HE WANTS TO SIT BESIDE YOU IN YOUR BIG CHAIR… WITH DANIEL N

I met Daniel outside his home in suburban San José, Costa Rica, and then we walked to a nearby sports park to do our shoot. On the way back he invited me inside to do a few more pics.

His place was charmingly ramshackle. The small house was extended at the back, then extended again, and then you had a garden shed at behind the garden that was big enough to be a room itself – indeed there was a chair and table inside for such a purpose.

Before we got shooting, he offered me tea and fresh mango. I suppose it wasn’t such an exotic offering, but it’s just one of those little things that reminds you that you’re not in England. And it’s these little cultural details that I love about foreign travel.

After tea and mango, my attention was drawn to a big chair. It looked like a grandpa recliner. Instantly I was hearing the creepy beats of the old Tears for Fears b-side “The Big Chair”, which contained sampled dialogue from the Sally Field multiple personality film Sybil. And so I asked Daniel to sit there and I shot while the tune played in my head.

“She wants to sit beside you in your big chair”, whimpers Sally as one of Sybil’s personalities. It was calling out to her as the safest place. And it called to me too, but I kept my distance. It wasn’t calling to me as I am today, but to some other Liam.

Elska Boy: Daniel N

Photographer: Liam Campbell

Location: San José, Costa Rica

Elska Magazine: N/A

#SanJoséCostaRica