08 march, 2010

blanca . 27 years old / denver . colorado

apparently the sun spent a little too much energy over the last couple of days, because today it was nowhere to be found. i started work at 8.30, but went downtown a little early, hoping to have some time to look for a stranger. i made it halfway down one block before deciding i would look for strangers later.... when i had more time.

i made a mistake by thinking we stayed open until 5. i asked my new co-worker to come in at 3 or 3.30, but realized at 3.15 that we closed at 4. i had been thinking all day long that i would ask her to cover me for a few minutes when she arrived, but lost out on the chance when i called her to let her know we closed earlier than i had thought. that's nice, right? the new manager calls the new employee to let them know he can't even keep track of the opening hours...

we decided to skip her coming in today, but that left me in a precarious position in stranger-land. i closed as quickly as i could and made it out the door at 4.30. it being late in the day, what little light there had been in the first place was fading and the downtown buildings were eating up the rest. i felt sick.

i asked a few people on 16th street, but they all had one reason or another to decline the chance. perhaps it was the crazed and panicked look in my eyes. i don't know how to describe the uneasiness that i felt over my entire body. my mind was racing and my stomach was tight. i was so frustrated that i had screwed up and was so worried that i wouldn't find someone to be stranger number 547.

i took a side street to circle back towards my bicycle. near where i photographed the man who told me about the book "a people's history of the united states", i spotted a lone woman sitting on the foundation of some columns. something about her posture as she was sitting there was very intriguing. i assumed she might be waiting for a bus, but decided to take the chance. i approached her and told her what i was up to. despite there being many people around, she did a great job of focusing on having a conversation with me. she didn't seem to care about the surroundings.

i asked if she would participate and was relieved to hear her say yes. then i asked if she was waiting for the bus. she was. panic... again! i asked if she knew when it was coming and she said she didn't. so, i went for it. i wrote down her name and age in my notebook and then told her about the model release. blanca signed. i gave her my card. we exchanged a few words, then i snapped a bunch of shots, fearing that i might have to photograph her climbing into the bus as the second shot. the light was so lousy, but i worked quickly to make something work. after i felt confident that i got the shot i needed, i went over to talk with her before her bus arrived.

blanca is from topeka, kansas. i asked what it was like there and she said it was very small. she moved out here three years ago to be in a bigger city. she likes the size of denver and it is not too far from home. blanca said she misses her friends and family, but she is trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. we talked about the pro's of waiting until some maturity and life experiences have set in before deciding which course to take.

our conversation was very brief. some people were staring at me. and i felt like i was intruding on blanca's solitude. i walked back to my bike feeling very sad. wishing i had more time to spend on this project. it's a constant struggle... this project is not easy. maybe in theory, but certainly not in practice. life's little intricacies provide some substantial obstacles. but, this project is unbelievably rewarding.

thanks for being today's stranger, blanca. i do hope you find your passion.

07 march, 2010

leigh . 48 years old / denver . colorado

after spending last night bombing around town and all of today adventuring with my friend, brandon, i found myself running out of time. i hoped to make it downtown to go to the movie theater with another friend, so i grabbed my gear and headed in that direction. i spotted an older gentleman coming my way and invited him to be today's stranger, but he gave me a look that suggested he knew i was attempting to trick him and then passed on the offer.

a few blocks later, a man in a green trench coat, a black hooded sweatshirt and torn black sweatpants asked me if i had a light. i had actually spend the entire day carrying one around because it made me feel cool, so i was delighted for the opportunity to use it. i searched every pocket and then my camera bag and then every pocket again, eventually finding it hiding under my keys. i gave him the light and then told him he could keep it. he seemed as pleased to receive the gift as i was to give it. i intended to continue on my way, but then stopped short and told the man what i was up to and invited him to be a part of this project. he agreed.

i asked where he was from and leigh told me that he was an "air force brat" and lived all over. he said that he even lived in germany as a small child and then told me about a vacation he took with his family to the tulip festival in holland. leigh was delighted to share the story with me and still had a childlike excitement over the many colors of tulips that exist. he told me that tulips come in every color he could imagine, including "purple and even green".

i was curious what he did with his time and he told me he was a part of the MHCD (mental health center of denver). i asked him how long he had been in that program. he thought about it and then said he first started in the program when he was 35 years old. i asked him if something happened. he admitted that something had indeed happened. he had been trying to start a relationship with a woman and one day decided to trespass on her property when she wasn't around. and then he said, "i did some things i shouldn't have". from there, he ended up in a hospital for a few weeks where he was diagnosed as bi-polar.

i was curious about leigh's life before the hospital, so i asked what he used to do. he told me he was "in the delivery business". apparently he worked for an italian restaurant and delivered pizza and other italian dishes to people. he recalled a few stories from that time and even spoke fondly of a few of his co-workers, referring to them by their names. leigh spoke in a very peculiar voice, much higher pitched than i would have guessed. the way he crafted his sentences was interesting, too. i need that recorder...

leigh was excited for the chance to be photographed in his black clothes. while i took his portrait, he held his green coat low on his shoulders and out of the frame. then, when i moved back to take the full-length shot, he said, "we'll do this one a little bit different". then he proceeded to take of his coat and put it aside. that is quite interesting, right? image is so important. for some it's a porsche and coach weekend bag, but for others it is a black hooded sweatshirt and some torn pants.

thanks so much for the conversation today, leigh.

06 march, 2010

grant . 24 years old / denver . colorado

as someone was once again covering for me at the café, i hurried through the streets in search of the day's stranger. i don't like to hurry. i especially don't like to hurry while searching for strangers.

as soon as i stepped outside, i saw a guy on a skateboard. he looked pretty tough and his dog looked even tougher. i wouldn't ordinarily choose to go up to the duo, but this project gives me an excuse to talk to everybody and anybody. i like that. it gives me a chance to show some courage. skateboarder and tough dog declined my offer on account of their being late for work. that was ok.

i was moving at a good pace up 16th street when i noticed a young man walking in the opposite direction on the other side of the street. he wore a sign that read "mechanical engineer for hire". i was obviously intrigued. i ran across the street and caught up to the guy. i told him what i was doing and asked if he would be up for being today's stranger. he was.

originally from illinois, grant went to school in michigan. finding that he wasn't too interested in cars, grant started looking for work elsewhere. he kept hearing the same thing, "we are looking for local people". so, grant decided to pack up his belongings and move. he ended up in denver and is currently pursuing his passions... and looking for a job. he said he is interested in solar energy and has always had a penchant for legos. i think solar energy is pretty cool and i used to play with legos, too, but i don't have the creativity to make a career out of combining the two. i would imagine that grant actually used his legos to be creative, whereas i merely followed the instructions because i invariably found myself in a mess if i wandered from the path. i never have considered myself to be a very creative person.

grant has been applying for jobs in every way he knows how. this is another attempt at showing his drive and work ethic. i wish i was in the market for a mechanical engineer...

thanks so much for your time, grant. good luck with the search.

05 march, 2010

bri . 19 years old / denver . colorado

friday. so many people were so excited that it was friday. i find it quite odd actually. and a little bit sad. i don't know where i got it from or how i came to cultivate it, but i have a complete lack of interest in the "regular". i never want to look forward to a friday. i think it is silly. one of the things that is so exciting about this project is that there is no difference in the days. monday, sunday, thursday... whatever. i am interested in people. no matter the day.

i ran out of work to look for a stranger and was gone for 13 minutes. i didn't plan on being gone for so little time. actually, i was hoping to have a bit of time away from the café, but so be it. i spotted bri walking towards me and decided to ask her to be today's stranger. she hesitated. she thought it was weird. she probably assumed i was a nasty dude. what do i say? if someone has already made up their mind... what is there to say?

i am not a nasty dude. i am just a guy who thinks that a little more knowledge about the people we encounter every day would make make the world a more peaceful place. i want to meet people. i want to learn. i want to know. i want to say hi, but i happen to have a notebook and a camera. that's all. i promise.

bri is a first year student at metro, a college in downtown denver. she is studying sculpture. she had a high school art teacher who was a huge inspiration and that is why she is pursuing her passion. she said she hopes she doesn't have to starve in the process, but she wants sculpting to work out for her. i responded with my version of an inspirational speech, but it didn't seem to have much of an impact. i've been out of photography school for 4.5 years. this is when people quit, right? well... not me. why quit? times get tough and life gets very uncomfortable, but that seems to be what separate the wheat from the chaff. i don't feel like i chose this, but rather it chose me.

thanks for your time, bri. i hope you stick to sculpting if it is what you think you were meant to pursue.

04 march, 2010

nick . 24 years old / denver . colorado

guess what?! my boss asked me if i might like to leave a little early today. i swallowed my pride and admitted that i would appreciate that. she arranged for one of the life-saving stylists to come over and cover for me for the rest of the evening. not entirely comfortable with the idea, but quickly adjusting to it, i clocked out, locked my helmet to my bicycle, threw my camera bag over my shoulder and headed down the street, straight into the setting sun.

i walked an entire half of one block before i saw a young man walk by. he was guiding his bike along the narrow sidewalk. it was a nice bike and was probably what caught my eye first. his eyes were in heavy competition, though - so bright! then, of course, his hair was pretty appealing. basically, this guy just had stranger number 543 written all over him.

i told him what i was up to and he coolly told me that he was up for it, but he was going to be working on his bike while i chatted him up. i figured he might warm up to me after a minute, so i pressed on. i opened the top of my bag and pulled out my business card. i use photographs as my business cards - 3.5x5 photos with a quarter inch white border. matte finish. i use photos that i have taken with disposable and otherwise malfunctioning film cameras. i am usually so confined to shooting "correctly" that it is difficult for me to do anything too adventurous or arty, so i use those cameras because they take a lot of the control out of it. the photo i gave nick happened to be one of my favorites. i tell myself that people keep them. i don't go as far as to think that they stick them on their refrigerators, but i imagine them sticking it in an old shoe box with letters from former lovers and some cd's that they just cant bear to throw out, but they aren't entirely comfortably displaying.

i asked nick if he worked at the pizza place. he told me he worked there "very off and on". i told him i knew a few of his co-workers because they get coffees from me. he told me he liked the job because the owners don't really care how the job gets done as long as it gets done. customer service is not an issue. timeliness is not an issue. it's not quite the same over at my place, but in all fairness, this pizza place is known for those characteristics and they are what makes it charming.

nick was born and raised in denver. he said that he likes it, but explained that he likes to travel at every opportunity. he has been traveling back and forth from los angeles for the last few years, but is now looking for some new territory. nick said he has been outside of the country many times, but he now wants to see the states. he doesn't see much point in staying in one place when the world is so big. i share those sentiments.

nick had a flat tire, which is a super drag for anyone who likes to pedal, so i let him get to it. he seemed like a pretty cool dude. like the kind of guy that likes to have a super good time. thanks for spending a little of that time with me today, nick.

03 march, 2010

john . 42 years old / denver . colorado

have i mentioned that i am a little busy these days? well, i am. 12-hour days at the café are not conducive to finding strangers. i meet strangers, but i can't exactly pull my camera out of my back pocket and fire some shots at my customers and still manage to get everything else done. besides, i think the people that come in there just want to get a coffee and are more than likely not up for participating in a barista's side project. sigh. i remember the days when i was a barista on the side...

i want to say a public thank you to two of the hair stylists that come over to cover for me while i go ferret the streets for strangers: to brittney ("coco") and lydia i am indebted. it really means a lot to have people support me as i continue to work on this project. with my time being completely filled up at work, i am often quite nervous that i will just have to pull the register key and bolt out onto the streets to find someone in a super hurry, but one of these two ladies invariably comes to the rescue.

today i headed out into the sunshine with my friend, hillary. i saw a young man i wanted to ask, but he ducked into a chocolatier and i didn't have time to wait. hillary mentioned wanting to head over to a lovely little places called "the market", so we walked that way. shortly thereafter, i spotted a man sitting in the sun on a bench. he was listening to something in his headphones and eating what i assumed was ice cream out of a little bowl.

i approached him with the regular pitch and he asked if he could go on sitting and eating his ice cream. i told him he could. we exchanged some information and then i fired some shots of him in his own world: enjoying frozen yogurt (not ice cream) complete with a fruity pebbles topping while plugged into his headphones. he did a very good job of pretending i wasn't there. it was perfect. then i interrupted his world by asking him to move into the shade so i could take some portraits of his face.

john was very nice. first of all, i was completely surprised when he said he was 42 years old. he told me he eats right and does a lot of yoga. he said that consuming less alcohol probably helped, too. john works in media and has been and still is the manager of magazines. he gave me a long list of his responsibilities in the process and it sounds like he knows the industry quite well.

john had to be at a meeting in 10 minutes and i promised him that our interaction would only take 5. i did my best to stay true to my word, but it was hard. i always want to talk more. and listen. and learn. and then share it all with you! well, john and i parted ways and then i decided i needed a frozen yogurt, too. i ordered a small acai berry with fresh raspberry for myself and a small coconut with fresh peaches for coco. i have to tell you... they were worth every penny!

thanks for the recommendation, john. and thanks so much for your time.

02 march, 2010

kelsey . 18 years old / denver . colorado

today's story is a little bit funny.

first, i'd like to say that there were at least 7 people that came by the café today that i desperately wanted to photograph. it was difficult to let them come and go without inviting them to participate. but, as is usually the case, it all worked out for the best.

second, i want to share some exciting news: a local television news reporter contacted me via email to ask if he could follow me around for a day and interview me on camera so that they could run a feature on this project! woohoo! i heart strangers is going to television!

ok... enough scenery... let's cut to the chase.

late in the afternoon i received a visit from wendy (stranger from 08 february, 2010). she came by the café with a man named tim and a woman named jen. in between customers and other duties at the café, the four of us chatted and had a lovely time doing so. after some time, wendy and tim left and jen went to get her haircut (the café is in a giant hair salon).

as the day was getting on, i started getting a little bit anxious about not having photographed today's stranger. i was waiting for one of the stylists to come take over for me for a little while so that i could look for on my hunt. the stylist was late, though. and that nervousness started getting worse. just shy of my panic attack, the stylist came over, apologizing for being late. just behind her was jen! and jen was apologizing for having taken so long getting her hair cut. i didn't care, i was just happy that i could finally leave to go look for a stranger. on my way out the door, though, i asked jen if she wanted to go stranger hunting. on a whim, she decided to take me up on it.

the two of us headed out the door into what was a beautiful day. i had heard reports of wonderful weather, but could only watch the people walk by through the windows of the café and speculate that the rumors were true. the sun was working its way down and i didn't have much time to be away from work, so we picked up our pace. jen was asking me all kinds of questions about the project and i was doing my best to answer them even though most of the "correct" answers change with my mood. i spotted a lone woman sitting on a bench and decided to ask her to be today's stranger.

just as i was about to open my mouth to give her the introduction, a group of high school girls accosted jen and me. the leader of the pack asked us to participate in her photography project. she has a facebook page called "the denver street style project" and she wanted to take a picture of the two of us. knowing i never have the right to decline any such offer for as long as i live, i was up for it. and jen, being a smart and rather observant cookie, immediately understood the irony of the situation. i asked the photographer if she would be a part of my project when she was done and she agreed.

she asked us to step into an open area that was about 20 feet away. we did. she told us to do whatever we wanted to, so i chose to look at jen and she turned to look at me and the two of us started laughing. that is the image the photographer chose. the two of us laughing... jen in her red shoes and cute hair cut and me in my green shoes and... well i don't know what else.

anyway, the whole experience was quite funny. when i started getting some information from the photographer, jen took off to make it to another appointment. we made our introductions and it turns out that the photographer's name was kelsey. she came across the fashion blog called "the sartorialist" and decided to take on a similar project right here in denver. kelsey grew up here in colorado and will be graduating from high school this spring. she will be attending colorado university at boulder in the fall and hopes to continue working on her fashion project as a hobby.

kelsey told me that this was the first day of her project. surprised, i looked over at her four friends and asked if that was her entourage. she said that it was and that they were all helping her take notes. i congratulated her on her ability to get that kind of support. deep down inside i couldn't help but wonder what her secret was.

thank you so much for your time today, kelsey. i wish you all the best on your project. and thanks so much for including me in it!