Gus Kayafas 1975

Mike Mandel made this photograph, Gus Kayafas, sometime in the 70s maybe. Look at this guy – hair down to there, plaid shirt, baseball cap, and a bat held high! I'm imagining Mike now, seeing Gus and thinking, "I gotta capture this." There's a raw, unfiltered quality here, like a snapshot of real life. I bet they were just hanging out, and Mike was like, "Hold that pose!" What was Gus thinking as he looked down the lens? I think there's a playfulness in this portrait, a sense of humor that comes through in the way Gus is holding the bat, like he’s about to swing for the fences, or maybe just fend off a squirrel. It’s cool that it reminds me a little of those baseball cards, but more edgy and fun. It’s like a playful jab at those glossy images, saying, "Hey, life's not always perfect, but it's real."