Chris Collins
Maverick is sitting on a bench when he spots Chris Collins. He hits him up for a spare nickel.
Collins has a counteroffer: How about $1 if he can take his picture? Maverick — whose full name is Charles Dennis Masini — is happy to oblige. “Reporting for duty, sir,” Maverick says, saluting as Collins begins to focus his camera.
On any given night — actually, on almost every single night — you can find Collins wandering downtown Madison, looking for different perspectives, captivating images and new friends, like the 70-year-old Maverick.
Maverick is sprawled on a bench on the Capitol Square, at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. While Collins is quick with his camera, he isn’t just snapping pictures. He’s also chatting and listening to Maverick’s stories about his travels, his military service in Vietnam, his battle with cancer, and his long gray hair, which has miraculously survived 36 sessions of radiation (his equally long beard, Maverick laments, was not so fortunate). When Maverick claims to be the brother of the late activist Ben Masel, Collins’ ears perk up with recognition.
“I came back for the fourth anniversary [of his] burial yesterday,” says Maverick, explaining why he’s in Madison. He spreads out some framed photos of Masel and says proudly, “That’s my brother.”
“You can go to the jail. I was there for 12 days. You can [go to the jail], in the cell block, 623D, and you’ll find etched in concrete with Kool-Aid — the stuff they feed you — ‘Maverick Masini loves Ben Masel.’”
After about 15 minutes, Collins heads to the Walgreens down the street to print some photos he just snapped. He returns with some for Maverick, who by then is tucked into his sleeping bag, nearly asleep. But he’s thankful for the gift. “I love you,” says Maverick. Collins doesn’t hesitate: “I love you too.”
“People walk by the homeless downtown every day and don’t even take the time to acknowledge them,” Collins says later. “When I take a picture of someone, whether they’re homeless or not, I want to let them know I care about them as an individual.”
Collins began his exploration of Madison in earnest on Jan. 1, 2009, with his “365 project” — it’s a challenge that photographers take, endeavoring to get out and shoot at least one photo every single day for a year. Collins loved the routine. He’s kept his run going, this week topping 2,350 consecutive days. He shoots whenever traveling, but mainly works in Madison, especially around State Street.
He hasn’t found a reason to stop: “Madison is ever changing, and I like to see that and share it with people.”
Collins has another photography project going — “100 Strangers.” The idea is to go out and find 100 people you don’t know, take their picture and write a little something about who they are. Maverick was either stranger number 299 or 300.
This project, Collins says, has helped him overcome his shyness. “I used to be a shy, quiet guy in a distance with a telephoto lens.”
Now, the photos have become almost secondary to the conversation.
“There have been days I’ll sit down and talk to someone for an hour before I say, ‘Oh, you mind if I take a picture of you?’”
Chris Collins
Passion:
photography
Favorite camera:
Canon 5D Mark II
Estimated number of photos taken since starting the 365 project on Jan. 1, 2009:
200,000
Websites:
