I found this photo in a desk drawer. It shows a man standing in one of the phone booths that once stood at the northwest corner of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. These booths are gone but a couple of payphone still stand today at that intersection. I don’t recognize the individual in the phone booth. What I want to know is if I should recognize him. This looks like a professional and staged photograph. The photographer’s name, as printed on back, is Thomas J. Rodriguez, of Flushing, Queens.

The man in the booth has a wry, knowing smile. He makes direct eye contact with the photographer. He looks an awful lot like my high school band director, not that that matters. With a cigarette in his left hand he holds up his left leg and leans back against the phone booth’s opened door. Is the left leg held up like that an attempt to send a message? Is it a joke joke obvious to some but not to me?

At first glance I thought he must have been seated in the booth, but no seat exists.

It is interesting to see the white spots on the floor of the booths, where so many peoples’ restless feet burned away the metal surface.

Across the street stands the New York Public Library, outside of which stands a row of phone booths. One of those booths played a central role in the kidnapping of Calvin Klein’s daughter in 1978, an incident I wrote about a couple of years ago. All those outdoor phone booths are long gone, though 8 wood booths remain inside the library building.

The physical print I scanned is actually a mirror image which I flipped so it would look normal. Maybe the photographer intentionally gave this photo a mirror image effect, either as a joke or another possible hidden message. Here is the print as it looks for real:

If anyone sees this picture and “gets it” I’m happy to hear your interpretation or explanation.