31 august, 2009

robert . 70 years old / denver . colorado

this morning, before leaving the house, i counted up the photos from the past year and discovered that i have more female strangers than male. if i only photograph men for the next week, the females will still hold the majority. i am either going to not worry about it or we are going to be seeing a lot of masculinity on here for a while. it was with that in mind that i went out looking for strangers today.

this has been a very busy day. i had so much to do prepare for the upcoming exhibition. tonight is the night that i will be hanging the entire show - well, almost the entire show as there are still seven more days worth of photos to be taken. when city o' city closes for the night and most of the world has settled down for slumber, i will be reveling in the last year of my life in a way that most don't have the opportunity to do. there is something very special about having a year of your life documented in daily photography.

while waiting for something to print at wolf camera, i decided to take a walk around the mall street to look for today's new friend. i walked for a little while, but wasn't having much luck. i decided to cross over to 17th street for a change of pace and i almost immediately saw a lone older gentleman making his way towards me. his shirt and cap caught my eye. and he only piqued my interest more as we neared each other. i excused myself and told him what i was up. he turned his right ear toward me, favoring it to the other. i spoke up and explained my project and asked if he would mind being photographed. he agreed to it right away. he told me he likes to take pictures of people, too, especially on the mall street, and mostly of the street musicians. it sounded like we were going to get along splendidly.

robert told me that he was 70 years old, but didn't feel it at all. i told him he seemed like a spritely guy and didn't strike me as "old" either. he told me he does a lot of walking and likes to get his exercise by swimming in a nearby pool. robert is retired from a career as an accountant and said he is enjoying his freedom very much. he told me that he has thought many times about getting some kind of volunteer job, but doesn't want to be tied down to anything. he said he likes his schedule and that he can go for a walk or get some lunch or take a swim whenever he feels so inclined. his wife is also retired, so i would guess they get to spend a lot of quality time together. i liked the sound of his situation.

he had such a warm smile and a great personality. he laughed a bit while i was taking his portrait so i asked him if he felt uncomfortable. he said he didn't mind it much at all, but he is more adjusted to being on the other end of the camera. i know exactly how he feels. well, thank you so much for your time today, robert!

30 august, 2009

vanessa . 20 years old / denver . colorado

a friend of mine is leaving denver in a few days to move to new york city. that's great for her. there is a lot going on in new york. but it's pretty much not that great for the rest of us. she's a good person to be around and it's just a drag to say goodbye to people. there are the forever optimists out there that seek out the very best in every situation and would be able to rattle off a list of the great things that could potentially come from this friend moving to new york. i am not a forever optimist. i just want to be sad that she is leaving. anyway, in honor of her leaving town, i met her for a late brunch downtown.

after diving into some delicious food and great conversation and a few too many late brunch "aperitifs", i decided i needed to find a stranger while i still remembered who i was. my friend made her way across the street to the next stop and i decided to go for a walk to look for today's photograph and story. there are days in which i have considerable motivation and days in which the only thing considerable is how much motivation i don't have. today would fall into the latter category. it happens. and champagne doesn't help. guilty as charged.

i had no idea what to expect when i started walking. it was overcast today. very very grey. boston grey, even. the kind of grey that reaches in and sucks out my soul. i made it half a block and around a corner when i spotted an old brick wall, home of an ancient advertisement, and around the same time, a young woman parking her car. i walked by, then stopped short, reconsidered, and eventually decided i should ask her to be the day's stranger.

i walked up to her car, let her finish her parking job and open her door, and then told her what i was up to. she told me she looked "haggard", but agreed to it. i thought that was pretty great. there are plenty of people out there who after just coming from a weekend spa treatment would still say no because they'd be uncomfortable with the way they looked. i like it when people just roll with the punches. vanessa seemed to be one of those people. although she did mention later that she wished she had some make-up on...

she had just come from the lake. it looked like a lousy day to be at the lake, but i was still a bit jealous. a swim in a lake sounded like the perfect thing. just what the doctor ordered. or maybe a good swim in the ocean. i need to see the ocean soon. i consider denver's only dowfall to be that it is landlocked. anyway... vanessa was downtown meeting her brother, who was visiting from new york city. funny that she was meeting someone visiting from new york while i was saying goodbye to someone who was leaving for new york.

vanessa works at p.f. chang's, a restaurant reputed to be so tasty, and is in college here in denver studying business management. she grew up out here in colorado and didn't seem particularly upset about it. i didn't learn much more about her. she seemed glad to be a part of the strangers project and said she would come to the opening on the 8th. nothing would make me happier than being surround by my dear friends and a room full of strangers that i have photographed over the months.

thanks for your time today, vanessa.

29 august, 2009

kalindi . 18 years old / denver . colorado

i helped a friend of mine shoot a wedding this morning. it was up in fort collins. and it was very early... too early to be making a trip to fort collins. it went by quickly and it was relatively painless, which was nice. i got back on the highway to head back to denver. there was a block party at city o' city this afternoon - good music, good food and drink, good people. it was going to be really good. i was looking forward to it. i took a quick nap to recover from the wedding and then made my way down there with my camera gear in tow.

i listened to one of my favorite bands play their set and simultaneously scoped out the crowd for strangers. i wasn't sure i was going to be able to photograph the day's stranger there, but i figured it wouldn't hurt to try. i noticed a young woman in a red and white striped shirt and short dark hair. i am not sure what it was about her that caught my eye, but something did. so i picked out a location to shoot in and then went over to her. she was standing in a circle, talking with some friends, but there was a short lull, so i moved in and told her what i was up to.

kalindi agreed to it right away. i think she said, "why not?!", which is my all time favorite response. i've gotten it a few times, and every time i just love it. i think there is a lot of trust in it. i try to be a "why not?!" kind of guy as often as possible. it turns out that kalindi was just hired to work at city o' city and will be starting this coming week. there is an almost zero chance of my being able to photograph any more city o' city employees because of how often i am there, so i thought it was great that i managed to meet another one in a totally different way.

kalindi told me that she decided high school wasn't her thing so she bailed on it. then she went to college early. i didn't get more of that story, but would certainly like to as that is not the most common story i've been told. perhaps in time. she moved here not so long ago from boulder, colorado, and said she is slowly and cautiously making her way into the denver scene. she is an artist and enjoys acting, so she is looking to combine theatre and art. i'd also like to hear more about that.

it was great meeting kalindi. the day was a huge success. the party was great. the people were great. there was even 4-square, which is the greatest game of all time. it was a very casual day for hearting strangers, and i couldn't have planned it any better.

thanks, kalindi!

28 august, 2009

tommy . 19 years old / denver . colorado

this morning i submitted a few words and some of the photos from this project for a soon coming feature interview on yours truly and then gathered my gear to go look for today's stranger. my days seem a bit more normal now that i finished the mounting process. the really busy night won't be until the first of the month, so i have a few days to catch my breath. i swung by city o' city to grab some coffee and realized i didn't have my model releases with me. what is it about those things?! i took my time drinking my coffee and talking with some friends, then trekked back home to retrieve the releases.

another guy followed me up the stairs as i walked into my place. i had never seen him before and i probably gave him a look that conveyed that. he was really cheery and told me he just (about ten minutes prior) moved into the apartment next to mine. he told me his name was tommy. i told him mine was joshua. i welcome him to the building then realized i should most definitely ask him to be today's stranger. i think there is probably a 5-second rule for the strangers project much like that of dropping food on the floor, right? if someone tells me their name before i ask them to be the day's stranger, i have 5 seconds to ask them before they are officially no longer a stranger. well... that is what we went with today. i consider it safe. and so far, there is not a team of judges lording over me, so what i say goes.

ok. so i told tommy about my project and asked him if he would be the stranger today. he agreed right away. i asked if we could shoot in his apartment and he was fine with that, too. i grabbed the model release from my place and then met him in his new spot. it was still completely empty, which is was great because we had all kinds of room. his friend, guido, was cleaning the refrigerator in the kitchen, so the three of us got mildly acquainted and we begin the shooting process. it is so rare that i get to shoot indoors. it was a nice change of pace. there were so many windows in tommy's place, though, that it was hardly different. he photographed extremely well and was an easy subject. he and his friend were both very nice. it will be good to have a neighbor that i'll be able to say hello to on a regular basis. some of the other people in this building are a little less than warm.

tommy is a colorado native, which is something i don't come across every day. on the other hand, when he found out i came out here from the east, he told me he runs into all kinds of people that move out here from that wat. it's got to be the weather. tommy is just starting school, studying to become a german translator. that is great. had i planned things better (at all), i probably should have studied something like that in college. i bet that allows you to go so many places and i would assume it pays fairly well. i would also think a skill set like that would allow for some serious job diversity. my mind tends to head straight for travel at every chance it gets so it jumped all over this opportunity. i find myself missing denmark very much now.

well... that pretty much wraps it up for the day. i have a new neighbor! and he is really nice. what more could a guy ask for? thanks, tommy!

27 august, 2009

paige . 24 years old / denver . colorado

today i mounted the rest of the prints that i had previously printed. the tally is now up to 49 weeks that are ready to hang for the show. we are getting close. very close. i had a few errands to run around town after my mounting spree, so i carried my camera around while doing them, hoping to have a relatively easy time of it today. it didn't quite work out that way. i didn't go by anyone that really sparked my interest. so... i kept pedaling around town.

i was making my way towards my bank on 17th avenue from where i ate lunch on south broadway. as i neared the corner where city o' city is, i spotted this smartly dressed woman with fiery red hair. she look to be around my age, but half of her face was concealed by dark sunglasses. she was also talking on the phone, so she wasn't the most accessible stranger i've come across.

i figured i was going to have to let her go, but wasn't all that excited about it. something about her was calling out to me. i try not to pick people solely on their style, but that might have been what i fell victim to today. i was stuck at the light, which gave me enough time to second and triple guess myself. she crossed the street in front of me and started making her way down the 13th avenue hill. i tried to see if she was getting off the phone, but eventually just completely caved and road my bike down the street after her. i pulled up beside her and excused myself as she was saying goodbye into her phone.

i gave her my spiel and asked if she would be today's stranger. i told her that i usually don't track people like this, but her red hair was too good to pass up. she appreciated the effort, maybe the honesty, too, and agreed to help me out. she asked me how the project was coming and why i was doing it. i told her it was coming along quite well, which got us into some other conversation and, now that i think about it, i am not sure we ever made it back to the why. it turned out that she was in town visiting a friend of hers who happens to also be a friend of mine, which helped create a good rapport.

paige is from des moines, iowa. i hear a lot more about des moines these days than i ever have before. i suppose that is because of its proximity to denver. it used to just be a place with a funny name, but now it turns out there is something going there, too. perhaps i should pay it a visit one of these days. the place where paige and i were standing, chatting, and taking pictures was home to an abandoned entrance of an empty building, which we discovered is now a place that some people find suitable for using as a toilet. i mentioned something about someone doing a bit too much methadone. probably the kind of comment that the world would be fine without hearing, but today it turned out to be the catalyst for a little trivia: des moines is the meth capital of the country. so... if you need a fix, you now know where to go. compliments of paige.

paige studied some kind of pre-medical school something or other in college, but is currently working at an outdoor clothing store and for a popular nation-wide coffee franchise. i asked if she worked at an outdoor clothing store or if she worked at a store that sold "outdoor clothing". it turned out to be the latter. she's here in denver, taking a small break from her work and looking for an internship in the medical/humanitarian field. she had just come from seeing if planned parenthood could use some volunteer help in the month of october.

we battled the wind the entire time we took pictures. between the gusts and the slope of the hill we were standing on, i was struggling to find the right shot. i ended up taking twice as many photos as normal, but paige was a great sport about it. she told me she was "a smiler". i told her most people were not, and she tried to finish my sentence with a statement about people not being happy and confident... which made me laugh, because all i was really trying to say is that many people, even when happy, are not necessarily walking around with smiles on their faces. paige did maintain a near constant state of smile, which made me smile... which was quite nice.

thank you for taking the time to be today's stranger, paige!

26 august, 2009

janet . 78 years old / denver . colorado

today was supposed to get off to a different start than it did. after peeling myself out of bed, i ate some breakfast and tried to get into the swing of things. i took a shower and then immediately was blindsided by a migraine headache. migraines take it out of me quicker than anything. there wasn't much to do, so i drank water, took some aleve, and went back to bed. this, of course, changed the rest of my plans for the day. i had to cancel my routine wednesday golf plans with a good friend of mine and then reorder the events of the day. sometime in the afternoon i recovered my vision, so set out to take care of some foam core trimming and commence the stranger hunt.

with some iced coffee in hand, i set out towards the library and museum. it looked as if a big storm was on its way. the sky was full of black clouds and thunder was sounding off in the distance. eventually some flashes of lightning made me think we were soon to get a downpour, but it petered out. it added a sense of urgency to today's search, though. i asked an older gentleman who was sitting in his car, reading the newspaper. he turned me down, but wasn't rude about it. i gave him a post card promoting the show and kept walking. i walked around for a while, but wasn't drawn to most of the people i walked by. i eventually ended up by the art institute and asked a young woman if she'd be the day's stranger. she said she couldn't right now, but would be able to later. i appreciated her support, but told her it was a now or never type of thing. i left her with another promotional and then began walking again. i hadn't made it far at all when i saw an elderly woman making her way up 12th avenue.

i approached her and excused myself and told her what i was up to. she looked at me with bright, warm eyes and a very pleasant expression. she asked if i had to take her name and other information. i explained what i needed and she agreed to it. she did not want to give me her last name, though. when i pulled out the release and asked if she would write it on there, she stepped back and told me that if that was the only way to do it, then she was going to have to decline. she drove a hard bargain! so, i told her to never mind and that her last name would just become "doe".

she told me her name was janet, but people called her jan. she wanted to know how i ever came up with the idea to do this project and, as always, i didn't have a good answer for that. this was just a whim, but it has turned into something quite a bit more serious than most of my impulses. i wish i had a more concrete answer, but i just don't. i think jan found it fascinating, though. she handled the whole thing like a professional. she was so great in front of the camera and was open with me, which i wasn't expecting after her protectiveness over her last name.

jan is retired, but volunteers at the central library and was on her way home from that when i met her on the street. i asked her what she did before she retired and she very affectionately told me about her 25-year career in construction. she started working in an office, but soon met a guy that put her in a hard hat and steel-toed boots and had her accompany him to all his work sites as his assistant. this sparked a long term professional and romantic partnership that still remained as a twinkle in jan's eyes. this man passed away ten years ago after going through chemotherapy. i offered jan my condolences, but she looked at me with a big smile and said it was a long time ago now and she had nothing but years and years of pleasant memories. they worked together on four skyscrapers here in denver and many projects in los angeles. she fondly recounted living five blocks from the beach in california and having the time of her life.

jan was so very very sweet. i hope i will cross paths with her again. i would have enjoyed listening to many more of her stories. thank you so much for your willingness to be today's stranger, jan!

25 august, 2009

sonia . 22 years old / denver . colorado

i had lunch up in the highlands and then walked around the streets in search of strangers. i walked by this charmingly narrow alley that i thought would make a great background and then soon afterwards, saw an elderly gentleman walking towards me. i excused myself and gave him the pitch. he looked amused by the proposal, but said he should be getting home. i was sad to watch him leave. he was a pretty great old dude.

i walked around for a while and took note of how many pet shops (groomers, daycares, clinics) there were. i thought that was so bizarre. there were loads of places for rent, too. maybe everyone sold their businesses and bought pets? anyway, i perused through an antique shop which turned out to be a cover for some old guy's dusty, overpriced garbage. i stepped outside and felt a few drops of rain and was not in the mood to get wet. i hopped on my bike and headed lickity split for downtown. i was sad to leave a new neighborhood unspoiled by i heart strangers, but had to do it.

i was cruising down the big 15th street hill when i saw a young woman crossing an intersection. her colors and the fact that she was carrying a box caught my eye. i got stuck at the light and decided to excuse myself and give her the run down. i figured i looked a total mess because i had just been barreling down the hill, but it must not have been too bad because she agreed.

sonia, pronounced a little differently than usual, although i think i mispronounced it when we said goodbye, has only been in denver for a few weeks. she came out here from a small town in north carolina and is slowly getting used to the big city. i told her that denver would start feeling small in no time and gave her a short list of some of the hotspots around town. i think she'll manage just fine though as she came out here for no reason at all. she just wanted to give it a shot. i did the same and it has worked out splendidly. i met her near where she works as a hair stylist. it is quite possible that there is a greater percentage of hair stylists than any other occupation in this first year of the project. maybe i am unknowingly drawn to them.

anyway, sonia was very sweet. she had such a pleasant and warm personality that she made me forget about the encroaching rain, which is not an easy task. most of the time i feel like i have the same aversion to rain as the wicked witch of the west from the wizard of oz. well, we parted ways, and i took a seat on the sidewalk to write some notes. i eventually made it home without getting wet, too, which was just great.

thank you, sonia. and welcome to denver!

24 august, 2009

brendan . 23 years old / denver . colorado

i sold my old camera yesterday. the one i bought while in photography school. the one used for the vast majority of this project. it was a good camera. it had been around the world with me. it shot frame after frame after frame with little to no complaint. surprisingly, i wasn't that sad to see it go. so... i took the money from the camera sale to the bank to deposit it in my account this afternoon. i came out of the bank, prepared to look for a stranger, and unlocked my bicycle so i could ride across town and begin the search.

another young guy was locking his bicycle up at the same time and asked me if i could recommend a bicycle shop because he was looking for a "racer". he asked me in an accent and accents always pique my interest. i heart accents. i heart accents dot com? that site would need to have audio. anyway, i pulled out my notebook and wrote down a few bike shops and antique stores and recommended craigslist as the best place to find something. while i was writing, the guy asked me if i was an architect or a designer. i told him i wasn't and asked why he asked. it was because of my notebook - i use a moleskine notebook with graph boxes instead of lines. i told him i just prefer the boxes to lines. then... it dawned on me that maybe i should ask this guy to be today's stranger. i told him i was a photographer and i was working on this project...

brendan obliged. he said he was "happy to return the favor" and held up the paper i had just given him with the bicycle shop information. it turns out that he is irish. i keep a special place in my heart for ireland because it is the first european country i visited and, as such, it is the reason i went back across the pond. brendan studied architecture in dublin, which is home to world class architectural schools. i knew a girl in denmark who went to dublin to study for some time and had heard from her that it was great. he found his way to denver by way of a girlfriend. a local denver girl studied over there, they met, he finished school, made the steps to get a visa, and is now looking for steady work here. i suppose the rest is history, but i'll be curious to know how it all turns out.

we stood outside the bank for quite some time and just chatted. it was so easy. we had plenty to talk about. brendan told me about some photography projects he had been following and recapped a think outside the box convention for architects and other creatives that sounded just wonderful. i need to be around some "think outside the box" people... i get so stuck in my routines. it drives me crazy!

our conversation was so much more casual than it is usually is and that resulted in my forgetting to ask brendan to sign the model release. fortunately, it took me a long time to write the notes about our interaction. brendan had gone into an office to drop of his resumé and was returning to his bicycle when i was getting ready to leave. we chatted for a few more minutes and then went our separate ways. it seems that today's stranger was handed to me on a silver platter. i liked that. i needed that.

thank you, man. i hope you find a good job soon.

23 august, 2009

annie . 56 years old / denver . colorado

i met a friend of mine for a very late lunch. i grabbed my gear before leaving my apartment, hoping to find a stranger while out with her (this friend is, incidentally, one of the strangers). we walked around for a little while before eventually deciding on a mexican restaurant a few blocks away. after lunch, we ventured down to the mall street to look into what movies were playing. on our way, i mentioned something about not liking sundays. i was referring to the fact that on sundays the streets are quiet... people are doing family things or churchy things or just personal things. my friend asked me what sundays ever did to me. it was supposed to be a simple and meaningless question, but i thought about it for a second and then realized that sundays have caused me worlds of pain. thinking back, most of the sundays of my life were spent in church. long story short, i'm not big on church these days. and this is what makes today's stranger interaction so wonderful.

before making our way to the movie listing, my friend went into a store to do some shopping. we had just walked by a green wall and, nearby, a black woman sitting at a table, talking on her phone, dressed in a very similar color green. i decided to take a seat at a table a few feet away while my friend shopped. and i waited for this woman to get off the phone so i could ask her to be today's stranger. after maybe 10 minutes she hung up and i approached her with my spiel.

she wanted to know why her. of all the people around, why her? she wasn't enthusiastic about it. and i think she had a fair amount of skepticism, but she was gracious enough to tell me that she would wait for her daughter to come over and listen to my story to see if i could be trusted. she invited me to sit down beside her while we waited for her daughter to come out of a nearby store. she told me her name was annie and she asked me a few questions about the project. after a few minutes her daughter and granddaughter came by and listened as i re-explained what i was up to. they gave us the ok and we set to work with the model release. i told them the release specifically states that i can't do anything defamatory or pornographic with the photos and they all thought that was excellent. annie's daughter said that was good because annie was a pastor and it wouldn't look so good having those kinds of pictures floating around. a pastor, huh? of all the days...

annie is the pastor of two non-denominational christian churches, one in littleton, colorado, and one in north carolina, where she is from. i asked her how she liked being a pastor. i assumed that being a pastor would be stressful, but annie didn't find it to be. annie told me it was a good calling because there are a lot of people out there in need of something. she look at me intently and said she didn't have much to give today because she was feeling pretty tired. she said a lot with that look...

after a minute or two of chatting, i asked annie to stand up and stand over by the green wall. she wasn't thrilled about getting up, or being photographed, or giving me her age, but she did all three with a good attitude. she was great. her daughter and granddaughter were chiding her to change her facial expression while i photographed her, but i thought she was just perfect. i shot quickly so they could be on their way as i felt i had taken up enough of their time already. i told them about the show and said goodbye to the threesome. as annie was about to walk away, she grabbed my hand and looked me straight in the eye (straight to my soul?) and told me that i was going to be ok. and that good things were going to come my way sooner than i might think. there was so much warmth in this moment... a warmth that is difficult to put words to.

i did not want to meet a stranger today. i was/am so exhausted. i didn't have anything to give anyone. and i wasn't prepared for hearing anyone else's story. i don't know what happens when it is time to shoot. i don't know why i picked annie. i don't know why she happened to be a pastor. and i don't know how she was able to strike chords in me that nearly brought me to tears. but... today is another day that rings loudly of serendipity. it's a lot to take in. a lot to think about.

thank you so much, annie. you are a saint.

22 august, 2009

tobi . 59 years old / denver . colorado

i took a bicycle ride to a few different thrift/antique stores to look for treasures and clear my head. i managed to find an old polaroid camera that had exposures left in it (a very big deal!). excited about the purchase, and celebrating my 6 month anniversary in denver, and keeping my eyes peeled for strangers, i started pedaling back towards familiar territory.

i hadn't made it far when i realized i had a flat tire. that was a major drag. i was really far away from a place to fix such a problem and even farther away from my apartment. so... i started walking. i made it a few blocks and then saw a café and bakery across the street. i had never seen it before, or hadn't paid attention to it if i had. i wasn't up for the hike just then, so i decided that i needed more caffeine and maybe a little bite to eat.

i locked my flat bike outside and made my way into a very quaint mom & pop style coffee shop. the people working inside were wonderful and the woman caught my eye as a potential stranger, but she was working and i didn't feel like making a big scene, so i took my food and beverage outside to relax in the shade.

after sitting out there for maybe 10 minutes, the woman came outside, too. they had a break in customers and one of the girls working at the café was outside watering the plants, so she came out to investigate. i took that as my opportunity and told the woman what i was up. she was very very kind. she said she was flattered that i would ask, but tried to pawn me off on the younger woman who was watering the plants. i pushed a bit because i felt like she was up for the task and my efforts paid off.

tobi was all smiles. she was happy to participate. her and her partner, clark, have been running the "buffalo doughboy bakery" for 6 years. tobi maintains another job, working in administration of some kind, while clark is the full-time baker. clark came outside while i was photographing tobi and the three of us chatted for a while. it was so great. the two of them were terribly sweet. people came and went and tobi was sure to introduce me to her friends. clark talked to me about his days as a photographer's assistant in new york city and we chatted about polaroids and film and studios. it was wonderful.

i left the bakery with a couple new friends and a whole new outlook on the long walk that still remained in front of me. if you are in the neighborhood of lincoln street and dakota avenue, please take a few minutes to treat yourself to something tasty from the buffalo doughboy. and say hi to tobi and clark for me.

tobi, thank you so much for being such a warm person. i'll see you again soon.

21 august, 2009

mike . 62 years old / denver . colorado

another packed day. i mounted 9 weeks of this project to foam core. i worked at my regular job. i processed yesterday's photo. in the early evening i finally set out to look for the day's stranger. i swung by city o' city and then heard from a friend and decided to meet her up in the highlands. the highlands is a beautiful part of town that sits above the city. it functions as its own organism, which is great and not great. not great because i think it tends to keep the people that live there up there. and great because perhaps those people don't want to leave in the first place. for me, it is a long, up-hill bike ride, which is not necessarily good or bad. anyway... now that you can write a report on the highlands, let's move on.

i met my friend for a cold beverage at a place called "common grounds". i had a mango ceylon flavored iced tea, which didn't last very long and we traded some stories about our day and then set out together to double team the streets in search of a stranger. it's exciting to shoot in an area of town i am not familiar with. a nice challenge. a break from the mold. we walked a few blocks until we came across this gorgeous green wall. i decided to hang out there until the right person walked by. i passed up a couple potentials and then stood there for a long time as the sun was setting and the people that were passing by became few and far between. this green wall was just aching to be photographed, though, so i couldn't leave it. if i were completely honest, i would say that i started getting anxious. and i am completely honest...

just when i thought all hope was lost, i saw an older gentleman walking towards us with two basset hounds. as he neared, i approached him and told him what i was up to. he smiled immediately and seemed amused with the idea. without asking many questions, he agreed to be today's stranger. he told me his name was mike and introduced me to dilly and daisy, his adopted 12 year old hounds. before getting too far into our conversation, mike asked me how i felt about the project. just like that, "how do you feel about it?" i had no idea what to say... but i liked the question. a lot. i feel everything there is to feel. i feel encouraged and inspired. i feel awful. i feel sad. challenged. privileged. i feel inadequate. fortunate. i feel dutiful. i feel all of this and much more, but i didn't say any of that.

mike works in community development. i am not sure what his daily routine looks like, but it quickly became a non-issue. he works with people and tries to make things better. that was what stood out to me about his job. mike was so gentle. he had a warm smile. a soul-reaching smile. he spoke softly and carefully. his eyes were glowing. he talked about strangers, about how there are plenty of forgotten and overlooked people out there. i told mike that while there are plenty of the obviously forgotten (maybe that is an oxymoron), i looked at this project as a way to get to know the people that i walk by every day and don't know anything about. and then he talked about how americans, specifically, are strangers in one way or another because we aren't from here... we don't belong. we all came here for one reason or another... to flee persecution or to start over or we were sold here or we needed some adventure, but we are all here now. and we are strangers to each other.

mike was necessarily warm. i say necessarily because meeting him was exactly what i needed. i am feeling the last year in a big way. i have been looking through all of the photos from the past months and preparing them for physical presentation and just thinking about all that has happened. the day to day, the months, the events and activities, the joys and letdowns... it is a bit overwhelming, really. mike kept a huge smile while we spoke and he told me i was doing a good thing. a "good thing". yeah... i really needed that.

thank you, mike.

20 august, 2009

willis . 21 years old / boulder . colorado

for a change of pace i decided to take a trip out of denver today. a friend of mine has been working on preparing a new art supply store in boulder and today was the soft opening, so i figured i'd head that way. see some new strangers, say hey to a friend, get out of the city, blah blah blah.

i pulled up to a stop light just after arriving in boulder and was looking around, taking it all in. i was ready to get out of the car and be done with traffic, but wasn't quite there. a vehicle pulled up beside me in the next lane. i glanced over for no particular reason and was yawning as i noticed that the man and woman occupants of said vehicle were both looking at my car. i figured i was about to hear a short story about how the guy's father used to have the same car and they used to go on fishing trips in it or something charming like that. it happens. it's a cool car. it's an old car. stories ensue. well... i must have forgotten that i was in boulder because the guy yells over to me, "bad rings, man!". i have no idea what he is talking about. i say, "rings?". he says, "yeah." i say, "what are rings?", then he condescendingly chuckles to himself and mutters out words like "pollution" and "emissions" and "your car" and "get it looked at". i just looked away.

ok, so boulder is proud of themselves for having clean air. that is great. here is the funny part of the story. my car is old. 31 years old. and it has license plates on it from the state of maine. maine is about 2,100 miles away from colorado. this weekend happens to be the weekend that students arrive back at school. boulder is a college town. and a small town. so the people who live in boulder know that this weekend is back to school weekend. so... with all of that said, this guy sees my car, sees my plates, and somehow completely ignores the fact that it is likely i may have just driven across the country to arrive on campus and study for the next 4 months and instead concentrates solely on the faint blue smoke that occasionally leaks out from my tail pipe. i don't heart that guy. stranger or not. and... what are "rings"?

i eventually arrive to my buddy's store and we walk around town and grab a bite to eat. then he goes back to work and i decided to look for a stranger. a few minutes into the process, i noticed a young guy in a tank top with dreaded hair. he looked interesting enough, so i tell him what i am up to. he initially agrees, so we begin the process. he is 18. he is visiting his sister. he is from santa barbara, california. but he eventually hesitates and tells me he is just not comfortable with this because he does not know me. i didn't even bother reminding him that the whole point of this is that we didn't know each other.

a while later i was standing in front of a window i wanted to use and i spotted this guy walking up the street with ice cream in one hand and a leash with a dog on the end of it in the other. he had sunglasses on and long hair and looked pretty casual, but was struggling to keep the dog close to him and away from pedestrians. the scene wasn't comedic, but it did lighten my mood a bit. as the duo neared, i decided to give them my pitch and see if they were down with being the day's stranger.

the dog didn't seem to care either way, but the dude was concerned with what it is was for. "is this for a cause?" i told him it wasn't for a "cause"... well... it was for my own cause... of slowing down and saying hi and shaking hands and being nice and all that. apparently that didn't qualify as the kind of cause he was hoping to avoid, so he agreed to it. he made sure it wasn't going to take a long time and that his dog could be in the photos, too, and then we set to it.

so... this is willis. he told me "will" at first, then "william" for his email address, but seemed liked he wanted to be called "willis". and his dog's name is "tate" (also "the tate", "tater", "tates", and a few more affectionate nicknames). tate is not a pitbull, but is a staffordshire terrier. tate is very friendly (but "looks mean") and likes to be pet under his chin on his neck. willis is studying economics at the university of colorado at boulder, but comes from connecticut (another east coaster). he seemed like the kind of guy that takes it nice and easy. there are plenty of days that i want to take my dog for a walk and go buy an ice cream together... but i don't have a dog. that bums me out.

i took some photos of willis and then a few of he and tate "chilling out" and then we wrapped up our encounter. i took some notes and said goodbye to my buddy and then got stuck in traffic on the highway for a lot longer than it usually takes to make the whole trip. by the time i arrived back in denver i was exhausted.

thank you willis. and thank you, too, tate. i hope the semester is good to both of you.

19 august, 2009

frank . 66 years old / denver . colorado

i went out in search of another male stranger today. the weather was beautiful. i wasn't in a hurry. i felt slightly motivated. things were already better than usual. i made my way down 13th avenue not sure where i would end up.

there is a wall i have been wanting to use for weeks and today there happened to be a man standing against it. he was reading a paper and smoking a cigarette. i walked up behind up and told him what i was up to. he had white hair and these really great round, tortoise shell spectacles. he didn't have time.

i made my way down by the judicial building and saw a younger professional guy step outside. he was holding onto a plastic bag and looked like he had a few minutes to kill. he laughed and said he didn't really have time... he was just outside on a short break taking in some fresh air.

down broadway i went, with the financial district as my destination. i saw a man sitting at a table by himself outside of a starbucks coffee shop. he laughed, too, and said he didn't like being photographed. fair enough.

i eventually ended up near the entrance to a vast building. i am not sure what all of the offices inside contain, but there are plenty of them in there. and it is the building where i sometimes go to utilize my banking services. there is quite a lot of foot traffic there and a large cream colored wall was sitting perfectly in the shade. i decided i wanted to shoot there, so i stood around trying to look casual. i almost went up to a couple of guys, but for one reason or another i ruled them out.

after a minute or two, i spotted this older gentleman walking towards me. he was wearing a cowboy hat, a denver broncos tee shirt, a red track jacket, dress slacks and shoes, and he was walking with a cane. i usually wouldn't approach people that fit that description. i don't have a fast answer for why that is. maybe because i don't want people to think that i am exploiting their individualism - although i guess that is precisely what i am doing every day. some people wear shirts and ties, some blouses, while others wear sports bras and running shorts. this man was wearing a broncos tee and a cowboy hat. and i told myself that is ok.

i approached him and told him what i was up to. he listened to me and just nodded his head. i wasn't sure where this was going to go because he wasn't talking. i was a little nervous. then, when i had said all i needed to and put a direct question out there, he said "ok." ok... well... great! perfect, i thought. this is just perfect.

we made our way into the shade and i asked frank if he would sign a model release. he didn't mind. he doesn't have internet access, but i told him to take my card anyway in hopes that he'll come across someone who can show him the project. when i was ready to take some pictures he said, "now, i don't smile." i told him that was just fine. i skipped my diatribe about not really liking smiling photos anyway.

i asked frank what he was doing today. he said, "walking." then i asked him if he was retired. yes. and what he used to do. he said, "hotel." with a bit more prodding, he told me that he used to clean hotels. then i asked him if he was a broncos fan (for the record, i am not). he said he wasn't. then, maybe because he remembered what he was wearing, he told me that the tee shirt was special because it was from his brother. he was very sweet. so soft spoken. and he seemed very gentle. we didn't have much more to say, so frank made his way down the street.

i stood there looking at some of the pictures when a woman quickly approached me, "sir, may i ask what you are doing?" i told her i was taking some photographs of strangers. she didn't care. "not on my property.", she said. she pointed to the rest of the world and said i could photograph anywhere out there, but not right here. i asked her if it would be fine if i put my camera away and took some notes. she seemed fine with that, but she said, "just don't approach anybody." i agreed to not and she left, but i stood there thinking about how ridiculous it was. can you imagine what the world would be like if people suddenly took to "approaching" other people? chaos. complete disorder. anarchy, maybe? oh well. i did what i needed to do and left the cold financial district behind me in cloud of approaching strangers.

frank, if you manage to look into this project somehow, thank you!

18 august, 2009

kevin . 35 years old / denver . colorado

i met with a good friend for breakfast and then made my way to city o' city to grab a coffee. i wasn't quite ready to look for strangers, but figured i would be after some caffeine. i pulled up a seat at the bar to spend a little time with ayn rand, but the weather started looking formidable. i drank my coffee a bit quicker than i wanted to and then made my way outside. the sky to the west was darkening by the second and it was pretty obvious that we were going to get a bit wet.

i needed to photograph a male today. it had to happen. i asked one guy who was in until i mentioned 'model release'. he said he 'wasn't a model' and he was 'too strange' anyway. i asked another guy who was on his way to a 1.00 meeting. it was a few minutes before 1.00 and he looked the part, so i didn't protest. i had no idea if the soon coming storm was going to last the rest of the day or if it would be fleeting, but i really felt like photographing while i knew i could. i was scouting. frantically is probably too strong a word, but i was intent.

this cheery looking guy was making his way across the street towards where i was camped out. as he neared, i told him what i was up to. he chuckled a bit and agreed to be the day's stranger. just after kevin decided to humor me, a loud clap of thunder sounded overhead. we talked and signed releases and exchanged names at a pretty good pace. i asked a few questions as chit chat, but kevin was hesitant to answer, fearing everything he said might end up on the website. i told him i would respect his wishes and not disclose any information he wasn't comfortable with.

we agreed to say that kevin is a social worker and leave it at that. he hasn't been out here in denver very long... east coasters moving west seems to be a recurring theme. he had a big grin on his face the entire time i photographed him. i assumed it was because he felt awkward and not because he was having the time of his life. and he confirmed that. i'll give him and all the other strangers a lot of credit for opening up and putting themselves in the vulnerable situation that is standing on the street, talking, and allowing a stranger to make pictures of them. thank you, kevin. i hope you missed the storm.

17 august, 2009

calie . 32 years old / denver . colorado

while downtown waiting for more photos to print, i decided to walk around and look for strangers. rain had been threatening all day. clouds would roll in and then the sun would break through them. i was hoping for no rain, but figured i should shoot while i could.

i wandered around a few blocks, but was coming up with nothing. i eventually made my way to the mall street and found an alley i wanted to use. i felt nervous though and knew i would have a hard time stopping people. i was hoping to photograph a male today because my numbers are a bit heavier on the women's side. however, as i was standing there in the alley, i spotted a woman sitting across the street, reading a book. i tried to ignore her and focus on finding a guy, but i couldn't.

i made my way towards her and interrupted her reading to ask if she would be a part of this project. calie very pleasantly asked what that entailed. i told her i needed a bit of information and some photos and that was it. she agreed, so i sat down beside her to begin our exchange. calie was born here in colorado, but grew up in connecticut. she moved back many years ago and has been working as a file clerk at a law office for many years. i think she may have said 11, but i am second guessing my memory. taking advantage of a rare east coast connection, i told her i moved out here from boston not so long ago. then she told me she was going out to cape cod in about a month for a vacation. the cape is gorgeous, for the record.

we took some photos and then said goodbye. i invited her to the show - it would be so nice to have the place filled with "strangers". and that was it. the last couple of interactions have not been particularly strong. that makes me a little bit sad, as i can attribute it to being worn a bit thin in other areas of my life and a bit too eager to understand the greater purpose of hearting strangers. this project has a hold on me, and i try very hard to make the very best of it every day.

anyway... there was something very endearing about the way calie was huddled over her book in a grungy alley on an overcast day. the city was moving forward and the mall street was buzzing far too fast and then there was callie, lost in a world of words. thank you for your time today. i hope to see you again.

16 august, 2009

rachel . 29 years old / denver . colorado

i really can't say that i am waking up every morning feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and bursting at the seems to go photograph another stranger. i am tired. it has been 343 straight days of photographing strangers. and these days, meeting and photographing the stranger is the easy part of the day. i have been spending so much time preparing for the "end of the year" and the show that will be going up in two weeks that i am struggling to live in the day and the moment, which is one of the many reasons i am doing this project. to appreciate the now. to slow down. i am lousy at taking my own advice.

today i had to photograph a stranger before photographing one hundred more strangers at an evening wedding. i grabbed an iced coffee and wandered, eventually heading towards the library and museum where a woman in blue, who also appeared to be wandering, caught my eye. i made my way towards her and gave her the usual pitch.

rachel seemed excited about the project and very quickly agreed to be today's stranger. she moved here just a week and a half ago from madison, wisconsin, to attend denver university's law school. she made the trip out here without an apartment, but said she found one right away near her campus.

when i found her, she was looking for the entrance to the denver public library, which is a gorgeous building with a different look to every side of it. i can understand why someone might not know exactly how to get in. i pointed rachel in the right direction and we chatted for a few minutes. she was very friendly and had a warmth to her that perhaps comes from places like madison. she's a bit overwhelmed by denver's size, but i told her that it would start feeling much smaller in no time.

and that was that. another day. another stranger. another step closer to enlightenment? it doesn't feel like it, but maybe one never knows.

thank you, rachel!

15 august, 2009

liz . 31 years old / denver . colorado

i set out looking for today's stranger quite late. my day started late to begin with (i won't say why) and i had some other things to take care of before i could shoot. it felt great to walk around when i did, though. i wasn't rushed at all. denver was quiet today. unusually so, considering it was a beautiful saturday evening. maybe the whole town is at some big event i wasn't invited to and didn't even know about. i don't know.

i strolled around for a while, on no particular course. i walked by the library and the museum and ended up on acoma street, which is one i don't necessarily frequent. a vast, light red, worn brick building caught my eye, so i made my way towards it, hoping someone would be hanging around near it and be ready to be part of this project. as i approached, i realized it was unlikely i was going to run into anybody. i noticed a couple of men sitting on a stone wall across the street, but based on the crowd i've seen in that spot in the past, i decided to just let them do their own thing. i walked by the red wall and then was intrigued by the facade of the same building. it was very old... white and green with old signs hosting very worn phone numbers and advertising "one bedrooms & buffets". i had never seen a residence advertising buffets before. i liked it. i like old buildings. their character. their quirks. their history.

as i walked by, i noticed that some people were standing in the hallway and looked as if they might be coming outside soon. i paced outside for a minute or two to wait for them to come out. i wanted to ask them if they knew of any vacancies. a young couple came outside and looked as if they were about to take some phone pictures. the woman had a very classy vintage bicycle and was dressed sharply. i asked them about the building and we chatted briefly, then i left them. but... i stopped myself. i figured this was a good opportunity to use the red wall. the woman's bicycle was so great. her green shirt would go so well with the other colors. so all of that got the best of me. i turned back towards them and gave them my spiel.

liz and her husband (sam? is that right?) recently moved here from dallas, texas. liz was on her way to work at forever 21 and wasn't exactly thrilled about it. i think i can understand why. she only had a few minutes before she had to go, so we worked quickly. because we didn't have a lot of time to chat, i didn't learn too much from/about them. i do know that liz just bought her bicycle today and was very happy with it, especially because of its old bell. and liz and sam (i hope that is his name) seemed like a very sweet and loving couple.

while we were taking some photos, one of the guys from across the street came over to ask us if he could use a telephone. he had some story about why he needed it, but i was "working" and concentrating on taking pictures and chatting with liz. i thought maybe the guy would go back to the other side of the street where his beverage and friend were waiting for him, but he didn't. he waited until we were through and then asked me if he could use my phone for just a minute. i decide against it. i don't know why. maybe that makes me a lousy person and a hypocrite. maybe i don't heart all strangers. hmmm....

anyway. thank you, liz. i hope work didn't suck the life out of you. and i hope i'll see you and your man at the show opening.

14 august, 2009

calvin . 74 years old / denver . colorado

so i brought a couple hundred photos to the printer today. yes, a couple hundred. and got them back a bit later and they looked sub par. unfortunately i spent the entire day yesterday making sure they would not look sub par. so... that was frustrating. after quite a bit more time, repeated trips to the print shop and my apartment, and some heavy problem solving, we figured things out and reprinted them. while i was waiting for them, i decided to go seek out a stranger.

i walked down the mall street with two intentions: find something wonderful to eat and find someone wonderful to meet. i happened to find someone before something, so i went for it. an older gentleman was standing in the median of the mall street. he had a white beard and a hat and appeared to be sane, a combination i have a tough time ignoring. i scampered over to him and dove into the routine.

he asked me who it was for. where it was going to end up. if there was money involved. you know, the usual suspects. i told him it was for me and my website and that i hoped it would be a book, but that i knew for sure it was going to be in a show at city o' city in september (yeah!) and that there wasn't any money involved. he decided that i passed the test, so he asked me what i needed from him.

we started chatting. he told me his name is calvin. and that he is a clergy. a clergy... is that how you say that? anyway, he is an ordained minister in both the presbyterian and episcopalian churches. and he has been pastoring for 45 years! that is a long time. i am amazed that people have been doing things for longer than i have been alive. he told me that he works in another business, too, but he didn't say what it was and it came at such a time that the comment slipped through the cracks.

i started photographing him but after two frames or so he asked if he could brush his hair. of course he could. so he took out a beard brush out of his pants pocket and stroked his beard a few times. it was one of the most precious things i have ever seen. when he finished, he asked if i minded that he keep his hat on. i told him that of course i didn't mind.

we had a short, very sweet encounter. he left me to continue his daily walk down the mall street and i headed down the street to take some notes. as i was writing, he walked by and patted me on the shoulder and wished me success. it was very affirming and made me feel great. he walked a few paces away and then stopped and excitedly told me that i needed to go around the corner to a barber shop and photograph rudy, who has been barbering there for 25 years and has had governors and mayors and the like as clientele. calvin told me that rudy would for sure let me photograph him. i thanked him for the information and we parted ways again.

i sat there feeling exhausted and hungry, but good. it was refreshing to meet a religious person who didn't feel the need to proselytize. it made me think that calvin has been paying attention to the bible in its entirety instead of focusing on the parts that encourage you to run around proclaiming doom on this dreary god-forsaken world.

thank you, calvin. thank you very much.

13 august, 2009

anita . 58 years old / denver . colorado

for the rest of this first year of strangers, i am going to be a busy guy. a very busy guy. and i am going to try my hardest to not be a stressed out and overwhelmed busy guy. today i was stressed out. and overwhelmed. and busy. i left wolf camera after a brainstorming session with a friend down there and wasn't feeling particularly keen on taking pictures, but knew it had to be done. so i pedaled through the streets, taking my time, looking out for today's friend.

i spotted a beautiful building with great colors and thought i would like to use it as the backdrop. just after making that decision, i saw a woman coming towards me from across the street. i pulled my bike around and told her what i was doing and asked if she might be interested in being photographed. i am not sure she was very interested in it, but she went for it anyway. and she was wonderful.

anita told me she would usually never do something like this and couldn't understand why she agreed to it today. i liked hearing that. i prefer it to the super skepticism that i often encounter. she joked with me about having the opportunity to go home and fix her hair before the photos and asked if she could keep her sunglasses on. i vetoed the hair fixing, but told her she could wear her glasses for the second shot if it made her more comfortable.

anita works from home, running her own software designing business. she has been working for herself in that field since the early 90s. i was impressed with the foresight she had to start working in the computer world back then. i am not sure i even really had a concept of a computer in the early 90s. i was too busy playing cowboys and native americans (indians) in the woods, using sticks as guns, and pretending i could communicate with all the animals.

anita has two children, both adults now, a son whose details have escaped me, and a daughter who just passed the BAR exam in california, but is struggling to find work in this tumultuous economy. and her husband is the editorial cartoonist for the denver post. i am sure they have their kinks, but anita's family situation seemed idyllic. i imagine them all getting along quite nicely. anita was very sweet and had a ready smile and a good laugh. she had a lot of life in her eyes and managed to pull me out of my funk... at least temporarily. the last thing i'd like to note about anita is that she has some very similar facial features to my own mother. i thought that was a lovely surprise.

thank you for saying yes today, anita.

12 august, 2009

donna . 57 years old / denver . colorado

i had a meeting at city o' city today at 4.30. and... it looks like i heart strangers will be having a one month exhibition there in september! this is wonderful news. so very exciting. i'll be mentioning it again, but mark it on your calendars. if you are in denver in the month of september, you must pay a visit. deal?

after the meeting i rode my bike down to south broadway to look for today's stranger. i saw a friend of mine running down the sidewalk with an adorable little girl, so i talked to them for a few minutes. then i ran into another new friend of mine and we talked for a minute or two about this apartment that is for rent on broadway. we were about to chat it up for a few minutes and look at the place, but i was on my way to see another friend and i still needed to find a stranger, so i had to take a rain check. i rode my bike another block or two and then spotted a lone woman making her way through a crosswalk. it also impressed me all the steps that lead up to meeting the day's stranger.

i pulled my bicycle over and excused myself and began telling the woman what i was up to. she started laughing and asked me if i was serious. i told her i was. we were in the street, so i hopped off my bike and we moved to the sidewalk and she immediately started asking me all kinds of questions about the project. why am i doing it? where does it end up? am i on twitter? what do i do for work? how did i end up doing that? she was very friendly and i was enjoying the questions and the conversation we were diving into.

we eventually made introductions and donna told me that she used to be a photography instructor at the art institute. she is now working as a business coach and told me she had been asking me those questions to see if she might be able to help me. she prefers working with "solopreneurs" and artists, but finds that they rarely want to pay her for her services. i suggested that it is maybe the case that they can't pay her. i know i don't have any "extra" money laying around. but i supposed it is all about priorities. right now it is easier for me to photograph strangers every day than it is to get a photography business off the ground. maybe when i can find some solid ground to stand on i will call on donna to show me the ropes.

donna did not like being photographed at all. i told her i could sympathize with that completely. she was visibly nervous in front of the camera, but she was so very sweet and her kindness overshadows her bashfulness in the photos. we chatted for a few more minutes after i put the camera away. she was on her way to return a book to the library, so she eventually left me. but as she walked away she told me she liked this project very much and was looking forward to following it. that warmed my heart.

thank you so much for your time today, donna!

11 august, 2009

dave . 63 years old / denver . colorado

while rose and orange do not usually accompany each other, it is sometimes the nature of this strangers beast to make do with what i've got. today it was either a book shop window, which i didn't want to use, or the orange wall. i took my time looking for strangers today, but was very casual about it. i looked while i did just about everything else. i faced another rejection (shocking!) from a gentleman who had spoken to me several times while perusing through the aisles at goodwill, but he was nice about it, too. when i saw dave, though, things happened very quickly.

he was crossing the street towards me, so i excused myself and gave him the usual pitch. he said, "sure". but that one word answer set the tone for the rest of the conversation. dave was not overly talkative. maybe he was skeptical of what i was doing. or maybe he was in a rush, as he was just on his lunch break. or maybe he just didn't feel like talking. i don't know. he was very nice. his silence was not rude by any stretch of the imagination.

i did find out that he is the administrator for a school here in denver and has held that position for the last four years. as he left me, i told him to look at the project on line. he told me he would. and that was that. thank you, dave.

10 august, 2009

harry . 53 years old / denver . colorado

someone just now asked me a question about this project: "what are the viewers supposed to get from it?" so... i told them that there are as many answers to that as there are people who ask. i am not sure what you are supposed to get from it. but i do hope you get something from it. the question did not sit that well with me, but it has only been a few minutes, so maybe a profound answer and all kinds of clarity will come to me later.

in complete contrast, i told someone else last night that this was exactly what i was supposed to be doing. it may not look exactly as it would if it were perfect, but i am striving for that... for perfection, whatever that means. so... i am doing exactly what i "should" be doing and i don't have an answer for what you are "supposed to get from it". that is disconcerting.

i asked an older man today if he'd be today's stranger. i almost didn't ask him, but decided the worst that could happen would be rejection, while the best would be another interesting story, so i went for it. i got a rejection. a few minutes later, i asked a couple of older gentleman if either of them would be interested in being today's stranger. one of them answered for both of them by saying his friend had just landed from a long flight and they'd rather not. he said they would be back around the area later, though. then he recommended that i go photograph some homeless people downtown or hang out by the hotels because there were lots of strangers there. i didn't do either of those things after i left them.

i did put some air in my bicycle tires, though. and while doing so, i saw another older man making some adjustments to his bicycle. i asked him to be today's stranger and he said he didn't like being photographed... especially by strangers. ha ha. that was a fitting response.

i was hoping to shoot an older man today... but it wasn't going smoothly. at all. i got back on my bicycle and started towards capitol hill. after riding a few blocks down lincoln street, i spotted a tall, older black guy walking down the street in athletic clothing. i passed him and then pulled off into the entrance to the parking lot of a news center to meet him. i really wasn't looking for another no.

harry was up for the task. he was in the market for some new photos anyway because he is updating the flyer he uses to promote his personal training business. he's been working out since he was in his early 20s and is still looking pretty fit. he was proud of that. he said he makes his own diet and eats healthy and works out. i am guessing he works out a lot. in the late 90s he went to school to become a personal trainer and has been doing that for a few years now. he said the summer time is slow because people are out doing their own thing, but his business picks up in the winter. to stay afloat he is working a couple other part time jobs, but he didn't mention what they were.

he was a nice guy. he didn't have a lot to say by way of chit chat, but he wasn't rude or standoffish either. he doesn't use the internet, a statement that surprises me every time i hear it, so he asked me to mail him a copy of the photos. i can do that.

thanks for your time today, harry.

09 august, 2009

levi . 27 years old / denver . colorado

i had to be out looking for strangers pretty early today because i had a late morning "meeting" that was going to continue for hours. it's sunday, but i hadn't really thought about what that meant until i got outside and discovered absolute peace and quiet. there were no people around. denver might as well have been a ghost town. i walked and walked and walked...

i came across a guy at the library who was nice enough to listen to my spiel, but turned me down while laughing a little. it wasn't a rude laugh... more of a "good luck to you on your crazy endeavor" kind of laugh. a while later i saw a couple of older gentleman. they were taking pictures of some brass cattle beside the museum. i went up to them and told them what i was up to. one of them told me they were not from here in a such a way that he probably figured would make me leave them alone. it didn't. i pressed on. it turns out the two gentleman were from france and one of them couldn't make any decisions on his own. he relayed everything i said to his partner in a french whisper. in the end, the duo turned me down.

i guess it had been over an hour when i finally decided to head back to city o' city to get some iced coffee. i might not be able to control whether or not i can photograph a stranger, but i can get myself some coffee. a guy needs his coffee. about halfway through the morning pick-me-up, i saw a young man standing outside, finishing his cigarette. i went over to him and gave him the rundown. he agreed to be the day's stranger with no hesitation. what a relief!

levi just moved back to denver a few days ago. he lived here for many years, but spent the entire last year living in bozeman, montana. he moved up there to spend some time getting to know his sister's family. i thought that was remarkable. i'd guess levi and i have had very different family experiences. he spent a lot of time alone, too. i've spent some time alone here and there, but don't necessarily enjoy it. for a job, he trained people who work with water purification. i have no idea what kind of background you need for something like that. i asked him what he was going to do now that he was back here in denver. i assumed it would be something similar, but i was off. he is going to be working as a graphic designer.

levi was very soft spoken and seemed like a wonderfully gentle man. his eyes were very clear, like maybe he knows something i don't about this life and how to get along in it. i hope i'll bump into him again so he can either correct me or give me the secret. thank you for your time today, man.

08 august, 2009

shannon . 31 years old / denver . colorado

this was a day to remember. let's talk about it.

i used my last model release yesterday. i try to not use the last because then i don't have one to photocopy. photocopying something is a difficult task for me because it is just a little bit too practical. like going grocery shopping or buying stamps. well... printing is even more of a drag because i have to bring a digital file somewhere. it is easiest to transport digital files via a thumb drive, which is not ordinarily a problem, but i gave mine away. so... i needed to purchase one today. i grabbed some coffee and a bite to eat and then made my way towards the cherry creek mall - a terribly depressing mammoth structure full of a bunch of manipulative garbage marked with extremely high prices. inside this hellish place is a little taste of heaven, the apple store. i knew they had thumb drives and i knew they had external hard drives of the larger variety. i needed both, so i bought both. my days of suffering from lost data are nearly over. hooray!

while at the apple store, i received a text message from my friend kinsey, inviting me to meet her and some other friends for brunch. i had already decided today would be a work only day, but that fell through the cracks at the first sign of something more exciting. i made my way across town, transferred some files onto my new storage devices, printed some model releases and then met up with kinsey and company and made some new friends. it was just lovely. one of these new friends had something very special going on and i wasn't quite ready to walk away from it. we sat and chatted for a while after the others left and then went outside to continue. she would have made a perfect stranger, but because we were introduced by mutual friends and because we had already talked about the project, she no longer qualified. sad, but true. we parted ways and i went on my stranger hunt.

i absentmindedly walked around for a while, chatting on the phone and gawking about. soon after realizing i really needed to focus on the task at hand, i saw a woman walking towards me. it was her hair that caught my eye. it was the kind of hair that someone with a ready smile would have. light spirited hair. fun hair. i was sold. i excused myself and told her what i was up to and apparently she was sold, too. shannon immediately told me about a project she had just seen with a similar theme: a photographer photographed strangers on the street, but held the subject's hand while taking their picture. interesting... but i don't think i will try it. she later told me of another project she had seen which involved the photographer taking two photographs of one subject - one fully clothed and one fully not clothed (naked). also interesting... and also probably not something i will try. imagine 365 days of naked strangers, though.

shannon had just been in goodwill, buying some recycled items. she said she wasn't supposed to be buying anything, but shopping at goodwill was "guiltless" because she was saving stuff from going to the landfills and supporting a good cause. she has a very good point. shop at goodwill, people. do it.

i really enjoyed meeting shannon today. she was just as friendly as i thought she was going to be when her hair caught my attention. she didn't rush me or seem uncomfortable. she had a very wonderful confidence that was contagious. i felt comfortable around her and very happy to be still working on this project. today marks the eleven month anniversary, by the way!

she spends her work days doing something i don't fully understand. i really need to take notes during conversation or bring an audio recorder along. maybe i can get some fancy james bond device, but one that doesn't transform into something dangerous and life threatening. anyway, her job has something to do with helping put legislation into practice. i think. and it has something to do with the environment. i remembered the environment part because her former job had to do with oil, which is pretty much anti-environment. well, she said she liked her job and i would guess that she is quite good at it.

shannon and i parted ways and i ducked into goodwill for a quick pass through and then went over to my bicycle to sit down and take some notes about our interaction. just as i started, a woman walked by and asked if i was writing about her. i smiled and said that i wasn't. she smiled. then i asked if she wanted me to. she said she did. so... here it is. while i sat and wrote, she sat a few feet away and talked with a friend. when i was finished, i walked up to the two of them and introduced myself and told them what i was up to and gave them an iheartstrangers.com card and said i would write about them later. i have seen one of them before, but never met her... caroline is her name. she is very nice. the other one, the one i was supposed to write about, is kelly. kelly had a pretty dress and cowboy boots on. i don't know much more about them, but i am mentioning it because these kinds of interactions (of which i had plenty today) are what i live for. i want to know people. all about them. and i want to take pictures of them. and tell you about them.

thanks for reading such a long piece today. and thank you to so many people that made today so wonderful.

07 august, 2009

genna . 42 years old / denver . colorado

i met a friend for a tasty lunch at watercourse on 17th avenue. i first met this person while putting up some of the pictures from this project outside of city o' city and then again at the camera obscura gallery behind the museum. we decided to meet up and chat. i wasn't sure if it was going to be a strictly photography themed meeting or not. it turned out to be a lunch and a chat about whatever came through our minds and out of our mouths. it was great. i brought my gear with me, so after our meal, we set out together to look for today's stranger. there are times when i think that maybe the "stranger" of the day should be someone i have a really great interaction with. but that might lead me to having ulcers and heart attacks and things like that because of the potential of not meeting someone really great every day. ah well... i digress.

we made a loop around a few blocks, but came up with nothing. there weren't many people around and no people around the places that i wanted to use as backgrounds. we eventually ended up near where we started and i found a wall i thought would work. while waiting on the street corner, though, i spotted an older gentleman across the street, making his way into a fine foods grocery store. i took off across the street and approached him as calmly and sanely as i could after running at him. i told him what i was up to and he agreed to be today's stranger. so... we made introductions, talked about his occupation, i wrote down his name, gave him my card, and then... i pulled out the model release and the whole thing ended abruptly. he was a lawyer, so i figured he would view the release as a good thing. i figured wrong. he apologized for declining and that was that.

i dejectedly made my way towards the other wall i wanted to use and sputtered to my friend about how much of a drag that was. but in the middle of my complaining, i spotted a lone woman making her way across the street in my direction. i gave her the strangers pitch as she neared. her face lit up with amusement over the idea of the project, but i think she was still a bit skeptical. she agreed and we set to work. genna had just come from an appointment and was sans the four children that are generally accompanying her. i cannot imagine what it is like carting around four children. i can barely deal with my camera.

after a minute or two of chatting, genna stopped me to ask if she was going to have to answer a bunch of questions. she didn't want to answer a bunch of questions. i told her i had a van parked around the corner with a film crew and a bunch of audio equipment. i don't think she thought that was funny. i explained that there weren't any gimmicks to this. i just wanted to meet her and take some pictures and get whatever information she wanted to pass along in normal conversation.

i am not sure if genna lives in durango or is from durango, but i know her and durango have something going on. she wrote me an email and told me she was not too thrilled that there were going to be two photographs of her on the site and asked if a picture of her pug (who is in durango) could take the place of the full-length shot. i haven't responded yet, but i do hope she is not devastated.

genna is a lawyer and works from home for a firm in philadelphia. she said she writes briefs. there are a few things i know nothing about and that is one of them. i imagine it must be nice working from home when you have four children. when she found out that i moved here from boston, genna told me she studied at boston university. i am guessing we both had similar boston experiences because we are both much happier here.

i think genna's discomfort increased as the picture taking went on. she wasn't all that happy to be in front of the camera. i took fewer shots of her than i normally do, but it was still too many for her. when we parted ways, i was quite worried whether i had gotten "the shot" or not, but was pleasantly surprised when i came home and looked through them. i hope she will be, too.

thank you, genna!

06 august, 2009

kim . 42 years old / denver . colorado

i went to bed fairly early last night and, as a result, woke up earlier than usual this morning - probably still not early to most standards, though. i put in some time at my "job" and then went out into the world to find a little breakfast and some coffee. motivation seems to have gone on a junket, so i am basically just pushing forward out of habit. i suppose it is one habit i won't try to drop. my feet led me all over the downtown area while my eyes searched for strangers. my heart was not in it, but was occupied with just keeping time and my brain was running itself ragged with failed problem solving techniques.

despite having my head very far up you know what, i was alert enough to see a black woman step off the bus. she was wearing nurses scrubs and had silvery short hair. i looked at her as i passed by and realized she had kind eyes. she looked to be waiting for another bus, so i was going to just let her be, but i couldn't. i turned around and told her what i was up to. she looked down at herself as if inspecting her appearance and then, a bit shamefully, agreed to be a part of my project. but when she heard "website" and "book" she changed her mind and politely told me i should find someone else.

i ended up walking down 17th street, which i don't think i have ever done before. there is a good chance i've ridden my bicycle on it, but walking sheds new light on things. i was impressed with all of the good shooting locations it offered, so i walked and walked and walked. i eventually spotted a tall red-headed woman walking towards me. she was dressed differently than the other financial district pedestrians and had a name tag on. i was curious.

for a second, i thought she was not going to stop, but she eventually did. maybe just because the first words out of my mouth were not on the asking for money or drugs or sex theme. she said she was on her way to a rehearsal, so she only had a few minutes. i advertised it taking only four, and she concluded that that would be just fine and agreed to be today's stranger.

kim is from new york city, but currently touring with the former broadway/now national play called "august osage county". she plays the roles of three sisters and seems to be enjoying herself. she has been acting for 15 years! kim told me that she takes many athletic roles so often feels tired, but was happy about the schedule of this tour because it allows her plenty of time to write.

she was very sweet and had so much kindness in her face. her body language was very gentle, but not weak. she smiled often and each time it showed through her eyes. i like that so much. i wouldn't mind smiling a bit more... i should start. i don't know if kim is married or a mom or a wife or partner or anything really. i just know it was wonderful meeting her today.

05 august, 2009

lizzy . 20 years old / denver . colorado

i went out stranger hunting in a terrible mood. maybe i got too much sun. maybe i handle stress worse than anyone in the entire world. maybe i need xanax. maybe i need to get over it. i don't really know. anyway, i went out looking for a stranger because that's what needed to be done. i stopped by city o' city for an iced coffee and, with it in hand, made my way down 13th avenue. i thought that maybe if people see me drinking coffee they may be less skeptical of me. why would i be asking for money if i already have a coffee? it's a thought... we'll see how it works out.

i was going towards the museum, but the light on lincoln street caught my eye, so i banged a left. i made it one block and crossed the intersection to start working on another when i saw this young woman on an old blue bicycle. something about her was immediately warm. she didn't look guarded. she didn't look angry. she didn't appear to be in a hurry. sure, she was very pretty, but that had little to do with it. i actually had it in mind to photograph an elderly person, but something about this girl was too good to pass up.

i told her what i was up to and she said, "cool!", which i took as a very good sign. a positive response to the project from the first stranger i approached was exactly what i needed. she asked me if i was a student at the art institute, which just so happened to be directly across the street from where we were standing. i told her that i wasn't. i asked her to be today's stranger and she immediately said yes. so we crossed the street to get into some shade and kept chatting.

lizzy had spent five hours in a studio dropping strawberries into water, taking pictures of the process, and another three hours in a dark room. maybe the last thing she was hoping for was more photography, but she was a great sport about it. she was so smiley and laughed a lot and appeared to be having fun. she was a little bit camera shy and said she much prefers being on the other side. well... i do, too.

she is about halfway through the photography program at the art institute and seems like she's enjoying it. originally from virginia, lizzy came out here just to go to the school. she said she likes it out here in denver and is finding it nice having a little distance from her family of republicans. she didn't say that with any disdain, though, so if her family reads this they should not be upset. she hopes to move to japan after she finishes school. i asked her what she wanted to do over there and she said she wants to take pictures. well, from what i hear, japan is a good place to do it.

lizzy made me smile. and laugh, too. i took a few more photographs of her than is usual for the strangers project. she was calming my mood with every passing second, so i didn't want to stop. it was really wonderful meeting her today. thank you, lizzy!