In a rut

It's frustrating, but I haven't made a lot of progress these past few weeks. Partly because I've had other things to do in the spare time I'd have had to dedicate to stranger-spotting, but also because stress has got to me and at the end of a day at work (lots of talking and multitasking) the last thing I feel like doing is more talking.

I really need a holiday. Am going to France soon, hopefully I can use my somewhat rusty French to convince some natives to participate in the project, that should be interesting!

Another thing that I feel limits me is my gear; I've always tried to make the most of what I have, and I think I'm doing quite well considering I have a really old and not particularly professional camera, but often I feel that the light is not bright enough for a good quality shot - and don't think darkness, think anything that needs ISO at or above 400... not just for the stranger project but for everything else. I was doing a shoot the other day and it was made very difficult by a dark and cloudy sky plus a model moving quite fast, so I needed a high shutter speed, requiring a higher ISO. Needless to say it didn't go well and I had a lot of editing to do to make the shots halfway presentable. It was frustrating and disappointing. I have my sights set on the 5D Mark II but it's still going for over 1000 quid which is really not in my price range for now unless people start paying me for every shoot I do - but to get people to pay I need to produce high quality photos, meaning I need a better camera... catch 22. I buy scratchcards sometimes, you never know ;)

Back on track - recent thoughts

It's been a while since I posted here, which I'm annoyed about because there've been a lot of things I've wanted to write, just never got around to it. I didn't take any photos for almost a whole month I got so busy with work and pre-arranged shoots+editing... but then bagged two in one day last week, so I'm back on track. What annoyed me even more than not blogging though was my lack of a camera precisely when I saw super-interesting people! I therefore decided to lug my camera with me to work every day, which of course meant I didn't see anyone I wanted to photograph. Sod's Law eh. I won't give up - I've ordered a DSLR cosy thing, which will protect the poor thing from my keys and other random items in my typical woman's handbag, so I won't have to keep wrapping it snugly in a scarf, increasing the 'camera whip out time' which is often crucial to do in time if you see a quick-footed stranger.

I had an interesting discussion on Flickr with a fellow 100 strangerist (I just made that word up) about how he also has far more success photographing women than men; he estimated his rejection rate with men to be over 50% which to be fair is not exactly encouraging for me. I think I'll really have to work on having the courage to ask men too, if I see any potential subjects! I'm still drawn to redheads too, but they feel strangely difficult to approach (I keep finding excuses: she's walking too fast, is probably in a hurry; she's with 3 other people; etc). It's like when the only guy you avoid talking to at school is the one you fancy, because his rejection would hurt the most (wow. I really don't miss my school days come to think of it).

On another note, I got my second rejection today for the project. Not bad considering I've had 21 yeses. She was a very nice street performer dressed in vintage garb (in case I haven't mentioned this before, I LOVE vintage) and at first agreed to a photo without hesitation. Then as I raised my camera I started to tell her about the project, and that was when she declined. She was nice about it, said she didn't want her photo taken for something she "doesn't know about". I offered to show her examples of my work on my phone, and jokingly told her I'm not some dodgy person, but I suppose she might have had bad experiences or is simply cautious, what with her style I bet lots of people notice her, possibly dodgy ones too. I didn't push it further, she was quite apologetic so I wanted her to have a positive memory of me, but I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't press her a little bit more, telling her more about what this project is about and what a considerable following it has on Flickr. But selling anything - including myself - is one of my weakest points; I easily take no for an answer. I think I could work on this a little, for my own sake - selling myself will be key if I ever want to network and actually start charging for my services at some point (in a future far far away, but I don't want to rule it out).
Hey, that statement right there sounds like I'm not selling myself. OK, not in a future far far away! I've seen worse togs than me charge for work so it can be done I'm sure.

7/100 - Alice

Today was finally a day we could call a lovely April one - sunshine, clear sky and around 10°C. I was knackered after my week at work, but decided to take a stroll in Camden Town and look for some boots since my trusty old ones have now given up service... I didn't end up with any boots, but did get to talk to Alice and her boyfriend Ian (behind her), and take a few pictures.

I saw them sitting on a kerb chilling out and I was at first a bit wary of asking them, half expecting them to tell me to bugger off, but I loved their look so couldn't resist. They were thankfully very cool about it! I'm not supportive of stereotypes, but where I come from there is a fine line between nice punks and skinhead types, so it's better to be safe than sorry... anyway, I'm glad they were the nice types :) Ian was sipping his beer and Alice sat next to him. I took Ian's photo but the light was way too harsh and I didn't want to bother him by asking him to move so I left it at that. I could however ask Alice to turn towards me, away from the light, resulting in this portrait. I'm not happy with the skin tone - it looks a bit flat, but that's what you get with such bad light. Despite that I still really like this picture, with Alice's friendly smile and amazing eyes! She is a very pretty girl, and I like how Ian's profile can be seen behind her. If I heard correctly, she and Ian both work in Camden, and were just taking a break. He's a drummer in a band, and she loves music as well; if she could travel anywhere in the world she would go to America on a road trip, or do a tour if she had her own band. Alice was a real pleasure to chat to, thank you for your time! Here's hoping you get to America some time!

Of Women and Men

Pardon the unoriginal wordplay on the famous novel title... :)

I've noticed a (worrying?) trend in my stangers project. I realised that I mainly notice and photograph women. Granted, I'm not far in, but there's only one male in the series so far, and he only came about because I photographed a girl he was with first. I don't often notice men whose photos I'd be interested in taking, to be honest... actually, never in my life have I really noticed men on the street, or the looks of men in general. Sure, I've had a couple of celebrity crushes over the years, who hasn't (Heath Ledger is still my knight in shining armour, well, he could be any time he wanted anyway) but apart from that I've never cared much about looks, muscles and what have you that other women apparently do. Men don't tend to be interested in fashion either, so that doesn't leave a lot of things that could get a guy noticed by me in the street. There are exceptions of course, but most of the time I see many more women who look interesting than men. I'm not especially fashionable myself because I prefer to blend in with the crowd instead of standing out, even if in a good way, but that's not to say I don't notice and appreciate others' efforts. Quite the contrary - I've actually been thinking, what if I moulded this project a bit into something different - a street fashion series perhaps, because I simply love seeing stylish people out and about. After some consideration I decided I didn't want to place constraints on myself regarding the type of person I can photograph for it, so I rejected that idea, but my instincts tell me there will be many more stylish ladies in this series than men. 

I'm a bit wary of approaching men anyway, I don't want them to think I'm hitting on them, with the additional potential embarrassment of a male when it comes to photos. For some reason, in my observation, it can be considered 'gay' for men to pose for photos, or God forbid be complimented on their style... I don't think I'll ever get my head around this, but guys don't like taking photos that much, and I don't want to burden myself with rejection. Maybe when I'm well into the project I'll change my mind and develop a 'what the hell' mentality, but not just yet.

5&6/100 - Radina and Mithi

I'm terribly behind with this blog, had a very busy week - but the reason it exists is for me to collect my thoughts about the project and keep me on track, so here I am again. The above two photos were taken last weekend, at Trafalgar Square where I spotted the girls (their style stood out among the blandly dressed tourists) on my way to the gallery. It was cold - my hands were trembling as I fished out my cards to give to them, so as much as I'd have like to talk to them more, I hurried into the gallery without much thought after exchanging a few words and taking their pictures, even though they seemed like interesting people. So I was very happy when I received emails from them later; it turns out that Radina speaks Japanese and Korean and is into that culture, and Mithi is an art student. With Mithi we talked about many random things, she seems like a lovely person! This is when I really feel what the project is about - to get to know more interesting people. I've always been more of a listener than a talker (except among my closest friends, but I could count them on one hand) in the sense that I prefer to hear about other people instead of talking about myself. That doesn't mean I'm a pushover, it's just curiosity - people fascinate me, in the best sense of the word.

4/100 - Leila

This is Leila*. I saw her sitting under a blossoming plum tree near St Paul's and the scene was too pretty to pass by - I'd seen many blossoming trees during my walks but never had anyone to pose in front of them! Leila had that feminine look about her that I thought would look great with such a backdrop. 

She is Dutch and studied Communication Studies but dropped out and decided to do some travelling instead. Her mum is a photographer, but she says she's still a bit awkward in front of the camera. It's a shame, because she has gorgeous eyes, something I only noticed after she looked up at me when I went to talk to her, and something I'm sure many people would be happy to photograph. Glad I did - I really like this photo, thank you Leila for taking part! Enjoy your travels!

*I'm not sure it's spelled that way, Leila, if you're reading this, please correct me if it's wrong!

The ones that get away

I've been wanting to write about this for a few days now but only had the chance to sit down today.
This project is all about approaching strangers. Random people. You don't know what to expect - but neither are they expecting you to interrupt their daily activities with a probably surprising request. Asking to take someone's picture is to step into their personal space, in a way; crossing that invisible line that everyone draws when walking around among strangers, creating a kind of barrier (at least, in the UK I often feel this way, especially on public transport and in crowded areas) that keeps them in their little bubbles. It's therefore pretty much guaranteed that I will face rejections as I go along. I had expected this, of course, but the first rejection was still difficult to get over. So far it's only been the one but it's reduced my confidence slightly. The other day I spotted a stylish and cute redhead (what is it about them? I'm drawn to them, seriously) at a shopping centre and asked her for her picture for my project. She at first asked what she needed to do, but after I'd told her she said "no thank you". She was polite, but it hurt! Not only because I really wanted to take her picture, but because afterwards when I replayed the conversation in my head, I realised where I messed up my pitch. Apart from the wording, I also probably sounded very nervous, which is never a good thing. During the rest of that day I kept thinking "why do I have to be so awkward sometimes? Why can't I be the friendly, approachable person my friends know me as?".

But in the end, that's partly what this project is for. To help me overcome my nerves when talking to strangers; after all, they're only people like me, they don't bite, and as long as I'm nice, polite and calm even a rejection shouldn't hurt. I'm sure I'll get there, after all this is only the beginning. I did speak to more people than the number of photos on this blog - but they either had to dash off after agreeing, or I saw they were slightly apprehensive, the photos showed that and didn't turn out well so I didn't use them. Every conversation with every person takes me forward in my journey, and I'm grateful that despite the rejections I will most likely receive in the future, there will definitely be many more who agree to take part and share a little part of themselves with me and the 100 Strangers community.