Violet helps a friend move vintage Japanese furniture pieces from their storage unit into their Subaru Outback. Chelsea, Manhattan, Manhattan Mini Storage, New York City, NY, February 28, 2025. Photo by Maynor Castillo.

I was assigned a Day in the Life photojournalism project in late February — follow someone around with a camera for three weeks. One thing I hate about journalism courses is that they force you to impose your will onto people not for the sake of news but for the sake of benefiting your coursework. Can I please text you all the time, meet up with you, ask you questions, and perhaps take your picture too? On my way home from class, I was thinking who I could proposition to be the subject of my photo project.. Katherine? The deli guys downstairs? A ferry captain? Skateboarder? Violet?

Violet and I met working at a coffee shop/record store hybrid ran by some yuppie who used grandma and grandpa’s money to open up shop while not knowing the first thing about records (he does know about coffee though, I’ll give him that). He bought a giant load of worthless records from somewhere upstate or in Jersey. A literal cesspit of Very Good + Nat King Cole, Judy Garland, Hermans Hermits, classical music played by nobody symphonic bands, and exactly one copy of the Wild at Heart soundtrack in near mint condition. I had just returned from a sabbatical out of the city, I was in the mental hospital earlier that year and went home for a reset. I needed a job. I was hired for three days a week at minimum wage to sort records, find the most valuable ones, and try to sell them on eBay. As it turns out, one of the baristas — Violet — is a crazy-talented visual artist, and we quickly struck a friendship.

Not too long after I got fired and started working in bars instead, I started going to The New School and Violet started teaching there. I was taking a Newsroom video production class. For the midterm, my group: Emma, Arfeen, Rachel and I piled into a small room in the New School library and fumbled around on the rented Sony A7. I interviewed Violet. Emma edited the footage. It was pretty good.

On the day I had been assigned that photo project, I walked home from the 59th St train station and thought that perhaps I’d reach out to Violet sometime soon. I didn’t have a lot of time though since I was meeting my friend Dante at KGB Bar later. I got ready and took a select M15 downtown.

I got to KGB kinda early. I didn’t know there was a poetry event going on that night. Whoops. I have somewhat of an aversion towards live poetry (and standup comedy) because of my experiences being forced to participate as an audience member during my time bartending in Brooklyn. I got a Peroni, Dante arrived and we had to sit there and watch it instead of catching up; there were only a few poets left. When poetry ended and we were able to secure a table, I hear my name in the distance. Its Violet. They were doing a poetry reading in the upstairs bar.

I tell Violet all about the photo project and how I had been thinking about asking them that same day. They are game. It’s meant to be.