Mohammed

Shot on film

That day, I went for a quick walk trying to catch a bit of sun before it disappeared again. I brought my Olympus Xa2 with me just in case. I ambled around the neighborhood without much aim and ended up back on Coney Island Avenue ready to get back home. A couple of blocks from home, I notice this man working on affixing an American flag to his bike. I immediately decide to approach him.

So I walk to him and ask if he’d be okay chatting a bit while I took some photos of him. He agrees so without wasting time I ask him about the flag. He tells me he’s had it for a long time and always keeps it with him. While we speak, he is working with duct tape and a small metal tube to secure the flag to the back of his bike. I can imagine that little flag snapping in the wind as he zips through traffic.

Mohammed tells me that he delivers for Uber Eats but that I am catching him in front of his cousin's shop, taking a moment to get his ride ready. We talk a bit about my photography, he is curious about why I am out in the middle of the day photographing folks I don't know. I talk to him about wanting to preserve these moments happening in my community, showing life as it is happening, no glamour, just, being. I tell him that mostly I do it because it's because I enjoy it.

Before I knew it, it was time for me to get back to work. I leave Mohammed before I could ask him why it was important for him to have this flag on his bike. I had my own preconceived ideas about the usefulness of flying this flag when you are brown and have an accent but I am waiting for the day I run into him again to get his thoughts on it.