nathan’s Reviews > Close Relationships with Strangers > Status Update

Some people are good at performing; some people are good at observing. I have always been good at observing. I study the paparazzi. The way they communicate with celebrities and the people around celebrities, the places they hide, how fast they run. Everything.

How different from Las Vegas, which is a valley, open and obvious. Here, yards are full of succulents and trees are heavy with lemons—so heavy the fruit falls from branches and rolls downhill. In Las Vegas, the plants are sunburnt.

Our apartment is at the base of a hill. On our first night there we walk the narrow, winding road to the top. It is impossible not to make comparisons. For me, they’re all positive: The hills in Los Angeles seem to undulate, containing mystery.

“Have you ever done that? Hidden and secretly gotten a photo of someone who didn’t want to have their picture taken.”
“We all have to do that sometimes.”
“What about if someone is really in crisis, or is doing something that feels very private, very personal? Have you ever photographed someone like that?”