31 october, 2009

kaneene . 21 years old / denver . colorado

i took a late afternoon stroll specifically to look for strangers. the sun has been out for the last couple of days, taking its toll on the heaps of snow, making it feel more like spring than fall. as i was walking, i couldn't stop thinking about this project. i've been in a very contemplative mood lately and am struggling to keep the fire roaring. i am displeased with the aesthetic of the project - it is definitely lacking something - and i am struggling to figure out how to take it deeper. i've had the same struggles for a long time and the lack of clarity and my wilting creativity are starting to bring me down.

it's halloween today. halloween doesn't do anything for me and i rarely have a desire to participate in its festivities, but i know that a lot of other people take full advantage of the opportunity to celebrate. i had not decided that i needed to photograph someone in costume, but i was open to the idea, for sure. last year on halloween i was riding bikes with my friend in new york city when we spotted superman. i decided i needed to photograph him, so we pulled over and made it happen. it's interesting to be at the place where i am comparing days and strangers from the previous year. who would have thought?

i was walking down 17th street with me eyes peeled for today's friend when i spotted two young women standing in the sunshine, smoking and talking. one of them was wearing a gold crown, which i figured constituted a costume, so i made my way towards them. they were both very friendly. i asked them if they were at least 18 and they laughed... they both saw 18 come and go quite a few years ago. kaneene was a queen, but her dress was "inappropriate for work", so the crown was her costume for the day. her friend, meghan, was a boxer, complete with a black eye and some gloves that she had left inside. the two ladies work as personal bankers at the bank we were standing in front of and they were wrapping up their work day, getting ready to start celebrating. we chatted for a few minutes and then rounded the corner to find some shade for the pictures.

kaneene has been having a rough few days and was experiencing the culmination of the different kinds of drama today. she said she was glad for this interruption, claiming that it cheered her up. that was incredibly good to hear. it is so rare that people take something from this, so i constantly feel like i am the only one with the benefits. i guess that has a lot to do with my frustration... but i don't know how to do anything about it. but anyway...

kaneene and meghan were both very sweet. they told me of some of their work stories and agreed that the only thing keeping them there was how interesting it was to converse with the different customers on the phone. the three of us talked for a few minutes and traded some stories about our banking woes and then we parted ways - kaneene to be a queen and cut loose for the night, meghan to be a boxer, and i to take some notes and work on the photos. happy halloween everybody!

30 october, 2009

meredith . 23 years old / denver . colorado

today's stranger search went on for a very long time. i'd say that i looked for nearly two hours. and "looking" does not mean sitting inside a café, watching people go by, either. i walked and walked and walked. i was actually surprised that my shoes still had soles when i finally met meredith.

i asked a young woman with intensely blue eyes. she only had enough time to get to work, so she said no. i saw a man sitting on his front porch, reading the newspaper. the light was beautiful and i appreciated how photogenic the overall scene was. as i neared, it looked as if he might be a priest. i approached his fence and told him what i was up to. he stood up and put his paper down and came over to me to say, "no, but thanks for asking." in what sounded like an irish accent. it didn't occur to me until now, but maybe he wasn't a priest... maybe it was a costume in celebration of halloween. his priest-y shirt collar (what is that called?) was unfastened, though, and the whole reading on the porch and irish accent thing... i am guessing he was the real deal. a bit later on i called out to a guy who was driving one of those little john deere work trucks. i said, "excuse me." and he replied, "you are welcome." i liked that. i told him what i was up to, but he didn't fully understand. i tried to explain the project, but he kept asking me if it was for the newspaper. i assured him it wasn't. he turned out to be from sudan and his name was john. he agreed to be today's stranger, but then changed his mind on the grounds of not wanting to get into any trouble with his employer (he was still on the clock). that was too bad. i was looking forward to having a sudanese stranger.

i walked on. and on. and on and on and on until i saw a young woman who i figured to be around my age. i saw her cross the street as i was about to cross to the other side, so i changed my course to intercept her. i was very ready to find someone willing to be today's stranger, so i was in my "let's make it happen" mode. we were both carefully stepping through the melting snow as we neared each other. i excused myself and told her about what i was doing and asked her if she was up for it.

meredith was on her around the corner to pick up a late lunch (or was it an early dinner?), so she had a few minutes to give me. she seemed a little concerned with where these pictures might end up. i think that the most difficult part of this project might just be that people think i am a total creep. i am growing out a beard again, so that is probably not helping my cause, but it's not like i am driving around in a rusty van with tinted windows, wearing dark aviator glasses, patrolling the neighborhoods at about 20 miles per hour and leaning out the window to ask passing people if they want to go for a ride. right? anyway... meredith eventually felt good enough about the situation to sign the model release.

we were standing in the direct sun, so we moved a few steps down the street into the shade. i asked meredith to take her sunglasses off, but the transition was causing her to squint. i tried to shoot as quickly as i could and then let her put them back on for the second shot. meredith moved out to denver about 5 years ago to attend a culinary school. when i learned that she is originally from vermont, i lit up with a little new england pride. where does that feeling come from? meredith said that her sister went to the university of maine at orono. that is not a big school, so it is surprising that i have come across two of its graduates in one week (see the posting for 27 october).

meredith was pretty excited because she and her sister were flying out to new york city later tonight to support their step-mother as she runs in the marathon. i'd be pretty excited to be heading to the city tonight, too, but it would have little to do with the marathon and more because my dear friend lives up and he turned 25 today (happy birthday, zach!).

meredith and i parted ways, but then i called out after her to find out of she was working as a chef. i asked because i wanted to be able to send some of you her way, but she doesn't, so never mind. meredith was cool. she had a great smile and a warmth to her that made the two hours of searching seem a lot less significant. thanks so much for taking the time to be a stranger, meredith!

29 october, 2009

brian . 45 years old / denver . colorado

i bundled up for another snowy adventure and headed out the door. i walked towards the grocery store to pick up a few items: two kinds of vitamins and razor blades (to tame the beard that is quickly staking claim to more than its fair share of my face). there are not enough words in this language to adequately express how much i dislike buying these necessities. it's mind blowing how much money one has to spend on a razor blade to ensure that it works better than a vegetable grater. i am getting a little away from the point, though. i am sorry. back to strangers...

on my way through the parking lot, i spotted an older gentleman loading his groceries into his truck. he had a good look to him, so i made my way towards him and told him what i was up to. he figured out where my spiel was going before i asked him to be today's stranger and he just cut me off and said "no!". i wished him a good day and got nothing in response. i wonder if he knows that we are a community oriented creature. there are a few exceptions, complete recluses and hermits, but for the most part, we are required to be in pretty steady contact with other humans. it seems that the world is getting away from it in the name of convenience, what with our modern self-checkouts, automated phone systems, bank machines, pay-at-the-pump stations, etc. i do not like it. not one bit.

i took care of my shopping and found a home within my camera bag for my purchases and headed east a few blocks. i saw a little boy standing on the street corner, shoveling snow and knocking it off the branches of some shrubbery. i just watched "where the wild things are" last night, so seeing this little boy took me back to the adventures of the movie. he said "hi" to me as i walked by - obviously sharing a similar sense of community to my own. a few steps further up the sidewalk there was a man who i assumed was the little guy's father. he offered a hello to me as well. i took their friendliness as a good sign and decided to ask the man if he would be today's stranger.

brian laughed when i told him about my project, but immediately agreed to be today's new friend. he even volunteered another elderly woman walking down the sidewalk towards us and told me i could photograph his son, too. this is day number 417 and it marks the first time someone actually volunteered their child. his trust in me restored my wavering faith in my fellow kind.

we stood on the sidewalk and chatted for a few minutes. brian came out to colorado about 25 years ago from virginia. i started wondering what my life might look like if i stayed out here until i am his age. maybe i'd have a little boy and a successful photography career. maybe a little apartment attached to my house so that my mother could be close by. it's hard to say and pretty fantastic to think about because i highly doubt i'll be able to keep the ants out of my pants in order to stick around for that long. it was an interesting thought anyway. brian is a website designer. he works on the aesthetic and graphic side of it and said he stays away from the programming. he's able to stay at home and said he can make it work despite the shambles that is currently our economy. he sounded very content with his situation and i found that to be very encouraging.

brian gathered four-year-old fabian, who was immediately ready and willing to be a part of this project, and i positioned them on the sidewalk for some wintery portraiture. the two of them were wonderful and i owe them both a big thank you.

28 october, 2009

alex . 27 years old / denver . colorado

in case you did not notice, we got some snow here in denver. it started snowing last night and kept up a pretty good pace for the entire day. the snow falls differently here than it does back east. if it starts snowing at night and continues for the whole next day in maine, for example, then you better have already gone grocery shopping because you wont be going anywhere anytime soon.

i was up very late last night and into this morning working on a photo project i shot for the boys & girls club. i got up early and continued working until around noon. i took care of a few things around my apartment and then bundled up to make the trip downtown to wolf camera. i had to drop of some images to be printed for an event early next month, so i brought my gear with me, hoping to find a stranger somewhere along the way. after wrapping up my business at wold, i decided to go grab some lunch, but when i got back outside, i changed the plan and started looking for strangers instead.

i made my way down the 16th street mall and found a photogenic alleyway. i hung around the mouth of the alley for some time, but things immediately started going the wrong way. people were not having it today. nobody wanted to be photographed. it was the second or third person that i asked, a guy very appropriately dressed for the weather, who did not even acknowledge that i existed. he was so determined not to pay attention that i bet he would have just plowed into me if i stood in his way. i instantly became really angry with that guy. i started sputtering and realized i better get a grip if i was going to make it through the day. then i started feeling bad that i had gotten so angry with him. i considered the possibility that he was deaf and that calmed me down.

i decided to bail on the mall street. i really don't know why i bother with it in the first place. i walked down california until i came to 17th street, where i found a courtyard nestled under some trees, serving as a grand entrance into a variety of tall buildings. the snow was coming down and the colored (dead) leaves were heavy with their new white blanket. a lot of people were coming and going. there was a bus stop near by and the light rail stop wasn't too far away. it seemed like the perfect place. i started asking people and, left and right, they kept saying no. i was amazed. i did not expect to hear 6 rejections (the record) today, but i surpassed that quickly.

as i was pacing and trying not to look like someone who wanted something from people, i spotted an older gentleman walking towards me from about half a block away. he had a lovely hat on and was walking with a cane. when i first saw him, i thought he would make an excellent stranger. i paced a few more circles and then shot a glance down the sidewalk to see if he was still coming. he was, but he hadn't made it very far. upon further inspection, i saw that he was using his other hand to brace himself against a stone wall. he was taking a step, planting his cane, then another while sliding his hand down the length of the snow-covered wall. he was not wearing any gloves, so i approached him and offered him my mittens. i purchased them last year at an army surplus store in boulder and figured i'd last without them until i could purchase more. the man explained that he wasn't going very far and declined my offer. i persisted and asked him if he might like some help getting to where he was going. he accepted graciously and said he was just going a block or so to his hotel.

we started shuffling down the street together and ended up walking about three blocks. i desperately wanted to photograph him, but knew i couldn't ask. it just didn't feel right. i've tried to make sure that people have no sense of obligation in agreeing to being a part of this project. i didn't want him to feel that i only offered to help him because i wanted something from him. so, i started asking him some questions. i found out that he lives in texas, but is up here giving some geological lectures. he normally travels with an assistant or his wife, but he made this trip alone, not expecting the snow storm. he's been a geologist, working in the field (where he injured himself a few times) and teaching at the university level for many years. he said he couldn't understand why his partners have kept him on at his age, but he was grateful for it. he told me he had been all over the world, spending time in south america and north and east africa. he is married to a swiss woman, who he seemed to absolutely adore. he was such a wonderfully gentle man. he kept a firm hold on my arm as we trudged through the snow. he eventually asked me what i did and i chuckled a little bit to myself because, for the first time, i did not want to say. but i did. i told him i was a photographer and i was standing out there, looking for strangers to photograph. he went on to tell me that his brother used to be a photographer for national geographic and has regretted retiring. we had a lovely conversation. we eventually made it to his hotel and he encouraged me to come inside so he could give me something for my kindness. i protested. he insisted. i said i would feel terrible. he said he would feel better. we finally got around to exchanging our names. he told me his name was alan and he gave me his card. i stuttered (i guess the rejections worked their way into my nerves today) my way through telling him i was joshua. he gave me $20 and said he at least wanted to buy me some dinner. i left feeling fortunate that i had the chance to meet alan.

i retraced our steps to take roost at the courtyard again. i couldn't give up on that place. well... i paid my dues, let me tell you. people kept saying no. one after another. they had to catch the bus. they had to catch the train. they were "freezing to death". they laughed. nearly all of them looked at me like i was the most despicable creature they had ever seen - like that throaty hunched-over thing from lord of the rings. one young woman, probably around my age, said that it was "kind of freaky". i wondered if that made her feel better. i eventually had been disregarded by 14 (fourteen!!) people. it got to the point where it was almost funny. i was laughing a little on the street, but i think it was because i was breeching insanity. i had been outside for well over an hour. my feet were numb. my hands were cold. my camera bag was wet. i was really not impressed. the worst part about hearing 14 rejections is that now there is the potential to beat that...

i saw a young man walking up the street from the same direction that i had seen alan coming from. he looked like a business professional. i couldn't place his age, but i had him pegged for a little older than he actually was. the professional world does that to people, i think. i gave him a high-spirited, borderline-desperate version of my pitch. i am pretty sure he could tell i was exasperated. maybe he only agreed to be today's stranger to avoid a scene.... i don't know. i took off my mittens to get some information from alex and my hands just about froze in the few minutes it took to complete the process. alex is here on a business trip. he was born and raised in new york city and is still living there. he works in transportation and has a meeting with RTD (regional transportation district) tomorrow. when we met, he had just finished doing some shopping at REI. i tried to work as quickly as i could because he wasn't as adequately dressed for the weather as some of the others i had tried to accost. i didn't get much more information from alex. we were born just a few days apart from each other. i found that fascinating and think maybe it was a gemini connection that compelled him to say yes.

thanks so much for your time, alex. i am glad you did not turn out to be rejector number 15. good luck with your meeting tomorrow and i hope you enjoy your time in denver.

27 october, 2009

elaine . 67 years old / denver . colorado

i felt the urge to walk towards 19th avenue on my way downtown. i still need some pants, so i figured i would walk down to the 16th street mall to see what mainstream america had to offer me by way of fashions. it was overcast today, but warmer than it has been. we've been getting some very peculiar weather around here lately. everyone has there opinions as to its causes. i am not educated enough to have one, so i was just glad that it wasn't as frigid as it has been.

one block away from my apartment there is a vacant lot beside a beautiful old building. i admire the building every time i pass it and am always curious about the garden that has taken over the empty lot. i've taken to making up stories about the two properties. they sit curiously high on the street. the building stands alone and has a character to it that is difficult to describe. its charm might rest only in its color, but i'm convinced there must be more to it. i decided that the garden in the adjoining lot went with the charming house. well... today i found out that i was very wrong.

as i passed by these properties, i noticed that there was a woman in the garden. i've walked by many times over the course of the last 6 weeks and have never seen anyone in the garden. i called out to the woman to tell her what i was up to and asked her to be today's stranger. she agreed to it and gave me some instructions on how to make my way up to the garden.

elaine was even more charming than both the garden and the old building. the old building and the garden having nothing other than proximity to do with each other. the owner of the vacant lot gave elaine the permission to cultivate a garden there. she has only to keep the weeds down, which comes naturally with the territory of gardening anyway, so she is happy with the arrangement. elaine runs a community supported agriculture (CSA - look it up on line, it is very interesting) on this property. she pre-sells shares to several local restaurants and a flower shop and delivers them their produce each week for 16 weeks throughout the farming season. she has been doing this for about 8 years, but has been on this particular lot for only 2. i understand that she has other lots around town, too. i assumed that she had a good season because of the amount of rainfall. elaine said it was mostly good, but the tomatoes struggled because of two hail storms and the peppers didn't fair so well.

elaine said that it is rumored that the lot that is now her garden used to belong to "an old lady with a thousand cats". i guess her house was in such poor shape that the local restaurants used to allow the woman to use their bathroom facilities. when the woman died, the house was in such shambles that it was beyond repair, so the owner raised it. i am glad to see that it is now a beautiful garden. i do wonder what happened to all of the cats, but i am assuming there weren't really one thousand of them.

elaine was born and raised in connecticut, but made her way west in 1964. the peace corps was brand new then, so she signed up with them. her training was to take place in new mexico, so she headed out there to begin, but after some time, she decided not to continue. while she was looking for a new place to settle, a friend that lived in denver encouraged her to come here. so come here she did. i don't know what elaine's life looked like from then until a few years ago, but she seems to have done good things with it. she was very well spoken and was incredibly easy to communicate with. she was interested in hearing more about my project and i felt such an immediately strong connection with her that i was comfortable to give her some of the "real" answers that i often don't share with people. she seemed to understand perfectly, which was such a wonderful relief.

she recommended a couple of places around town that i could potentially hang my show. they were places that make use of her produce... places that might be more prone to supporting other local efforts, too. she was very sweet. as i photographed her, i realized that her complexion was very similar to my mother's. they are very similar in age, too, so it was a great reminder. it turns out that elaine went to the university of maine at orono, which is very near to where i grew up. i cherish these kinds of small connections.

thank you, elaine!

26 october, 2009

marcus . 25 years old / denver . colorado

after some coffee and a tasty morsel to eat at city, o' city, i decided to go over to buffalo exchange to look for a nice pair of pants. i am supposed to attend a black tie event in early november, but i don't own any part of that costume except for the tie and the shoes. i've ruled out the tuxedo, but thought i could at least look dapper. after rummaging around in there for a few minutes and coming up with nothing, i decided to head back outside and run some more errands.

just as i stepped outside i saw a young man standing on the corner of the alley near the store. he had a furry winter hat on and was holding some papers in his hand. i guess it was the hat that intrigued me... or maybe the beard. i don't know. i just know that as soon as i saw him, i asked him to be the day's stranger. the words just came out. the first thing he said in response was, "is there any money in it?" i laughed and told him that not only was there no money in it for him, but there wasn't any in it for me, either. that seemed to suffice, so he agreed to take a few minutes to chat.

marcus moved out to denver two and a half years ago from louisiana. he said he came out here for "opportunity". i guess the "go west, young man" anthem still rings true. marcus has been working in retail and fashion for quite some time, but lost his job six weeks ago. he's feeling the effects of that and was about to turn in his application for a job at buffalo exchange when i met him.

that pretty much sums up our exchange. thanks so much for your time, marcus. good luck with the job search.

25 october, 2009

anna . 18 years old / denver . colorado

another sunday.. i wonder if people felt the way i do about sundays for a long time before the world started taking them off. today i was thinking that i should maybe start taking sundays off, too. i wont.... not yet anyway. i walked for a long time before meeting today's stranger. it was cold. and snowing. i walked for a long time in the cold and snowy weather... on a sunday.

after making my way down the entire length of the 16th street mall, i ended up at the tattered cover bookstore. i wanted to end up there, so it made sense, but i had been hoping to meet someone along the way. i made a loop around a block and still came up with nobody. then, just as i arrived to the bookstore again, i saw a young woman step outside. i went up to her and told her the story and she immediately agreed to being today's new friend.

anna told me that she was "here" working with americorps and something called the CCC. i didn't fully understand what she meant, so i asked her a few questions about it. i am still hazy on what the "CCC" is, but i found out that anna just graduated from high school and she is from new york - "not the city". she came out to denver not even two weeks ago and is training for her 10-month stint with americorps. she plans to go to college next fall and is hoping to study education somewhere in england. when i was 18 i hoped to study education, too, but i hadn't considered doing it in england. i am getting the impression that i missed out on a few things as a teenager. macy from yesterday and anna from today made me feel a little sheepish about where i was at mentally when i was their age.

anna told me that she just spent a week and a half's salary on books at the tattered cover. she said none of them were "edifying", but i can't help disagreeing. it was obvious that she didn't have a bag full of adult magazines and i happen to place a lot of value on books... one of the few material things i deeply cherish.

anna and i chatted for a few minutes on the sidewalk. she had a few questions about the project. i tried to answer them, but it seems i never really have anything all that concrete to offer. people often know how i came up with the idea and what my plans for the project are. how do ideas come? and i am trying not to make too many plans for this project because i want it to have its own life. maybe i should come up with something more creative... an elaborate tall tale that reels people in, perhaps?

anna asked me for a good food recommendation because she was feeling hungry. the 16th street mall is not booming with delectable offerings, but i directed her towards one place just a couple of blocks away from where we were standing. i also recommended that she head up towards capitol hill for some other options (city, o' city). she scampered across the street and i headed into the bookstore to lose myself in some photography.

thanks, anna , and welcome to colorado.

24 october, 2009

macy . 17 years old / denver . colorado

i spent the day playing with bicycles with a buddy of mine. we went to the "veloswap", an annual bicycle flea market of sorts. there were loads of bikes and loads of people and it was loads of fun. we were on a mission to find him something to ride and we succeeded. we left the swap to go home and immediately started tinkering on the new wheels. the day brought me back to my childhood, when i used to spend many hours disassembling bicycles and piecing them back together. i don't know why, but i've always enjoyed fooling around with bikes.

after working on his bike for a while, my buddy and i decided to take it to a shop to have some things done to it that were a bit out of my league. i hadn't photographed a stranger yet, so i was hoping to find someone down there at the shop. and... that is exactly what happened. this young blonde guy was waiting for his own bicycle to get fixed, so i decided to ask him to be today's stranger. i usually don't ask people in stores or restaurants or places of business, but i figured the bike shop was a relaxed enough venue to do some soliciting.

macy agreed to be today's stranger right away. i asked him to go outside for the photos and he was happy to oblige. i didn't find out until we got out there that he was only 17, but he seemed like the kind of guy that had parents that weren't going to get too upset about this.

macy struck me as a much more well rounded fellow than i was at his age. as we talked, that hunch proved to be true. i pulled sartre's "the age of reason" out of my bag to use as a clipboard and macy said he had already read one of his other books. i didn't even know about sartre until a few weeks ago! macy went on to tell me that he plans on moving out to san francisco after he graduates because he wants to work for americorps and live with his older sister out there. i also had no idea what americorps was at 17 years old. i told macy about a project i am in the middle of with the boys & girls club and he told me that he has done some volunteer work with them, too. he also rides a peugeot, which is a really cool french bicycle. i decided macy was pretty rad.

thanks so much for your time, man.

23 october, 2009

claire . 22 years old / denver . colorado

i had lunch with a friend of mine at a restaurant near my apartment. after finishing, we decided to go look for strangers together. we made a stop at office depot to make some copies and then began the search. we wandered around for a while. i found the task a little bit daunting, though. sometimes this is really difficult for me to do. i've been distracted by some personal matters lately and i guess i've been putting quite a bit of my energy into thinking about them and not saving enough for the other parts of my life. i tend to dive in...

we made our way towards the 16th street mall, but when we got there i realized i couldn't be bothered with it. we walked north instead and i stopped at one intersection and just kept walking in circles... like a dog chasing its tail. i felt ridiculous. i started making my way across the intersection that i had just crossed and my friend was following me, but probably feeling pretty confused by my chaos. halfway through the intersection, i caught a peek at a young woman on a motorcycle. i think her yellow hat is what lured me in. i ran across the street and darted over to her while she was waiting at the light. i told her i was photographing a stranger every day and she said, "oh, you're that guy?".

claire pulled her motorcycle up onto the sidewalk and killed the engine. she was on her way to meet a friend at the tattered cover bookstore, so she had a few minutes to spare. she said she had seen the "i heart strangers" show at city, o' city last month. i am still feeling a little sad that the show is no longer up, so i was really glad to hear that, even a month later, someone had remembered it. i think i need to find another place around town to show it.

claire told me she was a bartender at a jazz bar called "dazzle" and that she spends most of her time at the denver creative co-op studio ( DCCS - http://denvercreativecoopstudio.com/ ). i didn't learn much more about her other than this is her first year riding a motorcycle. i watched her take-off and thought she handled that machine pretty well for a beginner. just before we parted ways, claire told me that there was a party at the DCCS after the "zombie walk" on saturday night. i guess it's good that it took me a couple of days to post her story because i was able to check the studio out and now can recommend looking into it. i showed up there with another friend of mine and we were unfortunately the only two not dressed like zombies. i didn't get the memo...

i am not sure i would have recognized her at the party because she was dressed up like a zombie, so it was good she found me. she managed to make herself look frightening, which is probably pretty hard to imagine considering how sweet she looks in these photos.

thanks so much for your time, claire.

22 october, 2009

steve . 54 years old / denver . colorado

it was a beautiful day today, on the cold side, but the sun was shining brightly, making for a quintessential fall day. i decided to hop on my bicycle and pedal over to "snooze", a breakfast place on 7th and colorado, to have a small bite to eat. a dear friend works over there and i really felt like getting outside for a bit. it is not a long ride there, but it is long enough to know you have a heart and a pair of lungs, so i bundled up to prepare for it.

when i arrived, they told me it would be about a 30-minute wait. i contemplated looking for the day's stranger then, but decided to wait until later. i made a few phone calls and ended up sitting down before the half hour anyway. i took my time eating and enjoyed some coffee and then set out again. the 7th avenue parkway is a beautiful stretch of road, especially at this time of year. it is lined with beautiful old homes and brightly colored trees. the leaves have been falling by the thousands, creating a technicolored street. as i rode my bike through the piles, they crunched and tore, and i lost myself in the ride and was enjoying myself very much.

i thought about riding all the way down to clarkson and then taking that home, but thought again and decided to take humboldt across. humboldt is prettier and quieter than clarkson and it also sits higher, so i would eliminate a hill by taking it. i pedaled by it, but turned around and then started making my way north. 10 seconds (about half a block) in, i spotted a lone gentleman walking down the sidewalk under the cover of beautiful trees. i pulled over and excused myself and began telling him what i was up to.

steve agreed to be today's stranger right away. he asked me if it was going to end up in vanity fair. i told him it sure would because i have a deal worked out with them - they publish everything i shoot (that is not true). we got along quite well from the first few words. steve was very nice and he was willing to chat for some time. he was on his way to whole foods to pick up some groceries. i asked him what he did for work and he told me that he is partially retired now, but is still importing wine. he's been doing that for about 25 years and has seen the good and the bad with the rise and fall of the dollar and the grand entrance of the euro. he said times are a little tough at the moment, but there was a day when it was very fun. steve was "born and bred" right here in colorado. i told him i had been running into a few natives lately. he remarked that there are still a few around, but there are more and more "immigrants". he joked that i spoke the language pretty well for being one of them. i appreciated his sense of humor.

we chatted about film vs. digital photography and then he had a few questions about where i went to school and what i did for work. after telling him about kentucky, and massachusetts, and denmark, and that i inspected photography for a stock agency in norway, he dove into a deeper conversation. it turns out that steve has a daughter who is a senior in high school and she wants to be a photographer. she wants to attend a school in washington to get her BFA. steve said that she spends her summers in norway (and speaks norwegian) with some of their family. he was impressed by the coincidence or serendipity of our meeting and the similarities between my story to his daughter's. steve has been trying to dissuade his daughter from going to photography school because "you can't make money from photography". i told him that i, too, had been prodded to get a degree to "fall back on" and that basically just put me in quite a bit of debt. i explained to him that while i am not the best example, it is quite possible to make money from photography.

steve and i had a wonderful little chat on the sidewalk. this was definitely one of those days where i find myself smiling when i consider all the steps that went into meeting the stranger. a stop sign here, a missed turn there, being seated at this particular time, saying no to more coffee, leaving when i did, taking a few extra seconds to put on my mittens... it's all so charming. steve and i parted ways and i took a seat on some nearby steps to take some notes. as i was writing, i noticed that a toyota 4-runner drove by and then started backing up. i looked up to see the driver leaning over and looking at me. i anticipated defending my position on the steps, but it turned out to be a friend of mine who i run into in times like this. he lives at the corner...

21 october, 2009

sharise . 21 years old / denver . colorado

i went a little before noon because i had a meeting downtown. i saw that it was wet outside and it looked like a little snow had accumulated on the ground, but i decided to ride my bicycle anyway. i bundled up and set out with my camera gear, thinking i would find the day's stranger after the meeting. well, by the time i made it to broadway (not that far away) my pant legs and sneakers and socks were completely soaked. evidently i had failed to account for the front tire spray. i showed up to the meeting looking like a soaked rat. by the time it was over and i made my way back outside, i had lost all my motivation to look for strangers. shortly after, i lost most of the feeling in my toes, too. i decided to head home, change my clothes, and start over.

dressed a bit more appropriately, but sans gloves (because they were wet from the earlier ride), i headed out on foot to look for people to meet. i saw a woman step out of a laundromat on colfax. she was just starting a cigarette when i made my way up to her. she caught my eye because she was standing under large block letters that were painted on the side of the building saying, "don't cheat yourself". apparently this laundromat considers it masochistic to go anywhere else to do laundry. the woman turned me down, though, so i'll have to save the background for another day.

just around the corner i asked an older man who was walking with a limp and smoking a cigarette. he wore a shirt that led me to believe that he worked for the laundromat. he politely listened and then turned me down through a smile full of missing teeth. i walked on. and on. and on. as i was trudging down the sidewalk, a woman stepped out of a building to light up a cigarette. i need to start being more thankful for cigarettes because i've gotten so many strangers when they are out smoking. the woman shot me a very friendly hello and i took that as my sign. i asked her to be today's stranger and she quickly refused and explained that she does not photograph well. she has only been photographed 3 times in her entire life, she said. she was curious to know what it was for, so we chatted for a little while. we ended up talking about all kinds of different things. in the end, i thought maybe she would change her mind and allow me to photograph her, but she stayed true to her original word. it wasn't going to happen. it's too bad, too, because the photo would have turned out really well. jan and i eventually parted ways and i continued on my hunt.

there weren't many people out and i was starting to feel pretty tired and cold. somedays this is quite a challenge. i pressed on, though, and saw a young woman step out of a shoe shine and repair shop (with a cigarette in hand). despite the weather, she looked very happy. i took happy for another good sign and decided to ask her to be today's stranger. she agreed immediately.

sharise was born and raised right here in denver. she seemed to be happy about that. she runs the shoe shine and repair shop and seemed to enjoy that, too. we didn't talk a whole lot because it was cold and raining, so i don't have a whole lot to share about sharise. all i can say is that she was very nice.

thanks for taking a few minutes for me, sharise!

20 october, 2009

monee . 29 years old / denver . colorado

the temperature has been dropping steadily all day. i've heard some whisperings about some nighttime snow. i headed out this afternoon to run some errands and look for strangers and wasn't exactly impressed with the lack of light. i walked to the bank and then downtown to look for a place called the "mercury café". a stranger from a few days ago recommended it to me, so i thought i would check it out. i also needed to go to the post office, so i tried to group it all together. it was overcast and quite dreary outside, but it didn't really bother me. it wasn't cold enough to make me want to rush.

one woman laughed and turned me down, but it seemed as if it was because of her own insecurities, so i wasn't upset. then, just after i found the mercury café, i spotted an older woman making her way into the alley. i rounded the corner and told her what i was up to. she looked at me kindly and said no. she blamed it on her cold sore. i told her i could photoshop that out, but she wasn't having any of it. i wished her well and continued my search. i figured i would find a stranger in the neighborhood and then reward myself with a hot cup of tea. i didn't realize it at the time, but the mercury café doesn't open until later this evening.

about a block away i spotted a woman walking down the sidewalk with her hands full of bags. i presumed it was groceries. as i neared, i saw that she also had her headphones on. her hands were full and she was listening to music, so i thought it was going to be a tough sell. however, monee (pronounced moh-nay) quickly agreed to be today's stranger. she asked why i was doing this and what the pictures would be used for and then gave me the go ahead.

she is a stay-at-home mother and spends her time taking care of her two children. monee said she also "does hair". i think an example of what she does is on her own head. she is from denver, born and raised, and said she likes it out here. we didn't chat a whole lot. i asked her about her last name - where it is from - and she shrugged her shoulders and said all she knew is is that "they" were from cincinnati.

after i finished making portraits of monee, we exchanged goodbyes and started parting ways. then she called out to me to ask if i had a license to take pictures. i admitted that i wasn't sure what she was referring to and was a little nervous that she knew something i didn't. then she went on to explain that i could go around to the bars and clubs and take pictures of people and charge them $5 right there on the spot. i guess that is something to consider.

thanks so much for your time, monee!

19 october, 2009

robert . 29 years old / denver . colorado

i had an interview up in the highlands - a part of town that sits up above the downtown area. it lasted a bit longer than i anticipated, so by the time it was over, i was ready to look for today's stranger. i planned on spending some time up there for a change of pace and scenery, but i had consumed a fair amount of water and desperately needed to rid myself of it. i opted for hopping on my bike and heading back towards downtown in search of a restroom instead.

as i came down the hill, i spotted a young man leaning on a stone bench near his skateboard. he had a pretty cool look to him, so i slowed down and turned around to tell him what i was up to. he agreed to allow me to photograph him and then robert and i began trading information.

robert was born in mexico, but moved to denver a long time ago. he didn't tell me how long ago, but i got the impression that it has been many years. he told me he paints houses for a living and said, "it pays the bills.", when i asked him if he enjoyed it. he said he's been taking some photography classes and is hoping to get into a photography program at metro state after he gets some more experience.

when i met robert, he was waiting for the bus after he had spent some time playing in the skatepark. he encouraged me to come take a look down there sometime and assured me that i'd get a lot of good shots. he said that he and his friends have already made four skate videos and he seemed passionate about having a part in them. robert seemed to enjoy skating very much and said he used to skate a lot when he was little, but has only been back into it for a few years. there was a time when i was younger that i thought i would be a skateboarder. i think that dream lasted only a few weeks.

thanks for taking the time to chat, robert.

18 october, 2009

andrew . 24 years old / denver . colorado

while spending some time at a friend's place, i decided to check out a new neighborhood in search of the day's stranger. i walked east on colfax for a number of blocks, but the streets were mostly vacant (oh sundays...), adding to the already desolate feeling of that end of town. i turned around when it appeared that the only thing i would accomplish if i kept going would be to get further away. i took the other side of the street, in the sun, for the blocks back west and when i came to my starting point, i still had found no stranger to photograph.

i ended up near "the tattered cover" bookstore and decided to go inside for a minute and check up on a magazine. it wasn't there, so i made my way outside again before i fell victim to making purchases i couldn't afford. i exited through a different doorway than i had entered and spotted a gentleman sitting at a table by himself, reading. i interrupted him, which he made more obvious by not looking away from the page he was reading while i spoke to him. he eventually looked at me long enough to decline.

about three seconds later, i saw a younger guy sitting on a stone wall. he looked so friendly. and so familiar. not in the sense that i had seen him before or that we knew each other, but in the sense of his being my peer. in being part of the same world at the same time and maybe even experiencing a lot of the same things. i guess i could have just described him to you as looking like a nice guy, but i felt like diving in a little deeper.

he was immediately receptive when i told him what i was doing. andrew and i introduced ourselves and we dove into a somewhat lengthy conversation. i learned that he moved out here to denver from seattle only a few months ago. he came here for a job and is now working as a bank investigator. he equated it to the OSHA of banks - he goes to different branches throughout the state and makes sure they are not engaging in any funny business. he makes sure that the monies they are lending are at fair interest rates and there is actually money there to back the loans in the first place and other such things. andrew said he never anticipated working for the government, but is finding it enjoyable. he's doing something seemingly good, so i suppose it doesn't really matter who it is for, right?

andrew misses the west coast and seattle's proximity to two different mountain ranges. he is enjoying his time here, though. he had just come from spending some time in the sun (it was 80 degrees today!) at cheesman park and then picked up some vinyl records at "twist & shout". it turned out that he bought three albums that i also like. as we neared the end of our conversation, he pulled out his first camera which he recently acquired from ebay. he let me take a peek at it and i saw that it was an older film canon in beautiful shape. andrew loaded his first roll of film in it this morning and was excited to being using it.

we shared quite a few good minutes together and then parted ways. i walked away feeling how interesting it was that he works as a bank investigator while i am spending most of my time on a project that doesn't pay, but, at the end of the day, we ride similar bikes and listen to similar music and wear similar clothes and hang out at similar spots and enjoy similar hobbies. andrew was impressed at the timing of our meeting and the fact that it happened at all. i think about that every day. about the serendipity and interconnectivity of so much that happens. so so so much.

thanks a lot, andrew!

17 october, 2009

richard . 58 years old / denver . colorado

i went out in search of today's stranger in the late afternoon after spending much of the day taking care of other practical matters like working and doing laundry. it was a gorgeous day today and even as the sun was making its way around to the west it was still warm enough to be in a t-shirt and flip flops. i took full advantage of it.

i walked a few blocks east when, out of the corner of my eye, i spotted a man standing on the sidewalk, watering his yard. he was about half a block away, so i thought i'd walk towards him and ask him if he'd be interested in being today's stranger. it was the act of watering his yard with a hose that intrigued me. it brought me back to days when i was younger... to the days when i used to water my own flower garden with the hose. something about digging around and cultivating the earth and planting trees, flowers, plants, vegetables, etc. has always interested me. it seems that most people these days have sprinklers installed in their yards. and if that isn't enough, the sprinklers are then set to a timer and seemingly forgotten about. most of these automatic sprinklers then spit water all over everything but the thing they are supposed to nourish. often they spray the sidewalk, which is something that does not require water for its survival. anyway... i suppose this is a bit of a diatribe, but my point is that i was drawn to the man with the hose because he was taking the time to personally care for something that was his.

i made my way towards him and he shot me a friendly hello. this guy climbed the ranks pretty fast by doing two things: watering his yard and saying hello. i think i would have thrived in a different era, when these were common activities. now, saying hello makes one a weirdo and watering your yard is a waste of time. well... i responded to his hello with my project pitch. he asked me a couple of questions and then gave me the go ahead.

richard was born in venezuela, but moved to the states when he was nine years old. his mother is american and his father is spanish. he spent most of his life living in boulder, but is now based here in denver. i asked him if he remembered living in venezuela and he assured me that he could, although not perfectly. we shot the breeze about where i was from and have been, which led to a short conversation about politics. we said enough to realize we shared similar opinions.

richard is a real estate broker and renovated a former credit union into his home. it was a beautiful building - very charming. he recently turned the asphalt parking lot into a gorgeous garden full of flowers and shrubs and pumpkin plants and green beans. he said most people would have bulldozed it and built up a generic looking tenement, but he thought he'd do something a bit different. it was a brilliant decision.

i only had a few minutes with richard because he was soon going to head to rio grande for a dinner with some friends, but i enjoyed our conversation immensely. he had a very kind personality and seemed to have a genuine curiosity about things other than what he knows. thanks so much for your time, richard.

16 october, 2009

jill . 49 years old / denver . colorado

i left my apartment not really knowing where to go. i wandered north a few blocks, taking care to stay in the warm sunshine as much as possible. i made a few phone calls as i walked and kept my eyes peeled for any interesting folks. i ended up on 20th avenue, across from a small park. i noticed a woman in a wheelchair scooting through the crosswalk with a small pug at her side. as you look through the previous 403 days of this project, you won't come across any other wheelchairs. this whole process is a tremendous education for me. i am figuring things out as i go along. there isn't a rule book or even a pamphlet full of recommendations. today i decided to do what i wanted. and i wanted to meet the wheelchair's occupant.

i hurried across the street and cut through the grass and approached the woman and her dog. i excused myself and told her that i was working on a photography project called "i heart strangers". she laughed a little bit and said that she "hearted strangers, too". i went on to explain what i was doing and asked her to be a part of it. she graciously accepted. i noticed that she had a patch of sod in her lap. i asked her about it and learned that she intended to fill in a hole under a nearby tree. i guess some neighborhood dogs had been busy being dogs and left a hole in the ground in their wake.

i took the sod from her and kicked some loose soil into the hole. it was a shady landscaping job, but it was something. i introduced myself to jill and, soon afterwards, met her 5 year old, award winning pug, sissy. jill was out taking sissy for a little stroll and making the rounds of the park. she checks in on the homeless folks that congregate there and keeps an eye on the park's happenings.

jill works in family planning for the government. she has an extensive background in working with the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and used to word for the center for disease control in atlanta, georgia. i got the impression that she greatly enjoys her work. i asked her if the wheelchair was always a part of her life. she looked down at it as if it was an afterthought and told me she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 30 years ago. jill said that people often tell her how brave she is, but she chuckled and said that they could say that if it made them feel better. she doesn't look at it as being brave. she looks at it as part of her life and she deals with it as is necessary.

jill was so pleasant and so soft spoken. she had a lovely smile and a warm spirit. she was interested in hearing more about the project so we chatted for a few minutes. then she asked me to autograph the modified business card that i had given her. she claimed i would be famous one day. i laughed, but i signed it.

thanks so much, jill. and sissy!

15 october, 2009

melissa . 28 years old / denver . colorado

strangering took a lot out of me today. i walked around for an hour and a half and eventually had a total of 6 rejections. one of the women almost said yes, but was too freaked out by the model release. and one of them actually agreed to it, but she was a bus driver and her co-worker reminded her that she was legally not allowed to. so... well... i don't like rejections. this is something you know. but, i really don't like 6 of them.

in the process of looking for strangers, i saw a hawk roosting on a low branch. i watched it for a while in the park in front of the capitol building. eventually a guy told me that if i smoked some weed then the hawk watching experience would be a lot better. i told him that i was all set and declined his offer. about a minute later, a policeman showed up and had a chat with the guy. i'm not sure what they came up with, but the cop left the scene shortly afterwards... alone.

i wandered for a while longer until i saw a young woman coming my way. we were near a nice location, so i thought i would ask her. she had dark aviator sunglasses on, was smoking a cigarette, and had a big book in her hands. i excused myself and told her what i was up to. she seemed a little hesitant, but agreed to it. unfortunately, i was so exhausted from the walking and the rejections that i didn't have much energy left for her.

melissa was on her way to book printing class. she had just purchased a large coffee table book that she was going to destroy in class for an assignment. she is studying graphic design and thought this class would be fun. i didn't find out much more information about her, but she was very nice and patient with me throughout the process.

thanks, melissa!

14 october, 2009

bryan . 23 years old / denver . colorado

my window for meeting and photographing strangers is quite a bit smaller this week than normal because i am working on another photography project in the afternoons. i had to take care of a few things this morning and then decided to make my way to the bank. i grabbed my gear, hoping to find today's stranger on the way.

i asked a couple of woman, but both of them turned me down. one of them said, "people are weird." and then, "you never know what someone is going to use that photo for." the other said she wasn't "a very good picture taker". i went to the bank and started making my way back home. i found a wall i wanted to use, so i decided to wait for a few minutes on the street corner. that usually doesn't work out so well, but shortly after i decided to wait, a young guy in dark sunglasses and a blue mohawk buzzed by on his bicycle. as he passed, i blurted out something... i'm not sure exactly what i said. i think i asked the guy if i could ask him a question, which is pretty lame because that was already a question. i can be pretty lame sometimes.

bryan stopped right away. i dove into my spiel and he was immediately receptive. he was glad to be a part of the project. i told him how much i appreciated that. the people that say yes are polite and i appreciate their time, but it is rare i come across someone who is legitimately interested.

i asked bryan what he was up to and he said it was his day off so he was just cruising around. he works at the hard rock café down on the 16th street mall. he's been in denver for almost one year. he said that his sister lives here and one day she told him that he should move out here. a few weeks later, bryan threw whatever he could into his car and left florida behind him. he said he likes it out here and he figured it was a good sign that he survived his first winter.

he plays the guitar and likes to rework punk songs so he can play them acoustically. he also sings some of bob dylan's tunes and frequents an open mic night. i asked him to let me know when he is on again. it would be fun to see him play. i noticed that bryan had some tubes of paint on the back of his bike, so i asked him what the deal was. he said he just scored them from a friend who was getting rid of them and now he plans on smearing them on his hands and then running his hands over his canvas. i can't paint or draw to save my life, so that sounded like a brilliant way to paint to me.

i asked him about his mohawk. i think the mohawk is one of the things in this world that i have the very least experience with. he said he usually keeps his head shaved, but decided he wanted one. he said the process was kind of a drag, but he seemed pretty happy with it now. it only took a few months! i am not sure a blue mohawk suits me, but bryan is rocking it.

thanks so much for your time, bryan!

13 october, 2009

george . 18 years old / denver . colorado

i went to meet a few of my friends for brunch at a place called 'snooze'. i'm not going to lie, it was delectable. we ate and talked and laughed. it was the perfect remedy for the aches and pains of last night's debauchery. time was quickly escaping, though, and i started feeling the pressure to meet and photograph a stranger and then prepare for another job later in the afternoon.

i said goodbye to my friends and we all went our separate ways. i decided to stay in the area to look for someone to heart. i started walking across the parking lot towards the main drag, but didn't get that far. a young guy bolted out of a side door that connected to snooze. he took me by surprise as i wasn't expecting the door to open. then he immediately started telling me about how hot it was in the kitchen. he said he has been standing in the same place for the last several hours and was burning up. he said he just needed a couple minutes of fresh air. i decided that this guy was a godsend.

i told him about my project and asked him if he would be today's stranger. he was happy to oblige. he has been working at snooze since they opened their second location in august and seemed to be enjoying the job. it keeps him busy, for sure. i was surprised and impressed with how busy it had been while i was in there. i had never heard of the place before, but apparently i was the only one. george was working the expo line all morning and was working hard to get the food out as quickly as he could.

i asked him if he was in school and he said he would be starting in january. i think he is going to study engineering, but i might have remembered that incorrectly. i told george that he had really great eyes. he thanked me and then went on to tell me a bit about them. he said they change colors constantly, depending on what he is wearing, what time of year it is, what allergies he has at the moment, and even on what kind of mood he is in. i think george might be the only 'stranger' to have chameleon-like eyes.

george and i had a short and sweet chat and then we both headed back to work. i later told another friend of mine who works at snooze that i photographed george and she confirmed that george is a good guy. thanks so much for your time, george!

12 october, 2009

jenn . 36 years old / denver . colorado

this is day 400. that feels like a big deal to me. it is for obvious reasons that it feels like a bigger deal than the other hundred day anniversaries have felt, but it also bigger because of how i felt going into this day. i received an email late last night from someone who came across this website. the woman asked me a lot of questions. a lot of questions that i just didn't know how to answer. she knows one of the strangers to be a bad person and couldn't understand why i have portrayed them so angelically. her words didn't sit well with me at all and i went to bed after responding to her, feeling very discouraged. feeling more discouraged than i have on any of the other 399 days. i laid in bed, doubting myself, wondering why i am doing this, if i should quit. if it is worth it. what purpose it serves me. what purpose it serves you.

i woke up this morning feeling just as lousy. i had agreed to meet a "fan" of this project at city, o' city at 10.30 this morning, so i pulled my act together and headed that way. i hadn't found any resolve to last night's email, so it was difficult to listen to someone else tell me how much they enjoyed what i am doing. after this guy and his brother left, i engaged in some conversations with my friends about what i was doing and why and what i should be doing. they gave me some encouragement. they gave me some prodding. they told me to figure some things out and be sure to take care of myself.

i finally set out on my own at around 2 o'clock. i started down the hill towards the library and was deep in the maze that is my brain. as i was appreciating the sunshine and the crisp autumn air and the falling leaves, i saw a woman parking a big, old, green jeep right in front of me. the doors were off the jeep and i was very close to the curb, so when i looked up at the woman, i realized how close we were. i excused myself right away and told her that i was working on this project. i asked her to be today's stranger and she, somewhat hesitantly, agreed.

jenn's jeep is a cj-7 from the early 80s. i guess there is something of a little boy in me because i still get excited when i see a nice jeep. i have no idea why that is. jenn was on her way to the library to talk about a business plan with some other people. it turns out that she is also a photographer, working as a freelance photojournalist for the newspaper. she said that she shoots just about everything, but prefers to not photograph weddings. she said she enjoys shooting sports the most, as it serves as some kind of an escape for her.

she said she's "stuck in denver" because she has a lot of family here, but she didn't seem to be that sad about it. as far as i am concerned, denver is a great place to be stuck in. jenn was a little shy in front of the camera, which seems to the story for most photographers - we tend to find our comfort zone on the other side of the lens. i thought she looked pretty cool in her big ol' jeep, though. she was very sweet, though, and i really enjoyed our quick conversation.

as i stood there on the street, talking with and photographing jenn, i realized a few things. i come alive when speaking with people. i enjoy hearing their stories. i like learning bits and pieces about them. if it works out, i also like sitting down and listening to them talk to me for an hour. i like relating to them. and finding commonalities. i very much enjoy the challenge of making a nice photograph of someone i don't know in a very short amount of time. even on the days when i talk with someone for a fair amount of time, i only spend about one minute photographing them. that is difficult, but it is a great exercise.

i was reminded of why i started this project and it was refreshing to remember that the reasons are quite simple. i like to meet people. i like to photograph people. i like to do things that haven't been done. and i like to write. so, i think it is important for you to understand that i often only spend a few minutes with each stranger, so i don't know or pretend to know all there is to know about them. i am sure each person that has agreed to be a part of this project has some flaws and some skeletons in their closet. that is fine. i don't really care. i meet them on the street and we share a connection. and i like that. i have no idea how long i am going to keep doing this. it is often hard work. it is often disappointing. it pervades nearly everything i do and regulates how i spend my time. i think about it all of the time. it trespasses into my dreams and gnaws away at my nerves. but i enjoy it. it often makes me smile. and i like very much that i have a lot of stories to share. it adds an excitement and adventure to every single day.

the doobie brothers sing, "what the people need is something to make them smile." so i am advising you to listen to the music, or, in this case, just look at the pictures. thanks so much, jenn. i am sure you had no idea that you were part of a very monumental day for me.

11 october, 2009

jack . 79 years old / colorado springs, colorado

what a day! i spent the weekend with a wonderful friend who has been back from nearly two years in china for only a couple of weeks. on friday night i drove down to colorado springs to pick him up and then we made the trip back to denver so i could show him my stomping grounds. this morning we started the trip to bring him back to the springs. as we left denver, the sun started coming out and those awful grey clouds began peeling away to make room for that clear blue sky that had been hiding for a couple of days. but somewhere on our trip we ran into the most bizarre weather i have ever encountered. a very heavy fog settled down like a giant blanket and the temperature dropped considerably. it felt very ominous, like maybe we were driving straight into the end of days.

we took some pictures of the phenomenon and then continued our journey to meet up with my friend's family. we enjoyed a nice lunch with them and then took off for "downtown" colorado springs. it was getting late and i needed to quickly find today's stranger and then get back on the road to go back to denver to pick up another friend from the airport. so, again, we set out into the miserable cold to look for people we didn't know. if denver is quiet on sundays, then colorado springs is mute. there were shockingly few people walking around. i was not in the mood to hunt, but hunt is exactly what i did. three people turned down the opportunity to be debuted on i heart strangers before my friend decided to duck into a warmer place to find some coffee. i decided to keep my nose to the grindstone and quickly found another person to say no.

i was getting very tired of the rejections. very tired of the cold. very tired of colorado springs. i guess even very tired of this project. after several blocks and a lot more time, i spotted a gentleman coming out of a store. he had a very welcoming look to him. i approached him with the usual story and asked him to be today's stranger. he gave me a pretty hard time, but i could tell he was joking with me. i asked if he was in a hurry and he looked at his watch and said that the other store he wanted to go to had just closed. he gave me the go ahead, so we started in.

he thought i just need a couple pictures, so he was surprised when i told him i needed his name and age. then i pulled out a model release and told him i would write a story about our interaction. he may have thought i was never going to stop pulling tricks out of my sleeve. jack is from pueblo. he wanted to make sure that it was understood that he is not from colorado springs. i can't blame him... i think colorado springs is a terrible place. he owns his own furniture store in pueblo and is celebrating his 63rd year of business. he told me that he usually doesn't have facial hair, but he grew it for a role he was playing. i don't know if acting is something he does on a regular basis, but apparently he has some experience. he went into an exaggerated accent and then started joking about his being an old catholic jew and that i should be very happy to be so lucky to have the chance to talk with him.

i don't know if it is because i was cold or because i was tired or because i had been looking for strangers for too long, but i was completely out of my rhythm. i was fumbling over my words. i had a hard time framing jack in my camera. i was dissatisfied with the background i chose. i felt pressed for time. jack was very jovial and photogenic and i think he was enjoying talking with me. i was enjoying listening to him, too, so i felt bad to ask him to hold his talking for a minute while i made some portraits of him. i ended up just letting him talk and i did my best to get some portraits in the process. since i have changed to a horizontal layout, i have been very careful to shoot both vertical and horizontal portraits of the strangers, but today i forgot. i realized that as i looked through the images when i got back to my place. i don't know how many days i will have to do this before i start consistently remembering to do everything the right way!

jack was very nice. he told me i should make a trip to pueblo. i told him if i come that way that i will send him an email and perhaps we could meet up for a coffee. he said lunch could be arranged, so i think sometime soon i will take him up on the offer. he said pueblo has a lot of good people who are much friendlier than the city folk of colorado springs are. he asked me why i was doing this and couldn't understand that i wasn't doing this for school credit. i guess it does seem a little weird to other people, but it feels very normal to me.

after a minute or so, jack put an end to my photographing him by telling me, "you got your 20." i should stop telling people i will take a certain number of portraits of them. we kept chatting and i told him i wasn't fond of colorado springs and he wanted to know why. that led to a short conversation about evangelical christianity and catholicism. jack didn't think that either are necessarily bad considering the condition of the world right now. i suppose i agree with him, but i do get put off by certain aspects. i suppose that comes from growing up in the thick of it.

thanks so much for your time, jack!

10 october, 2009

brittany . 24 years old / denver . colorado

a cold front has blown into denver with a vengeance. it went from 70 to 20 degrees with very little warning. it was under these cold conditions that i was walking around downtown with a very dear friend of mine. we weren't exactly thrilled to be so cold. i know i have to deal with the elements while looking for strangers, but it is an entirely different thing to force my friends to join me. i appreciated the company very much, though, and my buddy didn't even complain.

i spotted a woman in a long coat and a big hood coming towards us from about a block away. we made our way towards her and i excused myself and dove into my spiel right away. she had a time concern, so i pulled out my phone to see what time it was. late last night in the extreme cold, while heading home with my friend, i ran a few paces in a short burst of energy. in the process, my brand new phone flew out of my pocket and landed on the sidewalk. i couldn't find it under the leaves, so i asked my friend to call it. when he did, i realized that the screen was completely shattered. i showed this woman my newly shattered phone and she laughed. it wasn't a mean spirited laugh by any means, but it was a laugh nonetheless. she agreed to be today's stranger after finding out what time it was, but maybe it was just because she felt sorry for my broken phone.

brittany had just called her work to tell them she would be a few minutes late. i assumed it didn't matter so much because there weren't many people out in this inclement weather, but we still has to be fairly quick. i introduced her to my friend and the three of us carried on a very brief conversation. i found a place to photograph her and exchanged information and then we all went our separate ways to warmer places.

i didn't find out much about brittany. she has been in colorado for her entire life except for the four years that she went to college in georgia. she works as a hostess at an asian fusion restaurant downtown. and she is very friendly.

thanks for your time today, brittany!

09 october, 2009

abary . 37 years old / denver . colorado

i took some pictures for a job downtown and then decided to go visit a friend of mine at a camera store on the 16th street mall. on the way, i asked two women to participate in this project. both of them looked at me like i was a freak. both of them said no. after visiting my friend, i asked another woman. she said no. ok... so i figured it wasn't going to be a day for women.

i discovered that a rose-colored wall that i've been wanting to use was in the shade. the wall is usually in the direct sun, so i was excited for the opportunity to use it as the background. i waited for a while, watching people walk by. the wall is just beside a train stop, so people were standing, waiting for trains. some were departing. others were arriving. i looked at each of them thoroughly and was feeling a little nervous because i had a small window of time as the sun was making its way around some skyscrapers and would soon make the wall unusable.

i noticed a man standing outside of a pizza shop. i thought maybe he was waiting for the train, so i didn't know if i should ask him or not. i eventually decided to go for it. i introduced myself and told him what i was up to. he asked me what it was for. people often ask that. but they usually ask me that after i've explained what it is for, so it throws me off a bit. i tend to just repeat myself in different words. i guess i need to come up with a better sales pitch. well, after listening to me tell the story, abary agreed to be today's stranger. we stepped around the corner to use the wall and took some photos and dove into a conversation about him. he gave me a lot more time than people usually do and i was completely intrigued.

abary grew up in chicago, but came out to colorado about 20 years ago. he has only been in the denver area for a couple of months, though. his father is israeli (which is where he got his name, meaning "mountainous") and he works as a physician and his mother is a nurse. he has a few siblings and one of them is a pharmacist, if i remember correctly. it seems he has a penchant for medicine of some kind. he is currently studying psychology, but is considering changing his studies to pediatrics. he is weighing his options and taking into consideration his age and the length of time he would have to be in school and his mental acuity and things like that.

he also has a desire to be a screenwriter. as abary talked about that interest, he came alive. he spoke more passionately about it than he did of either psychology or pediatrics and brought me into a world full of his story ideas. i hope he pursues that course, as it seems to be the thing that moves him. he was very soft spoken and calm. i enjoyed talking with him on the street. he let a couple trains pass as we chatted because he wasn't in a hurry. he had an hour commute to where he is currently living, providing him with plenty of time to think on the train. i am pretty glad that i don't have an hour commute, but i can appreciate the value of having that time...

thanks so much, abary!

08 october, 2009

jim . 58 years old / denver . colorado

i met with a former stranger now friend for a little over two hours at a coffee shop on the 16th street mall. we chatted and he offered me a tremendous amount of encouragement, which i was in desperate need of. it was lovely. he eventually had to go back to work and i still had to go out and meet another stranger, so we parted ways. it was bitterly cold today. and it snowed! this was quite a surprise as it was 70 degrees yesterday. people's response out here is, "well, there's denver for ya."

i walked several blocks and then several more blocks and was feeling very ready to meet and photograph the day's stranger and find my way inside where it was warmer when i spotted a bearded man round a corner about a block away from me. i walked in that direction and realized i could catch up to him if i picked up my pace a bit. i excused myself and dove into the spiel as we both made our way through a crosswalk.

jim was immediately friendly and he had a very jovial spirit to him. we exchanged information and chatted very briefly because he had a bus to catch. i walked with him for about half a block until we came to an alley that i thought would make for a good background, so we talked as we walked. then i set to work capturing him in my camera.

jim is originally from upstate new york, but moved out here to denver just after graduating from college over 30 years ago to take a job with the EPA (environmental protection agency). he has been working with them ever since. i am always impressed when i hear of a person sticking to one job for many years. if i photograph strangers for 30 years, that will add up to 10,950 faces and stories. that's fun to think about. anyway, from what i understand, jim makes sure that the finished product that comes out of oil companies meets the regulations and standards established by the EPA. i would imagine that he likes his job if he has stuck with it for this long.

that's about all we got. thanks so much for your time, jim!

07 october, 2009

santiago . 62 years old / denver . colorado

i spent the morning taking care of practical things like eating breakfast, organizing my apartment, and doing some menial work, then decided to pedal over to city, o' city for a cup of coffee. the sun was out in a wonderful way today. it was warm, but the air was cool. the leaves have changed but are still falling and the earth has a nice chill to it that makes the day extremely comfortable, leaving the nights quite a bit more chilly, which feels much more natural. the nights are getting to the point where it feels like staying inside is the right thing to do. in turn, the days feel like they are for being productive. i say all this to help describe the mood i was already in.

i left my bike at city and set out on foot to look for the day's stranger. i wanted desperately, selfishly, to photograph a man with tremendous character in his face. i started in the direction of the mall street, thinking i would purchase a post card to send to a danish friend and then swing by the post office to acquire the appropriate stamp. i didn't make it anywhere close, though. on broadway, in front of the capitol building, i crossed paths with an older gentleman. i looked him over as we passed by each other, let him go, then thought better of it, turned around, and excused myself.

i dove into the beginnings of my speech and realized i needed to start over when the man, in a thick mexican accent, asked me what i said. i was careful to speak more slowly for the rest of our conversation. i explained the project to him and asked if i could photograph him. he wanted to know what it was for and i told him that i wanted to hear his story. he looked at me with a twinkle in his eye and told me that he had quite a story. he said he wanted to write a book, but... and trailed off. he told me he was homeless. i stood there on the sidewalk, trying to decide what to do. i have not known how to approach the homeless situation, so i have avoided it, using the "when in doubt, don't" approach. in a second, i decided that this man had just as much to say as the next person and maybe even more. my gut said to go for it, so i went for it. it turned out to be such a good decision.

santiago made his way to a short stone wall that separated a grassy park area from the sidewalk and sat down. i followed his lead and took a seat beside him and then it all started. for the next hour, i listened to santiago share bits and pieces of his story with me. when we parted ways, i was the one who was touched. he taught me the lessons. this is a perfect example of the kind of day when an audio recorder is absolutely essential. i sat and listened to him, feeling sad that much of the information was going to be lost, but doing my best to remember as much as i possibly could.

santiago married his first wife when he was 17 years old, still living in mexico. he moved to los angeles at the age of 20 and worked for a little while before sending for his wife and their son and daughter. they soon had another child together, a daughter, and lived for a few years there in LA. after 10 years of living in the states, santiago became a citizen. i don't know how he survived so long here illegally - a chapter of his book that will have to be told another day. i also don't know what led to it, but he divorced his wife. somewhere in the process, he moved to seattle, washington, and eventually ended up here in denver, colorado.

having a background in repairing electrical motors - something he learned from his father - he worked hard to become an electrician and mechanic and ended up working for major corporations like coca-cola, frito-lay, and 7-up. he taught himself to work with various kinds of piping and learned how to weld. he wanted to be the best that he could be at his job. he didn't want to depend on others and felt the need to be independent. from what i understand, he became very good at what he did and often received praise from his employers for the excellent work he was doing. he met another woman and they married. they had a daughter together, who is now 15 years old. her name is janice, and she is santiago's reason for living.

again, i don't know what led up to it, but santiago left his wife. i understood that there was some infidelity involved. he told me that he packed a change of clothes in a plastic bag and walked out of the house one day. he started drinking. he got tied up in cocaine. he started missing days of work. he stopped caring. he was eventually let go. he had no more money and ended up on the street. santiago recalled a specific day when he had not showered or shaved for about a month. he was sitting in a parking lot, soaking up the sun and feeling warm when he saw a car pull into the lot and recognized it as his ex-wife's. he tried to hide is face underneath his hood, but she had seen him. she stood over him, crying, and convinced him to go home with her for a shower. they rode home together in silence. she led him inside and he went directly to his old bathroom where he showered. his wife gave him a change of his own clothes that she had held onto and prepared some food. after cleaning up, he enjoyed a nice meal, then left again. he said thank you and walked out the door.

santiago told me that he used to have it all. he had his own house. he had a mustang. he had clothes and jewelry. he had this and that, but never found it to be enough. he said he has spent a lot of time over his nine years being homeless reflecting on his past life. he said he feels much more free now. someone handles his disability money for him. he has very little. he pays $49 each week to live in a shelter. he has love for people. his family. his friends. he said the greatest thing, though, is loving the people that mean to do him harm. santiago told me that he believes in jesus and cried when he told me that his faith was one of two things keeping him alive. he would have ended his life if not for jesus saving him and his love for his daughter, janice.

i was completely surprised by santiago's clarity. his wisdom and his heart, despite being challenged and beaten, were fresh and strong. he laughed with me many times in the hour that we spent talking together. he told me he is trying so hard to get his life back together. he'll stay sober for some time, but then his body reminds him that he needs alcohol. that he needs cocaine. he's been on medications, but they don't work. so he uses drugs. and he drinks. and the cycle starts again. he said he "can't find the door". i was so captivated by santiago that i wanted to take him home with me. i wanted to give him the little that i have. i wanted to see him spend time with his daughter.

as our conversation came to a close, i asked santiago what he was going to do. he said he'd go back to the shelter, where he felt safe. he'd eat some food and go to sleep and not drink and not do drugs. he was excited for tomorrow because he was going to see janice. they were going to go to the social security office and arrange for her to receive some of his money. he plans to stay at the shelter for three more weeks and then make his way back to seattle. he has been in communication with a pastor there who may put him to work. santiago was excited at the prospect of working as an evangelist, carrying a bible under his arm, and sharing his story with the down and out in hopes of showing them the same secret that he discovered and bringing them a little hope. he said he may have found his door. he wants to get to the place where he is clean - that is his first priority. then he wants to find a woman who will love him for who he is. not for anything else.

i asked him to let me know when he does find his door. good luck, santiago.

06 october, 2009

hillary . 29 years old / denver . colorado

i had breakfast with a buddy of mine and we contemplated life's obstacles in good conversation for some time. then i reformatted my model release, in an attempt to make it less intimidating. i think i only succeeded in making it shorter, though. i realized my bicycle tires needed some air, so i took care of that and then decided it was time to begin the day's hunt for a stranger. i locked my bike to a parking meter outside my dear city, o' city and set out on foot.

near the library, i spotted an older gentleman. he was bearded and looked a little haggard. perfect, really. i hoped to shoot someone with some good facial character. he seemed relieved when i stopped talking and told me he was kind of in a rush and if i had only caught him 5 minutes sooner, he would have been up for it. a few blocks later, another older gentleman told me, "you know, i would, but i'm gonna have to pass." what? i had no idea what that meant. he would be up for it, but he said no. yes, i mean no. the wording threw me off. i kept on.

after another few blocks, i finally asked another gentleman. he was amiable and seemed content enough with shooting the breeze with me, but declined the rest on account of being camera shy. his wording was funny, too. he said, "i'm not trying to be honest with you, but i'm camera shy." i didn't understand that. i will let you in on a secret. i want to start carrying a voice recorder in my pocket so that i can press play whenever i begin talking to someone. then i will remember the minutiae of these interactions. is that illegal?

shortly after the third "no", i ended up in front of the museum again. i saw a woman with red hair and was drawn to her. she looked a bit like jeanette from a few days ago, though, and she was wearing white, so i ruled her out. i was crossing the street when i saw another woman pass by me. she had a "nice" look to her. i was tired of looking for strangers only to suffer rejections. i figured if i was going to keep being rejected, i was done chasing them around. i turned around and called after this nice looking woman and gave her the spiel.

hillary was nice, indeed. she was very pleasant to speak with and talked to me for longer than i thought she would. she asked if the pictures that had been in city, o' city were mine and then jokingly said that maybe she should not introduce herself to me. she agreed to be today's stranger in a way that sounded like she did not want to be today's stranger, so i told her there was no arm twisting. but she stuck it out.

she saw my phone number on my card and asked if i was from boston. it turns out that she grew up in brookline, massachusetts, which is basically boston. boston spills out into all of these other non-boston neighborhoods in a way that makes it all feel like boston. after graduating high school, hillary went to a small college outside of baltimore and then thought she would go to culinary school in denver. she had a friend who was going to be studying at denver university, so she figured she would spend a couple of years out here and then move on. well, she did not attend culinary school (she was dissuaded by the horror stories) and has been here for 7.5 years. she said she found a good community of friends and hasn't felt compelled to leave.

hillary works at the library, as a clerk at the reference desk. she said that makes her a "pretend librarian". she likes her job for the most part, but occasionally struggles with its repetitiveness. she is contemplating going back to school to get a master's degree in library science (i had never heard of that before today), but is also toying with the idea of studying horticulture ("the art or practice of garden cultivation and management" - oxford dictionary). she is not in a hurry to do either. i got the vibe that she is going to wait until something really tickles her fancy. she told me her mother has studied to get three different master's degrees, obtaining her latest while in her 50s, so she doesn't feel too pressured to begin now.

hillary wanted to know how i choose the strangers. people always want to know how i choose the strangers. there are days when i have a better answer than others, but today wasn't one of those days. i told her she looked nice and i needed nice and that was that. she said that she must have still had on her "library face". well... if so, i am glad. thanks so much, hillary.