25 July 2008

This is Alexei, stranger #9 for my 100 strangers project.. He made it easy to get back into this project after a hiatus of being too chicken to ask people! With his "Free Hugs" sign, I had to. He’s a great, outgoing guy, and the world could use more free hugs. We couldn’t chat for too long – I had a bus to catch, and he had more strangers to hug. I was a bit nervous about it and only grabbed a few shots with my point and shoot, so I’m not entirely happy with the results, but here he is. I’m hoping that by the end of the project I’m more comfortable and spend more time to make quality portraits.

Side note: Of course, I have yet to take another stranger photo since. Students are back now, that should make it easy, right?

25 March 2008

I met Sara during the GEO work stoppage. Sara, a grad student in social work and sociology, was out on the picket line, and I was drawn to her hat and her smile. I started out by taking pictures of the whole picket line scene, then as they were moving towards the Diag, I asked if I could take some pictures of just her. She seemed a bit surprised, but agreed. I asked her why she was picketing that day, and she started to answer with the standard GEO reasons – mainly that the cost of living estimate put out by the University’s financial aid department was more than the typical GEO salary. When I asked for reasons beyond that, she said that she thought it was important, as a social work student, to stand up for the people who have lower-fraction appointments (a typical GSI is “half-time”). Under the previous contract, they didn’t get many of the benefits that half-time GSIs received, such as a full tuition waiver and health insurance. I didn’t get too many pictures of Sara, since we were mainly in motion on our way to the Diag, but I really liked this one.

Sara is stranger #8 for my 100 Strangers project. For more information, check out www.100strangers.com or the 100 Strangers Flickr group.

After taking Anne’s pictures, I headed over to the area in front of Bar Louie. The lighting was beautiful, so I took a few shots of the area and waited for the right subject. Lori soon walked up behind me and asked what I was taking pictures of. “No one yet,” I replied, and invited her to get in front of the camera. She readily agreed, although she had to grab her bike and put on some lip gloss first. She is apparently a multi-talented lady – playing mandolin, keyboard, drums, and many other artistic/creative things I can’t quite remember. She easily kept up a stream of dialogue, telling me that she used to be a model when she was younger, about a photographer friend of hers, about her new cellphone, about how she’s given up alcohol (mostly), etc. Definitely an interesting character. She pulled all sorts of poses in front of the camera, and seemed to have a lot of fun with it. It was certainly an experience.

Lori is stranger #7 for my 100 Strangers project. For more information, check out www.100strangers.com or the 100 Strangers Flickr group.

Thursday was an absolutely beautiful day, so I walked in circles for awhile trying to find my courage and a stranger. In Nickels Arcade, I saw this woman approaching with orange sunglasses atop her head, so I asked her to help me with my project, and she agreed. Anne is an English major here, and when she graduates in April, she plans on going to work for the democratic campaign. Sounds exciting!

Anne is stranger #6 for my 100 Strangers project. For more information, check out www.100strangers.com or the 100 Strangers Flickr group.

I was waiting for a bus when Katie walked up to wait. I mentioned that I liked her earrings and we got into a brief conversation about shops and the budgets of students. Sooner or later I got up the nerve to ask if I could take her photo (I’m glad I did – I would’ve been upset had I missed this opportunity). She seemed a bit surprised and told me she wasn’t photogenic, although she agreed. When I explained the project, she told me she’d had to do something similar for a photography class she was in, and we lamented together about how awkward it could be to ask strangers for a photo. She’s an Art and Design student, and I’m quite happy that she’s my stranger #5. I love the combination of her hair, glasses, eyes, and earrings. Thanks, Katie!

For more information about the 100 strangers project, check out www.100strangers.com or the 100 Strangers Flickr group.

After I left Melon, I headed over to one of my favorite coffeeshops, and I noticed this woman just outside, smoking by the rack of vintage clothing. I had to ask her for her photo. She agreed and thought that the 100 strangers project was interesting. She was just relaxing outside during her break – she works at the vintage shop. Her photos are the first ones in this project that I’m really pleased with. She has beautiful eyes and a great face. Plus, she was in the shade, so these have the best lighting of the others I’ve taken. Doesn’t she look great in black and white?

For more information about the 100 strangers project, check out www.100strangers.com or the 100 Strangers Flickr group.

After doing some errands on Saturday (the sunniest, nicest day in quite some time), I walked out of a shop and noticed a woman across the street – leaning against a wall and writing in a notebook. That’s not something you see everyday, and she didn’t look like she was going anywhere soon, I approached her and asked her if she’d help me out with my photography project. She agreed; I told her to keep doing what she was doing and I snapped some photos from a number of different angles in the harsh sunlight. It turns out that we were both helping each other out – she was observing the street and writing about what she saw for a class assignment. Now, I’m in her report, and she’s my stranger #3! I wish I knew if I had her name right, though.

For more information about the 100 strangers project, check out www.100strangers.com or the 100 Strangers Flickr group.

I think Nickels Arcade is going to be a good place to find and photograph strangers, so I was playing around with my camera (and my flash – held by hand off-camera) looking for my shot. Mike walked by, clearly curious as to what I was doing on this cold day, so I asked if he would help me out for a few minutes and pose for me. He agreed, but he said he wouldn’t take off his clothes for me. I laughed a little, assured him this wasn’t that kind of photography project, and I took a few shots from a low angle. I tried a few holding my flash off to one side, but they came out blurry – I think I needed both hands to steady the camera. Anyway, I ended up with a reasonable shot on the one shot I didn’t use the flash for.

For more information about the 100 strangers project, check out www.100strangers.com or the 100 Strangers Flickr group.

26 Feb. 2008 –
I was hanging around the undergrad library and the columns there since it was snowing and I didn’t want to get my camera wet. I’d watched a couple of people walk by, and I kicked myself a little more with every passing stranger (opportunity?). Finally, I got up the courage to ask this man if he had a couple of minutes to help me out. He said sure and readily agreed to let me photograph him. A student here, he’d already finished a degree or two, got a teaching certificate, but he was here finishing up some pre-med classes. I was so nervous I only took two quick shots and ended up underexposing his face relative to the white snowy backgroun. (Thankfully, it was salvagable in photoshop). We had some polite conversation, I gave him my card and thanked him profusely, and we headed our separate ways.

For more information about the 100 strangers project, check out www.100strangers.com or the 100 Strangers Flickr group.