On one of you websites the zacharybalber.com, you have the Can I get a Dollar shoot. Where did you get the idea for it?
Oh man, the Can I get a Dollar shoot. I guess as a white guy walking around Miami, they assume because of the color of my skin that I must have a lot of spare money, so every time I would go into a convenience store, people would ask me for money and I got really sick of it, I felt like I was a girl being whistled out on the street, I started to get annoyed but I also recognized that these people were people and I didn't like to pretend that that person was not trying to talk to me so around the same time I had lost my father, I didn't really want to talk to anybody, not even my friends, anybody. I got into my own bubble.
So I would go into the stores to buy something and anytime I would go, these guys would ask me for money, so I had to renegotiate that situation, and I used photography to change the life around me.
Photography is a tool that allows me to deal with life differently from other people because people don’t normally use that tool. I decided that if you are going to ask me for a dollar, I’m going to take a portrait of you, because I don’t want to forget that moment.
So I would go all over Miami, and if people asked me for money, I would have my camera and I did these portraits. They would ask me, what are you going to do with my picture?, so I would ask them, what are you going to do with the money? And they’d say, “I don’t know, maybe get a beer or something” and I'd say, “maybe do an art show with these and I’d love for you to come”, so I’d give them my card and I know it may be hard to keep in touch, but give me a call once in a while and I’d love to let you know the progress…