown out the grit.