I had wanted to photograph Michael for as long as I’ve had a camera. As a kid, I’d see him rolling by on his electric-powered wheel, smiling at strangers, walking dogs, and blasting tunes on his built-in speaker for the neighborhood to hear. After coming back from college for winter break, I had the fortune of running into him and popping the question: can I take your portrait sometime? I expected some awesome shots. I got them. What I didn’t expect was over the next month or so a beautiful and very unlikely friendship to form.
Michael is one of those people who has seemingly lived every life: he was in the navy as a 17-year-old, a bouncer, a newspaper photographer, worked in a sugar factory, and even sold gold. However, despite all these trades, he says his last 15+ years as a dog walker have been his favorite gig. And it’s not hard to see why, Michael has an innate skill with animals like I’ve never seen before. He walks dozens of dogs in the downtown Brooklyn area, each of whom patiently looms at the door for him to come in at his scheduled times. He has specific treats for some, naps with others, and always knows where they like to be scratched. Even my dog, Dexter, who normally won’t stop barking until you’ve met him at least 10 times warmed up to Michael in a matter of seconds.
And it’s not just dogs that Michael loves, or for that matter dogs that love Michael. One day he took me to the park together so I could meet one of his friends: Amadeus the squirrel. When we got there he started shouting out a name as he unpacked some food from his bag and sure enough a squirrel came scurrying towards him—he apparently feeds him 5 times a week. It’s moments like these that elucidated the kindheartedness of Michael to me: his greatest joy comes from taking care of other creatures. This included even me, in the form of pieces of advice, adventure, or food. He never had kids, but opened up to me about sometimes wishing he’d been a dad. I told him I thought he would’ve been a great one.
Fun is something Michael never undervalued. Whether it was traveling the world during his time in the Navy, doing donuts up the GW bridge entrance ramp for a year straight (this year he said he had to buy a lot of tires), drinking on the beaches of California as a kid, smoking his fair share of weed and cigarettes, playing darts at the local bar, or dancing on his wheel this is not a trait that has ever left him. Even though he just turned 60 a few weeks ago, he has a youthful exuberance that at times even seemed to outmatch mine.
There is certainly a spontaneity to Michael that can lead to unpredictable behavior at times. One time we were walking past BAM and he got into a screaming match with the security guard. Other times he’ll go on tangents about his mom and women. It’s clear through listening to him and watching his dependence on substances that life hasn’t necessarily always been the easiest for him. He told me about his stepdad who never much loved him, and it seems that he never truly had a great sense of family. Recently, he and his brother have reconnected in what seems to me a beautiful way (his brother even took the day off for Michael’s birthday—something that made him so happy he had to text me). Hopefully, things are trending in the right direction.
Michael’s energy lifts up everyone in the community: the owners of the dogs, the doormen in the lobbies of buildings, delivery truck drivers he sees often, and people who just can’t help but dance along to his music with him. After getting to know him, I get why.
I think the best way to sum up Michael’s energy and the impact he had on me is with some words of wisdom he bestowed on me the other week. “Well U think I’m cool. Personally, I know I’m cool. And I hope the same for you as you age.”
