I love shooting in pool halls, or bars with pool tables. In some places smoking is still encouraged, making for great photography opportunities. Two images here, both taken at Via Via in León, Nicaragua. Via Via is the Rick’s Café Americain of León. As in “everybody comes to Rick's”. One thing about pool halls, or billar in Spanish, is that there is an element of danger. There are dark corners, men and women drinking and smoking, the clack of balls, low hanging lights, unsavory characters.

In the black and white wide shot of the billar, I tried to give it a look and feel similar to Edward Hopper’s '“Nighthawks”. This is a bad copy, I’ll hunt for a sharper one.

The bottom image was more about smoking and the player’s intense concentration. I loved the smoke and had to wait until his shot was such that the sun coming in through the window would hit his face. I edited this as much as possible