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.

3/100 - Lucas

This is Lucas. He is half Japanese and half Polish, and speaks excellent English. He works in a team with Mounia, Stranger #02. It was already evening and they had had a long day in the cold, but he managed to look quite cheerful for his photo, which I really liked. I wish everyone could be this chirpy at the end of their work day - including me, who was also after work and feeling slightly worse for wear. And I wasn't even outside in the cold. Respect for Lucas and Mounia!

2/100 - Mounia

The weather has been awful lately, so it's been difficult to go stranger-spotting. Still, I carried my camera with me every day to work, because you never know what opportunity might come along. Today it did. In the morning I saw a Muslim lady in a headscarf with piercings and lashings of red lipstick - she looked great and I asked her for a photo. She agreed but was in a rush, and changed her mind before I could click the shutter button, so that didn't work out.

After work I headed for the bus stop and there was a woman trying to talk to passersby about charity donations, to get their details. I've been thinking about choosing a charity to donate to every month, just never really got round to researching them, so when I saw her I thought I might as well stop and hear what she has to say. We talked for a bit but turns out I had to give my contact details so someone could call me to discuss it further. It's a well-known charity so I wasn't too worried about my data being sold to third parties,  but didn't feel like it was necessary to provide it since I could look everything up online anyway. Still, the woman said it would help her in her job if I gave my details, so we made a deal - I can take her photo for this project if I provide them. She crossed the street with me and there were two of her colleagues who looked interested when I told them about the project and were happy to participate. One of them was Mounia.

The light was fading fast so I had to be quick - my camera did pretty well under the circumstances but it's still a bit too dark I feel. Then again, it looked OK in Photoshop and now in .jpg it's not as good - that's colour calibration for you... Despite the technical flaws I think she has a very sweet smile, reflecting her friendliness towards me, the random and probably weird-looking person with the big camera. The photos of her colleague who led me to her didn't turn out well so won't be included in the project - but she led me to Mounia so it wasn't all useless!

1/100 - Kate

I spotted Kate on Camden High Street on my way to work this morning. In the last few days I have carried my camera to work with me (I tell you, carrying a DSLR in a women's handbag is both uncomfortable and painful) but didn't see anyone walking slowly enough for me to dare to approach them. Then Kate came along, wearing that unmissable blue helmet and a very stylish outfit that complemented her retro bike really well. She also looked a lot like Adele - those cheekbones! - which drew my attention after I initially saw the helmet. Kate studies Fashion Marketing at university and was on her way there when I stopped her. 

She immediately agreed to a photo, and I was so nervous I only took this one shot of her, not wanting to hold her up. Due to the nerves I missed the focus on her face by a few inches, which I am unhappy with but there you go. As the first photo in this series I am still quite happy with it, though the background could be better. I'll have to learn to calmly consider my surroundings for these photos.

I have to say, I got quite a buzz from the experience, must be the adrenaline. If so, it is probably addictive, meaning I will just have to go out and take more photos of strangers... ;)

About the 100 Strangers Project

The idea of this project comes from a flickr group that is dedicated to users sharing their photos and stories of their 100 strangers. 

The project involves the photographer asking random strangers for their photos, and hopefully for a bit of information about them. It's a great way of practicing not only photography but people skills. It takes guts to go up to a stranger, talk to them and not sound like a stalker/prat/weirdo. It is also a way of paying more attention to your environment, establishing a connection with people you would normally ignore or pass by without a word, even though you find them interesting. I work in a trendy area of London full of interesting faces and until now I have always felt it was such a shame there was no way I could get to know them a little more. That is about to change!

In this blog I will document my journey and hopefully, when I look back at the end, I will be able to see a positive improvement in both my photography and my way of approaching people. Who knows, I might even do another round of the project if I end up loving it - I've seen people in their third or fourth rounds!