jeff . 18 years old / denver . colorado
now that i am preparing to move (across the world), my schedule seems even busier than it did when i was working every day. i have a lot of time that i can call my own, but it is not exactly "free". dedicating time to looking for strangers is requiring an even more conscious than usual effort.
after a breakfast/goodbye session with another photographer, i hopped off my bicycle while riding home to ask a man who was sitting on his front step. he was friendly and smiled as i began telling him about the project, but when i asked him to be the day's stranger, he declined the offer. that was fairly early in the day and i didn't get around to looking for strangers again until much later.
in the south pearl neighborhood, where i have been spending much of my time lately, i went out for round two of searching for a no longer stranger. i went with my friend, hillary, who is a great stranger hunting companion and has listened to more of my frustrations and opinions and heartaches over this project than most everyone else. today proved to be another of the more trying days and with it came another session of "blah blah blah" from me.
we passed by a very cute couple who i chose not to ask on account of their being too cute. i get worried that people will think i am trying to create another fashion blog. i worry that people will judge me for only photographing "attractive" people. i worry about a lot of things, but this particular concern is one i felt like i could control today. the cute couple passed by and hillary and i spent a few minutes talking about how cute they were. then, not long after, i spotted an older gentleman who was out walking his dog. he was cute, too, but in an old man sort of way, so i justified asking him. he didn't want to be part of it. he wanted to know why i didn't want to photograph any of "those kids" as he motioned towards a table of attractive, young people. my answer wasn't good enough and he sent me on my way.
we walked the length of the south pearl business district several times and with each passing block, my mood worsened. i do not enjoy the search. i seem to spend the whole time looking for a stranger worrying about not finding one. unfortunately, i haven't figured out how to combat that. i eventually grew so weary of the mental battle that i took a seat at a table under the shade of a tree. i collected my thoughts and did some more bitching to hillary and then, slightly re-energized (or perhaps just concerned that i would run out of daylight), stood up to begin the search again.
as we neared the first corner, i spotted the cute, young couple who we previously passed up. i decided to go for it this time. i complimented them on just how cute they were and told them what i was up to and asked them to participate. they agreed. i asked jeff if he would be the day's official stranger and asked jackie if she would be in the second photo with him. they both agreed. it turns out that jackie had seen this project when it was featured on the news and she was also with kelsey (02 march, 2010) when the troop of girls stopped me on the street to ask me to participate in kelsey's own project. i asked jackie if we had met on that day and she assured me that we had not. so... we were still technically strangers.
jeff and jackie just graduated from high school and they both have plans to attend colorado university here in denver. jeff is toying with the idea of studying urban planning, but can't decide between that and pursuing a career as an english teacher. jackie is pretty set on teaching and will be studying english. it doesn't seem as if it was that long ago when i was in their situation, but it has been 10 years now. that thought makes me sad... the ten years don't seem nearly as substantial now that i look back on them as they did while they were taking place.
jeff and jackie had just come from 5 green boxes, the store that josiah (from the other day) works at. someone gave jackie a gift certificate and she found the little hearts they are both wearing. jeff told me that jackie asked him if he would wear the red one. he said he wouldn't. then she asked him if he would wear it if she wore one, too. that changed his mind. i thought it was quite fitting that today's stranger was already wearing a red heart...
the four of us had a lovely chat on the street and jeff and jackie afforded me more time than usual to take the photos. our interaction was so positive and sweet that i walked away feeling much better. more energized. glad that i kept searching. i feel that way after i meet the stranger. the key word being "after".
jeff and jackie, thank you so very much.
now that i am preparing to move (across the world), my schedule seems even busier than it did when i was working every day. i have a lot of time that i can call my own, but it is not exactly "free". dedicating time to looking for strangers is requiring an even more conscious than usual effort.
after a breakfast/goodbye session with another photographer, i hopped off my bicycle while riding home to ask a man who was sitting on his front step. he was friendly and smiled as i began telling him about the project, but when i asked him to be the day's stranger, he declined the offer. that was fairly early in the day and i didn't get around to looking for strangers again until much later.
in the south pearl neighborhood, where i have been spending much of my time lately, i went out for round two of searching for a no longer stranger. i went with my friend, hillary, who is a great stranger hunting companion and has listened to more of my frustrations and opinions and heartaches over this project than most everyone else. today proved to be another of the more trying days and with it came another session of "blah blah blah" from me.
we passed by a very cute couple who i chose not to ask on account of their being too cute. i get worried that people will think i am trying to create another fashion blog. i worry that people will judge me for only photographing "attractive" people. i worry about a lot of things, but this particular concern is one i felt like i could control today. the cute couple passed by and hillary and i spent a few minutes talking about how cute they were. then, not long after, i spotted an older gentleman who was out walking his dog. he was cute, too, but in an old man sort of way, so i justified asking him. he didn't want to be part of it. he wanted to know why i didn't want to photograph any of "those kids" as he motioned towards a table of attractive, young people. my answer wasn't good enough and he sent me on my way.
we walked the length of the south pearl business district several times and with each passing block, my mood worsened. i do not enjoy the search. i seem to spend the whole time looking for a stranger worrying about not finding one. unfortunately, i haven't figured out how to combat that. i eventually grew so weary of the mental battle that i took a seat at a table under the shade of a tree. i collected my thoughts and did some more bitching to hillary and then, slightly re-energized (or perhaps just concerned that i would run out of daylight), stood up to begin the search again.
as we neared the first corner, i spotted the cute, young couple who we previously passed up. i decided to go for it this time. i complimented them on just how cute they were and told them what i was up to and asked them to participate. they agreed. i asked jeff if he would be the day's official stranger and asked jackie if she would be in the second photo with him. they both agreed. it turns out that jackie had seen this project when it was featured on the news and she was also with kelsey (02 march, 2010) when the troop of girls stopped me on the street to ask me to participate in kelsey's own project. i asked jackie if we had met on that day and she assured me that we had not. so... we were still technically strangers.
jeff and jackie just graduated from high school and they both have plans to attend colorado university here in denver. jeff is toying with the idea of studying urban planning, but can't decide between that and pursuing a career as an english teacher. jackie is pretty set on teaching and will be studying english. it doesn't seem as if it was that long ago when i was in their situation, but it has been 10 years now. that thought makes me sad... the ten years don't seem nearly as substantial now that i look back on them as they did while they were taking place.
jeff and jackie had just come from 5 green boxes, the store that josiah (from the other day) works at. someone gave jackie a gift certificate and she found the little hearts they are both wearing. jeff told me that jackie asked him if he would wear the red one. he said he wouldn't. then she asked him if he would wear it if she wore one, too. that changed his mind. i thought it was quite fitting that today's stranger was already wearing a red heart...
the four of us had a lovely chat on the street and jeff and jackie afforded me more time than usual to take the photos. our interaction was so positive and sweet that i walked away feeling much better. more energized. glad that i kept searching. i feel that way after i meet the stranger. the key word being "after".
jeff and jackie, thank you so very much.
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