Brad Hamilton Photography

Projects: For You, Fred

Augusta, Maine

I was photographing the bus station in Augusta when I first met Fred. The next weekend, I looked for him at the soup kitchen near his house. He greeted me as though he'd been expecting me, and so began our friendship. At first, his hopefulness, his generosity seemed at odds with his impoverished surroundings. But this disparity was really caused by my own preconceptions about how someone in his situation was supposed to behave. To realize "what a man can be," as Fred once said, those preconceptions had to go.

Brad Hamilton

   
A girlfriend of mine, she showed me something once. She said, “Here. Read this, Fred.” And it said, “Be not as the horse or the mule which have no understanding.” Don’t be that kind of person, you know? Her name was Ruth and it was nice that she told me that. I had never heard it before, but I realised what a man could be, what it could be like for him.Fred Falvo
   
I talked to my brother on the telephone one time and I told him to be careful because I knew he was like me, you know? We came from a family with things in our makeup that were different from most people. My uncles and aunts died at birth and only my dad made it. I knew we had peculiarities in our physical makeup, and that we had to be careful.Fred Falvo
     
  
If we are indifferent to what we’re doing, or not doing a good job, there’s no honor in that. It’s alright, but it’s much better to bring honor, and that requires a lot of patience and hard work in what we set our hand to do, what we undertake. There’s a blessing in life if we can find it. We can see it, but it’s still work. There’s always a ladder to climb as you go through life.Fred Falvo
   
I always worked when I was young. And studied too. I went to a lot of schools and I had a lot of training. It’s good to develop and exercise the things that are within you, you know? I always got a lot of good things happening. There's more to life than money.Fred Falvo
   
One day in the soup kitchen they had some young girls that were in wheelchairs, you know, and I felt the precedent to play some music and sing songs. One girl sort of smiled because she liked it, and gave me a hug afterwards. I learned those songs when I was a boy. Never forgot them.Fred Falvo
     
  
Welcome to the world’s smallest apartment [laughs]. I don’t mind it because I get along here good, you know? I got heat, clean sheets, and warm blankets. Anything you need, you see that you could use, take it. I don’t have a lot of things, but...Fred Falvo
   
People watch stories, you know? They like things that are real. Some of that history channel is very interesting. Even I have seen some of them two or three times and I still like it. It’s the same with some of the movies. I still enjoy them, and it’s good for a person not to be without any comfort. That is the one thing I found that is true...everyone needs some comfort. Fred Falvo
   
I bought some fresh cider and I bolstered it up with some apple concentrate to enrich it. The concentrate sweetens it, you know, because the fruit crop isn’t what it used to be. I’ve learned how to improvise a bit.Fred Falvo
     
  
You ever hear of Solomon’s words? He says, “In all your getting, get understanding.” Get knowledge, get wisdom. It’s the idea that you should be trying to be progressive to your nature. We have been given a mind, a body, and we should try to develop it. He is talking about how you better yourself, your personality, and it’s through knowledge. Get, he says. Get something. Fred Falvo
   
I was always outside, in the woods, in the fields. I used to wade in the ponds with bare feet and catch turtles off the logs. I had a lot of fun doing that. There was one area that had about six or seven ponds and I was just happy going down there by myself, looking for the animals and seeing what I could come up with. Fred Falvo
   
I’m cold now, I’m awful cold. You would be surprised what I go through during the day just to keep myself going. But it’s a good life, you know? I’m glad for it. Fred Falvo