lauren . 23 years old / denver . colorado
my job has been causing me some stress lately and today it was particularly frustrating. as a remedy, i decided to go for a long walk with my camera and diligently seek out today's stranger.
i walked down 13th and up broadway, then down 16th street mall for a long time, eventually crossing back to 15th street for a bit, then decided to head to 17th, but was distracted by the sunshine and hoards of people on 16th street mall, so gave it one more shot there.
i found an alley that had some decent light in it and decided to camp out on the corner, facing the sun, to watch people. i would guess that i let hundreds walked by. i was hoping to shoot a woman today, preferably older, but they just weren't out. everywhere i looked i saw men. where are the middle-aged woman? maybe this should be a documentary about that...
anyway, a few doorways up from where i was standing, a guy was rocking out on his guitar and singing. he sounded great. i heard a few people pleasantly commenting on his music as they passed me by. it was a good place to stand - with the sunshine, music, and people, but i wasn't feeling it.
after quite some time, i eventually tired of standing there. when i started getting antsy i spotted lauren walking down the street by herself. nearly everyone else was in groups of people or with partners or talking on phones, so the fact that she was alone caught my eye - that and her pink hat. lauren looked like she had some time to kill, too, so i went for it. as she got close to where i was standing, i excused myself. lauren looked at me for maybe a second and then kept walking, but she hesitated, so i started walking down the street with her, blurting out my spiel. "i'm a photographer. i'm working on a project. i'm photographing a stranger every day for one year." her pace slowed. "i've been doing it every day since september. there's no money involved." she finally stopped, i guess she decided i was worth listening to.
she wanted to know what it was for and why i was doing it. she seemed genuinely interested, so i gave her the whole thing. she agreed to let me photograph her, so i asked if we could go back up the block where i had been standing. we made some jokes about her making me chase her down the street and she said something to the affect of "sometimes you can shake 'em if you keep walking". "em"... i fall into that category now. great.
anyway, lauren was very nice. i took a few photos in the alley, fighting a bit with the light reflecting in her glasses. i wish i had shot more because we could have ended up with something better, but she's got a good sparkle in her eye so this will have to do.
my job has been causing me some stress lately and today it was particularly frustrating. as a remedy, i decided to go for a long walk with my camera and diligently seek out today's stranger.
i walked down 13th and up broadway, then down 16th street mall for a long time, eventually crossing back to 15th street for a bit, then decided to head to 17th, but was distracted by the sunshine and hoards of people on 16th street mall, so gave it one more shot there.
i found an alley that had some decent light in it and decided to camp out on the corner, facing the sun, to watch people. i would guess that i let hundreds walked by. i was hoping to shoot a woman today, preferably older, but they just weren't out. everywhere i looked i saw men. where are the middle-aged woman? maybe this should be a documentary about that...
anyway, a few doorways up from where i was standing, a guy was rocking out on his guitar and singing. he sounded great. i heard a few people pleasantly commenting on his music as they passed me by. it was a good place to stand - with the sunshine, music, and people, but i wasn't feeling it.
after quite some time, i eventually tired of standing there. when i started getting antsy i spotted lauren walking down the street by herself. nearly everyone else was in groups of people or with partners or talking on phones, so the fact that she was alone caught my eye - that and her pink hat. lauren looked like she had some time to kill, too, so i went for it. as she got close to where i was standing, i excused myself. lauren looked at me for maybe a second and then kept walking, but she hesitated, so i started walking down the street with her, blurting out my spiel. "i'm a photographer. i'm working on a project. i'm photographing a stranger every day for one year." her pace slowed. "i've been doing it every day since september. there's no money involved." she finally stopped, i guess she decided i was worth listening to.
she wanted to know what it was for and why i was doing it. she seemed genuinely interested, so i gave her the whole thing. she agreed to let me photograph her, so i asked if we could go back up the block where i had been standing. we made some jokes about her making me chase her down the street and she said something to the affect of "sometimes you can shake 'em if you keep walking". "em"... i fall into that category now. great.
anyway, lauren was very nice. i took a few photos in the alley, fighting a bit with the light reflecting in her glasses. i wish i had shot more because we could have ended up with something better, but she's got a good sparkle in her eye so this will have to do.
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