This is a story about a young man whose greatest interest is to be a photographer, despite his parents admonition that he would not receive funds to study unless it was a course of studying such a career as engineering or other money earning profession.
Ignoring his parents' advice he moves from a small town in Maine to New York to try and find work with a photographer.
Luckily, he finds a job with a well known "Street Photographer" Joel Meyerowitz. There he meets Audrey who works in the same studio. Their relationship has a deep effect on his personal life until he discovers that his lack of experience with women is also affecting his work.
Trying to solve his personal problems leads him to his meeting Simone, a prostitute whose experience he feels will help resolve the problems he has with Audrey.
All the people he meets have a place in solidifying his path and affect his personal life.
He learns that the "path" he chooses is not his will alone but that of the people who influence him are of equal importance.
Excerpt:
Jeremy Hawks had always been interested in taking photographs. Since his 10th birthday, the day his uncle had given him the Canon F1 camera he bought in Japan during his military posting, he photographed everything he saw. In his mind, the objects of the world were a series of moments which the camera froze in time and space. There was no continuum, only instants that when joined together that appeared to be some sort of flow. He pestered is father and mother for money to buy film and any gifts he was given for his birthday or for Christmas always had to be for the small lab he was building or towards an enlarger, trays or chemicals he needed to buy. At first, his father felt that "at least the boy has a "stick-to-it" quality which says a lot for him but frankly, how is he going to make a living taking pictures. The other sticking point was that Jeremy spent far too much time in his lab. "We never see him except for meals and even then, he grabs a sandwich and a fruit and goes back into his lab." .