Fuera de hora, off the clock. The portraits that surface once the commercial wraps and the real person finally walks into frame.

These came after the polished stuff, when we wandered out into the street and the rules sort of dropped. He posted up against a wall-sized mural, a giant painted eye staring out over a quilt of bright color blocks, hands in his pockets, looking off like none of it was a big deal. The graffiti is doing backflips behind him and he’s just standing there cool about it. That contrast is the whole set.

The longer we went the looser it got. At one point he’s climbing a wall of red rope netting against a hard blue sky, half playground, half stunt, grinning through the grid. No brief, no client notes, nobody timing us. Just a guy with energy to burn and me trying to keep up.

That’s why I keep these separate from the commercial work. The job gives you the composed version of a person. The hour after the job gives you the real one, and the real one is usually the better picture.