This photograph was taken somewhere between Boone and North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, during the 1960s at dusk. The image was captured on a Nikon F camera on Kodak Tri-X film (black and white, fast 400 ASA). Although the film was ideal for low-light photojournalism situations, I had to be careful not to overdevelop the film in my darkroom to prevent a grainy look to the image.

The mountain man and his team of work horses simply appeared out of nowhere in the fog on the mountain. I had been shooting a wagon train and was focused on that, but when he walked into my viewfinder, I just kept shooting and he kept walking, disappearing into the fog the same as he had mysteriously come into sight. Lucky for me that we were in the same place at the same time.

I still study this photograph. The man’s clothes, his dutiful work horse, his decided steps toward a destination only he knew. I wish there had been time to ask him, but I’ll be forever grateful that he chose for our paths to cross.