31 january, 2010

michelle . 36 years old / denver . colorado

on my way to find today's stranger i received a phone call from a former stranger, michael (march 9). he wanted to know if i had purchased that book yet, the one that don recommended to me a few days ago. i told him that i hadn't and michael replied that he was holding a copy in his hands and, if i would let him, he would like to give it to me as a gift. what a nice surprise! we decided to meet up on the 16th street mall, so i made my way to him and we engaged in a wonderful conversation for nearly two hours. the day was closing and the sun was soon going to retire, so we parted ways so that i could continue my search.

as i walked further down 16th street, i saw a lone woman sitting on a bench in the median. i stopped on the street and watched her for just a moment to see if she was alone and to figure out if she was there enjoying her cigarette or if she was there as a vagrant. i've been having some heavy experiences lately and was being cautious today, hoping to have an interaction that wasn't going to be so world rocking. maybe that sounds awful to some of you reading this, but i don't mean it in a negative way. some days i just don't have the energy...

i walked up to the woman and gave her the spiel. she burst out with a quick laugh and a surprised "really?!" when i told her how many days i had been doing this. after asking a couple of precautionary questions, she agreed to be today's stranger. michelle was in town for the yearly ski and snowboard event. i've heard it mentioned lately and those talking about it have made the event sound like a big deal. michelle works as the marketing director for outside tv. i already thought that was pretty great, but then she told me she lives in portland, maine. that was exciting news as i was born in maine and have family in portland. further, it turns out that michelle has a friend that used to work for the same company that my sister works for now. just another reminder that we do live in a small world.

i told michelle about my day with michael and about the book he gave me. that brought up the subject of the author, howard zinn, and his death, which then brought us to j.d. salinger and his recent death. salinger is michelle's favorite author and she recently heard that when people went through his home they found stacks upon stacks of manuscripts - books that he had written but not released to the public. michelle, and, i would guess, many others are keeping their fingers crossed in hope that these books will be published now.

michelle was rad. and i think it was so interesting that in my search for an "easy interaction" i found a woman who i had so much in common with.

30 january, 2010

kiah . 18 years old / denver . colorado

another busy day. i had to be at work early. and then had to leave in the middle of my shift to shoot another photo job i had committed to before taking the café job. after that i had to get back to work to close the day and watch the sun go down on the world of strangers. i had a small window of opportunity to look for a stranger on my way back to work after the photo job. during this time, i was busy beating myself up over the photos i had just taken and was feeling stressed about finding the day's stranger. on a whim, i decided to walk my bike through a square of little shops instead of pedaling down the street. it was then that i saw a pair of blue shoes.

i went up to the blue shoes wearer and her friend and told them what i was up to. they were both receptive and weren't in a hurry, so i put my bike aside and we started chatting. kiah and her friend (mary? amy? i tried to remember...) had just stepped out of a cigar shop and were excitedly tearing into a box of "black and gold" fancy cigarettes. kiah asked if she could smoke while i photographed her. i told she could do as she wished, but many a stranger has pulled the "i am smoking, i am cool" pose in the photos and doing the same wouldn't get her any originality points. she decided not to blow smoke into the lens and we managed to incorporate a classic smoking image into the diptych.

kiah is studying to be a film director and works as a lifeguard when she is not in school. she told me her favorite film is "high society", a classic american movie that i have yet to see. she also recommend everything by wes anderson, who i will also vouch for. i told her about pedro almodóvar and julian schnabel and recommended my favorite of their films to her. we had a lovely chat.

at some point before we took the photos, a security guard came up to us and wanted to know what we were doing. i explained the whole thing and he said it was ok, but he was kind of a tough guy about it. then he lightened up and said he was just curious. he also said that even if we were taking commercial pictures it would most likely be ok unless there was any nudity involved. i assured him he didn't have anything to worry about. 510 days of nude strangers in public would probably get a bit more press, though.

i was glad to meet kiah and her friend. they were both so nice and easy to talk with. as i made my way back to work i couldn't help but think about how much cooler they were than i was when i was 18. the world has changed considerably in the last decade. is this kind of nostalgia a sign of aging? am i getting old?

thanks for your time, kiah.

29 january, 2010

john . 65 years old / denver . colorado

i headed out the door this morning with a few things in mind: i thought i would check in at city, o' city to see a friend of mine and order a cup of coffee. then i would go to kilgore books to look for "a people's history of the united states". in the process, i hoped to find today's stranger. well, my friend was not at the café and kilgore books opened an hour later than i thought. i had not yet found a stranger, so i redirected my path towards a grocery store so that i could purchase a bar of soap and, along the way, look for folks i didn't know.

a gorgeous blue wall is near this grocery store and i hoped to take advantage of it by photographing a stranger there. i arrived at the blue wall, but found it basking in the sun, making it an unsuitable backdrop. i crossed the street to acquire my bar of soap, but ran into one of the most interesting people i've ever encountered. the man had a face full of character, bright eyes, and large ears accentuated by the way he wore his hat (an 'obama, 44th president" hat) high on his head. he gave me an enormous closed-mouth smile and raised and lowered his eyebrows several times, much in the way that is usually accompanied by a boing! sound on classic cartoons. in this moment, the man looked like a caricature of himself. i so badly wanted to meet and photograph him, but i let him pass. after a short but vigorous battle in my head, i reneged on my original decision, and turned around to chase after the man.

i caught him just in front of the blue wall (still in the direct sun) and started what turned into a one-hour, riveting conversation. john was extremely well read and well spoken. he had a soothing voice and ended many of his sentences with a soft "huh?", much in the same way that some people would say, "right?" after making a point. john has been living in asia for about 30 years. he told me that he comes back every to the states every 10 years or so. he has currently been back in denver for 8 weeks after a two and a half year stint in indonesia. he is here reconnecting with old friends and raising some finances so that he can return to asia. he works as a gardener/landscaper and is eager for the warmer weather to arrive so that he can get to work.

denver is john's base when he makes his way back to the states, mostly because he still has relationships here from his time at university in boulder. he spends much of his time sorting through a stack of manuscripts and compiling information for his current project, a memoir (something for which he has plenty of material). he is currently looking for a patron to help sponsor this endeavor. this is not his first experience with writing, though. he explained with a grin that many years ago, in john's "hippie days", he wrote a several part book about the pleasures of the marijuana herb. also, he used to own a bookstore in kathmandu, nepal. john spoke of his relationships with other authors and shared some of his experiences with them in places like tangiers, morocco.

john spoke very fondly of asia. the ancient culture. the lack of media's heavy influence on society. the lack of stress. the emphasis on family lineage and cultural appreciation. it was quite obvious that john has spent considerable time over the years comparing and contrasting the east to the west. he seems to have found a very kindred spirit in the east and he is not alone. a very dear friend of mine speaks very affectionately of his couple of years in china and is planning to return at his next chance. i spent a comparatively short time in south korea and am wondering now if i didn't give it the chance it deserves.

it seems that over the last 30 years of living abroad, john has had just about every experience there is to have. he owned a night club. he taught english. he learned to speak thai. he has lived in many of the countries in southeast asia, in china, in nepal. he spoke fondly of singapore. he told tales of his hitchhiking experience across the sahara desert in north africa. he bought items in one asian country only to sell them in another. he has been forced to forgo many of his journals and photographs as one must pack lightly when moving around the world. john's list goes on. he is the kind of guy that every single person in the world could learn at least one thing from. i, for one, plan to learn a lot more about him. we had a great connection out on the street today and made plans to meet again soon.

days like today really surprise me. it is very easy to fathom our meeting not happening when you consider all of the steps that took place this morning. was it meant to be? was it coincidence? divine intervention? world's colliding in the most serendipitous and synchronistic of ways? your guess is as good as mine.

thank you so much for your time today, john. i'll see you very soon.

28 january, 2010

don . 66 years old / denver . colorado

filling in for my co-worker, i was scheduled to be at work for a 12-hour shift today. i had to be at work before it was light enough to photograph and i was supposed to close up the shop long after dark, so i was concerned with how i was going to find today's stranger. fortunately, someone covered me for a little while. on a mission and in a bit of a hurry, i stepped outside into a cold, grey day. the idea of this project is to spread a non-hurried message, so it does feel a bit lousy when i am being hypocritical.

soon into the search, i ran into a friend that i have not seen in some time, so we chatted for a few minutes. then i asked a couple of different people who turned me down. one man didn't have the time and a set of girls did not bother stopping to hear what i had to say. i followed someone else for a few steps, but they ducked into a chocolate store. feeling the pressure of time, i kept to my task, but that all too familiar feeling of the scary unknown was creeping in.

i spotted an older man sitting on a large duffel bag. i noticed his beard and his broken glasses and then saw how refreshingly kind his face looked. i have struggled with deciding who i should and who i shouldn't ask to participate in the project, but have been trying to expand my boundaries in all directions. i fear that i will be accused of exploiting someone, but i know that i am not exploiting. i am just telling their stories. i would like for the people i meet and photograph to be of a sound mind, but i am not sure who gets to decide what is sound and what is not. at any rate, today i decided to ask this man if he would be today's stranger.

i explained what i was doing and he enthusiastically replied, "great!" then, after i asked if he would be today's stranger, he said, "shoot!". he was immediately warm and had a zeal that is hard to come by. he told me he was waiting for the bus, so if it showed up he was going to be getting on it. that added a bit of pressure to my task, so i quickly wrote down the essentials and asked him to sign a release and then fired off a few shots, only asking him to stand up from his seat on his duffel. when i was finished, his bus had not arrived, so we talked for a few minutes.

don was on his way to "can land" to exchange the cans he has collected for money. his duffel was packed full of crushed aluminum. i asked him if this was his main source of income, but he said he also receives social security. originally from santa fe, don told me that it has turned into the "aspen of new mexico" and that they have "stopped charging by the foot and started charging by the inch". he moved up to colorado in the mid-90s and seems to be enjoying himself. he told me knew a lot of photographers and painters from santa fe and then praised this project. he thought it was a great idea.

don asked me if i ever photographed at the park. after clarifying which park he was referring to, don explained that there was a coffee shop for the homeless near the capitol building. i told don that i have been struggling with knowing who i should and shouldn't be photographing and he had some good things to say. he asked me if i had read "a people's history of the united states". i hadn't, so he explained that it was a history told by people whose voices are rarely heard. he told me that if i read that book and continued this project, then my photographs would start looking different. the author of the book, howard zinn, died today, which is maybe what made don think of it. now that i've heard about it, i can hardly wait to get my hands on it and start pouring through it.

don's bus came and, after wishing me good luck, he took off. i made a few short notes and then walked back to the café feeling inspired, but also fighting back tears. if i had it my way i would have paid the bus fare to go with don just to listen to him talk. i would have given him a hand with his cans and invited him for a cup of coffee. i want to take it to the next level with the people i meet. i want to dig deeper and learn more about them. it feels that i am bursting at the seems to tell stories and, i have to admit, the little bit i get to present on here rarely feels adequate.

thanks so much, don.

27 january, 2010

julian . 27 years old / denver . colorado

i met a man named rj, a former stranger from july 12, for a late breakfast at a restaurant that he likes to frequent. this was the second time we have met since our first encounter. he's taken an interest in me for some reason and continues to shower me with kindness and encouragement. i had been feeling fine today, but during our conversation some of my frustrations came pouring out of me. if put to a chart or a graph of some kind, my feelings about this project would look like a roller coaster ride. it would surely signal to a professional that i need to take it easy. up and down, up and down, up and down. i seem to be constantly trying to figure out what this means and what is supposed to mean, weighing its significance and validity, and scrutinizing it against some unknown standard.

after my long chat with rj, i jumped on my bike to look for today's stranger. i had a couple of hours left before i needed to check into work this evening. just a few blocks later, i spotted julian walking up the street by himself. i had just pedaled up a hill and was catching my breath as a result, but i called out to him anyway. i introduced myself and carried my bike over to the sidewalk to walk and talk with julian. he didn't seem particularly upset about the idea, but it was obvious that he wasn't expecting this to happen. i mean, who could possibly be expecting this.

i asked julian what he was doing today and he claimed that he wasn't doing anything. i prodded him for some more information and learned that he is originally from chicago, but has been here in denver for 10 years. he is currently attending the culinary school at the art institute and is looking for work. he wants to be a baking and pastry chef and is hoping to get a job in that field soon. i got the impression that he was feeling desperate for work, which is definitely something i can relate to.

julian was very calm - notably, so i asked him about it. he said he was always that way. i confessed to him that i could use a little more calm in my life. they say that practice makes perfect, but practice requires intention, and it seems that i happen to forget about the many things that i intend to do.

there are just nine days between julian's birthday and my own. i don't know why i remember this, but my best friend from my childhood shares a birthday with julian. it's refreshing being reminded of such things. when i think of that friend, it brings me back to playing cowboys and indians in the woods behind his home, pretending to see wild animals that we were hunting, and communicating to each other with a variety of hand signals and grunting noises. i have to admit that i would feel quite silly doing that today...

thanks for your time, julian. and thanks for your calm presence and your unknowingly reminding me of different days.

26 january, 2010

jamie . 30 years old / denver . colorado

i've been in hiding for the last couple of months. i haven't been spending much time with most of my friends. i haven't had much desire to be social. it seems that my condition was on a steadily worsening trajectory. i was holding onto ideals. i was quite proud that i was able to work for myself and pursue my passions and stay afloat, but when i started sinking i think i became embarrassed. and maybe i was even in denial. last week, after several weeks of looking, i was offered a job as a barista at a café. then, today, i was offered another job at a modern & vintage furniture store. it seems that i cannot sustain on just photography right now and i've really been struggling with feeling like a failure because of it. but, and this is why i decided to write any of this, it seems that i am coming to terms with it. i felt like going to visit some friends at buffalo exchange (a clothing store here in denver) and, because i now have a dress code, look for some clothing. even the desire to go some place where i might see people i knew was epic. it was on my way there that i met jamie.

i saw him crossing the street in the opposite direction to where i was heading. i quickly changed my course and trotted up beside him to give him the strangers' spiel. jamie was immediately very nice. he wasn't in a hurry and quickly agreed to be today's stranger. i was surprised that i found someone so quickly. there are days when i go out to look and i thoroughly inspect every passer by. then there are days like today when i am content on walking and thinking. on these days i am always surprised and extra grateful when i find someone quickly.

as a young boy, jamie lived in longmont, colorado - not far from denver, but he spent most of his life in the mid-west. he developed an interest in rock climbing and had several professional climbing friends here in denver, so he decided to move out this way. he recently gave up his corporate job and is now pursuing his passion: working full-time at a climbing gym and climbing in his free time. jamie said that it feels very good. he seemed very content with his current situation and happy with his strong core group of friends here in colorado.

i definitely believe in people doing and getting paid for what they love. the whole idea of work for its own sake is not one that sits well with me. but... i do understand that it can't always work out flawlessly. i am glad it is working out for jamie right now. and for me, well, i like serving people coffee. i like beautiful furniture. and i really like meeting and photographing strangers. i'd rather spend all of my time meeting and photographing people, but for now i will make some concessions.

thanks so much, jamie. i guess i could not have met you at a more appropriate time. a short interaction with a stranger on the street continually serves as an inspiration to me.

25 january, 2010

david . 19 years old / denver . colorado

walking on 16th street with a friend, we were making our way towards a camera shop to pick up some photos. i had asked a couple of people, but they both decided that this project wasn't for them. i think i have finally come to the conclusion that the rejections only bother me on the days when i am not especially motivated. and instead of feeling frustrated towards the people that say no, it is turning into more of a frustration that it is going to take a bit longer than i anticipated. but... the reward is great because i know that someone will eventually say yes. the exciting this is never knowing who that someone is going to be.

today it was david. i saw his brightly colored nuggets hat and his gold teeth and figured he would make a nice addition to the project. i approached him in a busy section of the street and he wasn't immediately warm. i am not sure if he misunderstood me at first, but he eventually listened to what i was asking him and seemed rather excited about the opportunity.

from milwaukee, david has only been in denver for a few days. he told me he was down here trying to open up a waterless car wash. he was enthusiastic about the environmental friendliness of this endeavor and seemed to be excited about the idea of starting something. he seemed to be at the grassroots level of his car washing career. i am very familiar with the grassroots domain... i seem to spend most of my time there.

just before parting ways with david, i asked him what the story was with his teeth. i wanted to know if they were "real" or not. he said, "of course they are real! i wouldn't have them in if they weren't." we wrapped up our conversation by trying to answer some of david's questions about where he might find some environmental organizations in town.

good luck, david.

24 january, 2010

dee . 45 years old / denver . colorado

i went for a coffee in the south pearl neighborhood. it was cold today and windy, but the sun was out, so it could have been worse. after a caffeine awakening, my friend and her dog and i started looking for strangers. there weren't that many people outside because of the temperature. it being sunday might have had something to do with it, too. i asked a young woman, but she declined on account of having somewhere to be.

i parted ways with my friend and her dog so that i could look more diligently. i figured i might find someone quickly, but that wasn't the case. i walked around for a while, just looking for people. eventually i saw an old alfa romeo sports car drive by. it parked just up the street, so i hurriedly went towards it to ask its driver. the man said he would like to help me out, but he was "starving". i asked him if he was so "starving" that he could not wait 4 minutes to eat. he said that was the case. shocked, i said, "really?", to which he replied, "yes." i wished him well and told him that i liked his car and then walked away analyzing that whole encounter...

a couple of blocks later i spotted dee. as we neared each other we exchanged a glance and dee threw me a big smile. i like smiles, so i asked her to be stranger number 504. she agreed to it as long as it was quick because she was cold. i introduced myself and gave her my business card. dee recognized it as a photograph of an old drive-in movie theater. that brought a big smile to her face and sparked a little conversation about drive-ins.

dee is the mother of two daughters who are living in texas, where dee is from. she is currently living here in denver, managing a storage company. she is a registered massage therapist, though, and will soon be moving back to texas to work in that field again. she will also be close to her daughters and will be reuniting with her x-husband. she seemed very excited about the changes that will soon be coming.

i enjoyed chatting with dee and found her to be a lovely woman. we committed a minor trespass to take today's photo and dee didn't put up a fight. she told me she wasn't photogenic, but i protested and showed her a photo to prove her wrong. she kept a very warm expression on her face despite the frigid weather and her smile stayed in her eyes the entire time we talked.

thanks so much, dee. good luck with your upcoming changes!

23 january, 2010

sarah . 21 years old / denver . colorado

someone graciously relieved me of my duties at work for a little while so that i could go out in search of today's stranger. i gathered my gear and headed out the door only to make it about one block. i spotted sarah's scarf and red coat and thought she must be of the friendly sort. as we neared each other, i noticed that she was listening to something in headphones, but i couldn't let that stop me. i approached her with my traditional "excuse me", and she immediately responded with a smile and then took out her headphones. i told her what i was doing and quoted the number of days it had been going on. she laughed and agreed to participate. she said she only believed me because i knew exactly how many days i had been doing this.

sarah was on her way to boulder to return some items to the library there. she had about half an hour, which i assured her was more than enough time. while she lives in denver, she commutes to boulder a few times every week to work with children in kindergarten through 5th grade at a "friends" school. she is hoping to begin teaching at a montessori school here in denver, though. she prefers the montessori philosophy and is eager to begin working with children from 5 months old through kindergarten age. i think she will be glad to be shorten her daily commute, too. although, she did say she enjoys reading on the bus and the cost of the transportation doesn't bother her because she lives in house with 8 people and they all eat "dumpster food". she said that with such a big smile on her face that i don't know if she was being wry or not.

sarah was so very sweet. it seemed that she had to concentrate very hard to keep her smile off her face. i asked her to just look at the camera, so i think she was trying to look how she normally looks, but i have a wonderful collection of sarah's efforts. she had a warm personality and we had a wonderfully pleasant conversation. it felt very good to step outside in the middle of a long work day and immediately meet someone who responded with such kindness.

thank you, sarah!

22 january, 2010

katrina . 23 years old / denver . colorado

i finally landed another job! it has been about 14 months since i have had to work for someone else, so i have had the time to create my own schedule for this project. despite the time, there have still been days when it was a challenge to get it done. now, though, i am remembering what it was like when i first undertook this project: i would go into work early to look for a stranger on the streets of downtown boston, or i would wait until after work and just hope that i would have enough light. this will take some getting used to, but, now i should be able to pay my bills, so i think it is worth the compromise.

i had a break in between training sessions at work, so i headed out into the afternoon sun to find today's friend. it took a little while to find someone. eventually, an older woman agreed to do it, but we only had enough time to exchange some information before her bus came to take her away. i found another older woman with ruby red eyeglasses on and a face full of character, but she turned me down. shortly after, i saw a young woman sitting across the street from me. she was dressed for the cool weather, but obviously enjoying the bright sun.

i told her what i was up to and her only concern seemed to be whether or not she had to move. i told her we could chat in the sun, but she would need to stand in the shade for about one minute. there was an entrance to a parking garage nearby, so we took advantage of the light there. katrina said she likes denver and seemed to be satisfied with her current situation: she lives downtown and works at a restaurant directly across the street.

before we parted ways, i asked her who she was waiting for. she told me that a lawyer in atlanta had asked her to serve three different people with court summons. she had no idea who these people were, but for $25 each, she was willing to give them some paperwork.

and that was about it. thanks for the chat, katrina.

21 january, 2010

cecilia . 71 years old / denver . colorado

i had another job interview today, so i went downtown a little bit early to look for a stranger. after parking my bike, i ran into a friend (a former stranger, actually) and chatted with him for a minute or so. then i walked around a couple of blocks, searching for today's subject. a couple of people said no, which is kind of a rarity these days, but i pressed on. it was getting pretty close to the time i needed to be at the interview, so i decided to head back that way. well... of course... that is when i saw today's stranger.

an elderly woman was sitting on a bench in front of a walker. she was wearing a red hat and a red coat and was looking extremely photogenic. i decided to ask her, thinking maybe she would say no. then i would go to my interview and continue the search afterwards. i told the woman what i was up to. she asked me what i was using the images for and then agreed to participate. i was shocked. and very happy, too, but a little concerned with the time.

cecilia immediately told me that she just moved into the barth hotel - a senior, assisted living residence. she has lost much of her hope over the years and was feeling very bad that she could no longer care for herself. fighting against her dependence, she spent a couple of weeks on the streets until she somehow found her way to barth. she was sitting outside, waiting for her son to come pick her up. i would have liked to have waited with her...

she shared with me a very touching story about losing three of her children to cancer. her husband ("a tall, blonde german") was murdered by three men about nine years ago. with tears in her eyes, she told me she just couldn't understand how something like that could happen to such a good person. she gave up on her belief in god for some time because of this. cecilia told me that her husband used to buy loaves of bread and lunch meat to make sandwiches with and then he would give those sandwiches to the homeless. he would buy clothes for them, too. cecilia kept saying how she just couldn't understand the injustice.

cecilia told me she feels like a "bag lady" and often gets very lonely. so, there i am standing there on the street, listening intently and feeling helpless and terribly sad about her situation. i know have very little time left before my interview, but can't bring myself to look at the clock. i eventually give her a sideways hug and tell her that i will come back to show her the pictures. she told me how glad she was about that, so i reassured her that i would. then, feeling like the biggest chump in the world, i walked to my interview.

i managed to make it with about one minute to spare, but it didn't feel very good. sometimes i wish i had some experience in social work or psychology so that, in these situations, i could have something really refreshing to say. i could have sat down on the bench beside cecilia and talked with her for a very long time. i would have liked to have had more time to take more photos of her, as well. these days are difficult...

thanks so much for being today's stranger, cecilia. i'll be on the lookout for you and will be bringing you some photos soon.

20 january, 2010

jessica . 26 years old / denver . colorado

first of all, i think it is odd that nobody had anything to say about yesterday's stranger wearing a dog suit. does anyone look at this website? second, i'd like to pat myself on the back for having met and photographed a stranger every single day for 500 days in a row. people keep asking me if i am going to stop doing this. those same people seem to think that day 500 is a good day to call it quits. well, i disagree. i am going to keep doing this until i feel like i should stop. so... if you like looking at it, then you should be glad to know that i will be continuing the project.

i have been applying for jobs all over town. actually, all over the country. looking for work is a miserable task, especially when dire straits have made it urgent. i keep thinking that potential employers will consider this project a sure sign that i am worth hiring, but i am starting to think that i might be wrong. nevertheless, i made a few copies of my resumé to bring them to a place on east colfax. i haven't ever ridden my bike as far east as i went today, so i was surprised to see how much i was missing out on. colfax is full of treasures.

after dropping off my resumé and talking with a couple of different folks about working for them, i hopped back on my bike to ride home. i wasn't dressed for today's cold weather, so i was going to change and then head out again to look for a stranger. i wasn't feeling particularly great about the faux interviews (i don't think i "wowed" them in the few minutes we chatted) i had just been to and was preoccupied with thoughts of jobs and trying not to get myself run over by traffic when i saw a young woman walking down the sidewalk. i saw a little patch of blue hair and a glimpse of her striped pants. i liked the way she was wearing her hat. there were a few things, seen and unseen, that served as a magnet.

i slowed down and whipped my bike around and then rode up behind her on the sidewalk, excusing myself and explaining what i was up to. i was excited to tell today's stranger that they would be number 500. i feel like i have entered new territory and finally have something serious under my belt. the young woman responded kindly. she said she was on her way to work, but she figured it would be ok if she was a few minutes late. i offered to walk her the rest of the way and she took me up on it. and then went inside to let them know she would be just a few minutes.

jessica and i stepped around the corner to get away from the sun. it was a cool, grey day, but that sun still likes to make little hot spots wherever it can. the background wasn't my favorite, but it actually worked out well. jessica was a little nervous in front of the camera, but it was somehow very charming. for the second shot, we went back around the corner and i photographed her in front of a place called "the shoppe". they sell cupcakes and cereal (and more!) and have wonderfully accommodating hours that are sure to meet your needs. jessica has been working there for almost a year and seemed to really enjoy it.

originally from california, jessica's family moved to colorado springs when she was young. colorado springs is not a very exciting place to live, so jessica moved to denver about four years ago. she works at the shoppe and has two other jobs and seems to be either satisfied or momentarily content. she is not a big fan of the cold weather here and wants to move to the pacific northwest for a chance to experience a "different kind of cold". she was a pleasure to be around and talk with. she had a lovely smile and had something special in her eyes. i can see it, but i don't know what it is. maybe she holds the secrets or maybe she is busy trying to find the answers... i don't know, but there is something going on in those eyes.

jessica invited me to come into the shoppe and then offered me a cupcake. i ate a chocolate, sea salt, caramel mini-cupcake in about one second and, i must confess, it was delicious. i highly recommend you visiting.

i tried to explain to jessica the overwhelming draw i feel towards certain people. she was one of them. i could not have kept going. something forces me to approach certain people. i couldn't find the words to describe it, but jessica understood what i was saying.

thanks so much for being a part of this, jessica!

19 january, 2010

james . 22 years old / denver . colorado

you can't possibly be wondering why i chose james as today's stranger. anytime there is a person walking down the street in a very large dog outfit, i am going to be drawn to them. and, if i have not already found my daily stranger, then it is a given that i am at least going to try to convince the costumed person to participate. who knows... i might even beg for it!

i spotted the dog (presumably male because of the shoes) walking towards with me another guy, non-costumed, who turned out to be james' co-worker, ben. i walked up to the duo and began explaining what i was up to. james pulled his dog head off immediately and agreed to participate. he said he worked for "big dog textbooks", so i asked if we could walk that way while we chatted. the three of us made our way to a nearby alley, where we finished the conversation and took the photos.

this was james' first day in the dog suit. he moved to denver from michigan only a few weeks ago. he was walking around town one day, looking for work, and familiarizing himself with the city, when he saw the sign for the book store. he needed a job and had experience working for another campus book store, so he went inside to inquire. it turned out that the owners of this store knew the owners of the other store and james was hired before he finished the application. this was the first day back to school for the students, so james donned the dog suit and walked over to campus to advertise.

i was really happy to hear about james' success in finding work so quickly, but the news hit a nerve, too. i've run into some formidable obstacles during the job search i have been on for the past many weeks and am seemingly striking out at every turn. i voiced to a friend a little while after meeting james that i am so frustrated because i think that i am clearly open to the possibility of anything happening. i welcome the unknown and expect adventure. i guess this can only mean that someone will want to sponsor this project soon. right?

thanks so much, james. i hope this city proves to be one that you will soon call home.

18 january, 2010

ken . 47 years old / idaho springs . colorado

on a whim, a friend and i decided to make a trip to idaho springs. the cozy town sits at the end (or beginning) of route 103 - one of my favorite roads in colorado. we decided to have a bite to eat there as a compliment to our day of escaping from the city. we parked the car on miner street and started walking around in the afternoon sun and very quickly came across a little place called "idaho springs treasures" - an antique store filled with exactly that.

we perused the goods, turning over artifacts and ogling many peculiar finds that we couldn't afford or justify buying. looking at things from the past does something to me... i guess it takes me to another world and let's me daydream and fantasize. i don't think it comes from a place of discontentment, though. it feels healthy. like maybe i would have enjoyed living one hundred years ago.

i found a little something i had only recently been keeping my eyes out for and then went to pay for my purchase so we could move onto our next adventure. at the register, a very "noticeable" man rang me up and i decided that to not ask him to be the day's stranger could be considered a crime. i told him what i was up to and ken agreed to allow me to photograph him and immediately told me a story...

not so long ago, another photographer came through the store. he said he was a photographer and asked if he could photographer ken and his childhood friend, andy. ken told him that everyone with a camera was "a photographer", but agreed to let the man photograph them anyway. the man turned out to be a very influential photographer by the name of ron bennett. he was a photographer for many of the presidents and has a career that spans several decades. he even won a world press award for one of his images of the robert kennedy assassination. ken was like a little kid at christmas as he told me about the interaction.

i confessed that i wasn't as famous as this mr. ron bennett, but ken let me take his portrait anyway. he had such a joy and life in his eyes and was a real pleasure to be around. ken and his friend, andy - another bearded fellow with a commanding presence, opened up the antique store a little over one year ago. i would have never guessed that it was such a recent endeavor as they both seemed quite comfortable in there.

thanks so much, ken. it was a pleasure meeting you!

17 january, 2010

rahim . 45 years old / denver . colorado

i walked around for a long time today. i wasn't motivated to look for strangers in the first place, so as time passed, my motivation decreased, too. i spent most of the time walking around with my friend and her dog, but eventually separated from them so that i could look for the day's stranger with more intention. even on the worst days, there comes a time when my desire to find the day's stranger and have an interesting experience outweighs my lack of motivation.

i eventually saw a man standing on the sidewalk across the street. he was between a hotel and a car that looked like it was for hire. i crossed the street and approached the man with my spiel. he asked me what the photos were going to be used for. i explained the process and told him that i would put his photos and a story on my website. i think he liked the word "story" because he dove into his own spiel about how "in america, everyone has a story."

rahim is from morocco. he was studying law and trying to do well to make his parents proud of him when they both died. with his world shattered, he decided he needed to start all over again, so he left morocco for the united states more than twenty years ago. he spent some time living in new york city where he worked hard for very little money, but slowly started to make it happen. i don't know what led him to denver, but he is here now and runs his own limo service, complete with two cars. he seemed to enjoy his work.

rahim had a lot to say about america: about how good we have it here. about how grateful he is to have found his way here. about the effect we have on the rest of the world. about the size of our pet supply stores. he recounted his days of making $35 a day and living very modestly and he didn't make it seem like he was terribly dissatisfied during that time of his life. he has what he needs now and made the impression on me that he is content. he had a wife at one point, but he jokingly said that because he turned into an american, he got a divorce. he has no children and seemed to be only mildly disappointed about that.

he had worked a late night, and was just taking in some fresh air when i saw him on the street. i don't think he enjoyed being photographed, but i do think he enjoyed our conversation. he had a good smile and was constantly ready with a laugh. thanks so much for your time, rahim.

16 january, 2010

robert . 56 years old / denver . colorado

i walked downtown with my friend's dog. her name is bayou, so named because she came from louisiana. i really like dogs. i enjoy their company and today was no exception. and... unless it is some sort of super-aggressive, foaming-at-the-mouth, baby eater, people tend to respond kindly to both the dog and the person walking with it. i thought it would be fun to meet today's stranger while with bayou, but it didn't end up going exactly like that.

after a bite to eat with my friend and bayou, we started searching for today's stranger. after about one block, i spotted a man sitting by himself on a bench. it was his hat that caught my eye. i left bayou with my friend and made my way over to him. i think he realized that i was coming towards him and, for a second, i felt like maybe he didn't want to be bothered. i didn't let that stop me, though. i excused myself and told him what i was up to and asked if he would be stranger number 496. he said, "do i have to do anything other than sit here?" i smiled and told him he might have to stand up. that seemed to be ok, so i took a seat beside him to begin the information exchange.

robert had about 20 minutes before he was supposed to meet his girlfriend at the tattered cover bookstore. the weather was absolutely beautiful and robert seemed to be soaking it in. he was enjoying a cigarette - as his only vice, he hopes it will not be the death of him. i began our conversation by asking robert if he was from denver and what he did for work...

robert used to live in new york. after graduating from RIT (rochester institute of technology), he took a job with the eastman kodak company. after working with them for a while, he began traveling around the world, doing engineering consulting. eventually feeling the weight of the fast paced life, he decided to take it easy. he moved to colorado springs about 30 years ago and now owns and manages a few rental properties and also has a small business that he doesn't mess with very much. robert told me that he tries to travel a couple of months each year, mostly sticking to this hemisphere. he is now learning spanish and is quite pleased with the number of countries he would be able to get by in after having that under his belt.

he used to travel extensively in asia, but is finding less time to get over there these days. the way robert talked about his travels and experiences and current life schedule made me slightly envious. i suppose i have to pay my dues and have maybe already had more than my fair share of adventures, but i am definitely ready for more world travel. it is just a matter of finding some cash to put in my wallet.

robert was very nice and wonderfully photogenic. i would have liked to have listened to more of his travel stories, but we parted ways so that he could meet up with his girlfriend. a few minutes later, on my way back home with bayou, we ended up beside the two of them at a stop light and robert's girlfriend was just as lovely as he was.

thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me, robert!

15 january, 2010

julie . 18 years old / denver . colorado

the first 364 days of this project are currently on display at the "S.A.M.E. café" on colfax, between vine and race. if you have the opportunity, you should take a look at it - both to support this project at the café. i rode my bicycle up there to drop off my artist statement and then decided to walk around the east colfax neighborhood to look for today's stranger.

i caught sight of a tall red-headed woman across the street, so i darted my way through the four lanes of traffic to cross her path. as we neared each other i began telling her what i was up to. she interjected, "oh, i heart strangers?" i was pleasantly surprised that she knew about the project. she told me that a friend of hers had told her about it, but she couldn't remember which friend it was. i asked if she would be today's stranger. she said she wanted to, but she had to catch a bus. i started looking for strangers earlier today than usual and wasn't particularly excited about the idea of being rushed, so i decided to let her go. well... she was excited about being a part of the project, so we made it work.

i walked with julie towards her bus, exchanging information along the way. when we arrived at her corner, the only place that provided any shelter from the sun was the enclosed waiting area directly at the bus stop. at first i was a little concerned about it, but it worked out just fine in the end. julie was a little shy in front of the camera and i don't suppose that it helped that a crowd was gathering as the time for the bus to arrive was nearing.

julie is from colorado, but is currently a creative writing student at the "new school" in new york city. i have heard many good things about the new school and have known a couple of people who have attended their and attested to those rumors being true. julie said she enjoyed living in new york, but mostly because of the interesting people she constantly comes into contact with. she told me of a man she recently met: he was in a wheelchair and could not speak, so he used some kind a computer system that he could type words into and it would speak them for him. she thought he was going to ask her for help, but he told her he needed a friend. touched by the simple request, julie walked beside him for a while. it was obvious that she valued unexpected experiences with others.

julie hopes to be a writer and wants to use her skills to have a positive effect on humanity. we parted ways because her bus arrived: she was on her way to her former high school to speak with the current students about going to college. she seems to be off to a good start on her path to effecting positive change.

thanks, julie!

14 january, 2010

vicky . 59 years old / denver . colorado

after picking up a few prints at a camera shop, i left my bicycle there and headed towards the 16th street mall to mail something at the post office. the day was closing, so i then set out in search of today's stranger. i walked a few blocks up the street and ended up beside vicky. she had a lot of character in her face and very kind eyes, so i began telling her about my project as we continued down the street. she burst out laughing and said, "yeah right!" i told her i wasn't kidding and explained that i really was photographing a stranger every day. she eventually stopped to better listen to me. there is often a moment in these conversations when the stranger realizes that i don't want sex, drugs, or money from them. i can see their demeanor change. it is actually quite touching.

vicky told me she was on "company time" and asked how long it would take. i told her it would take a few minutes. the thing about my time frame is that it is completely flexible. a few months ago, i told a man it would take a few minutes and he looked very put off by the idea of giving up that much of his time. two hours later, after he talked nearly the entire time, i had to break away from him. so.... it takes as long as the stranger allows. today it took a few minutes and then a couple more because i think vicky rather enjoyed the experience.

she told me she wasn't photogenic. i think everyone is photogenic. actually... i don't think that i am all that photogenic, but that is precisely the issue: very few people think of themselves as photogenic. it is a good thing we don't get to be the only judge of ourselves, right? i think vicky photographed very well, though.

she told me she was from south dakota and that "the best thing about south dakota was being from there". she never found it to be an appealing state, but now she looks at it differently. at her 30th high school reunion, she rekindled a flame with a former high school boyfriend. they are still together now and, as it turns out, he rides motorcycles. as an enthusiast, he rides to sturgis every year and brings vicky along. sturgis is a large motorcycle rally in the black hills of south dakota. now, vicky thinks of her home state as a beautiful place. isn't that just lovely? i think so. our relationship to one other can affect how we feel about so many other things.

thank you so much, vicky. it was a pleasure chatting with you today!

13 january, 2010

tony . 31 years old / denver . colorado

if any of you think that this project is about me finding the perfect, most photogenic location and then camping out until the perfect, most photogenic stranger walks by, then you should definitely keep reading.

i was walking with a friend on the 16th street mall when i spotted an old volkswagen squareback. the squareback has been my favorite car for many years but i still get excited whenever i happen to see one. my friend and i took a peek in the windows and discovered that this one was in particularly great shape. after wiping the drool from my chin, we walked on. after parting ways, i went to retrieve my bicycle from around the corner, planning to walk it up the mall street towards a camera shop where i needed to print a few things.

ten seconds into my walk, i spotted the squareback pulling out of the parking lot where i had originally seen it. on an impulse, i jumped on my bicycle and started pedaling after it. i caught up with it a block or so later and excused myself to the driver. the man rolled his window down and, knowing i only had a short time because the light would soon change, i dove into a very quick, very out of breath version of my pitch. fortunately, the guy agreed to be today's stranger and asked what i wanted him to do. i told him i would just follow him if he would pull off in a parking lot or find a spot on the street.

dodging a few buses and some other cars, i stayed behind the guy until he found a street spot to parallel park in. i dismounted my bike and locked it up to a parking meter and then went over to continue our conversation. tony was a great sport. he is from colorado and went to school in fort collins. he has been living in denver for a few years and works as a composite manufacturing engineer. the blank look on my face after he explained his title must have encouraged him to explain it. it turns out that tony used to work for a large airline, but the economic downturn wiped that out. now he works for a small company with a few other employees and they dedicate their time to making sporting equipment. i have met a few engineers through this project and, no matter what kind of engineer, they seem to always have exciting jobs.

tony told me he found his '71 squareback on craigslist. i also found my old volkswagen on craigslist for a super deal, but tony's find might have mine beat. it has few miles on it and runs great, he said. after chatting for a few minutes and allowing myself a minute or so to catch my breath, we set to taking the photos. the side of the street we were on was quite dark because the surrounding tall buildings were stealing what little bit of sunshine was left. i tried to put tony against the best backdrop i could find and snapped away a few portraits. then, for the second shot, i waited for a break in the traffic and ran out into the street to capture tony with the car responsible for bringing us together.

thank you so much, tony! it was great meeting you today!

12 january, 2010

adam . 33 years old / denver . colorado

the dictionary on my computer, which i think is an oxford, has the following to say about the word serendipity: "the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way". now, the word chance can be dissected, but let's just say that i am not trying to get into a heavy debate over it. let's just say that chance means possibility. i could have never dreamed up today's happenings, but they were definitely possible, and i would say there was definitely some serendipity involved.

i worked on other things for most of the day, then left my apartment with enough time to get downtown to meet a friend for lunch. the sun was out in full force, making for the nicest day we have had in quite some time. it was a light sweater day as opposed to the parka days we've been getting lately. i figured i would go look for strangers after lunch, but that was not going to leave me with an excess of time, because even though it was so bright out, the sun is still taking to hiding quickly at this time of year. we ate our lunch quickly and then my friend offered to dedicate the rest of her break looking for strangers with me. i thought that sounded like a wonderful idea.

we walked a few blocks and soon saw a man coming towards us with a rather large stick. i saw this man a few days ago, and remember being curious about it. my friend suggested that it was a didgeridoo. it didn't look like one i had seen before, but i didn't disbelieve her. curious (and hoping for this man to be today's stranger), i asked him about it. it was, in fact, a didgeridoo. adam informed us that they can also be referred to as a "yidaki". i just looked up the word on wikipedia and discovered that there is quite a bit of information available on the didgeridoo/yidaki.

adam has been living in connecticut for a while and only recently moved out to denver because of the long-time prodding of several of his friends from high school days. he has only been here for a few months, but is thinking that he will soon transition to boulder. he is currently between jobs, so is spending his time building didgeridoos and playing his own on the streets. he has spent a lot of time on his, which he refers to as "dave". adam said the very minimum amount of time he spends on one (and that is just to make it so it can play: no bells, no whistles) is 40 hours. but he will most likely spend many more hours than that. he prefers to build them for people after he meets them and learns about them. he likes to make them special and significant for each person.

adam used to play the clarinet and the drums and he studied sculpture. he also learned woodworking from his grandfather. when he discovered the didgeridoo, he thought it was the perfect thing for him to play and build as it was a combination of many of his interests. while living in connecticut, he built them out of cedar, as opposed to the traditional eucalyptus tree, but i don't think there are many eucalyptus trees around these parts. pine variations are most prevalent here (which are too soft, he said), so adam is hoping to be in contact with people involved with the forestry department in the redwood forest so that he can obtain some of those young dead trees. while didgeridoos were traditionally made from naturally hollowed (by termites) out trees, adam cuts his in half to begin the building process.

before we came along, adam had met some guys further up the street. they all gathered around to listen to him play and then one of them told adam he wanted him to build him one. in our conversation, after he played for some time, adam said that he figured the reason for him coming out today was to make that connection. he seemed to be a very spiritual guy and i understood him to hold serendipity or synchronicity in high regard. it was a real pleasure meeting him today. lunch could have gone longer or we could have walked in a different direction or... or... or...

thanks, adam!

11 january, 2010

vanessa . 35 years old / denver . colorado

i took a walk on south pearl, a beautiful street in south denver. i am rarely in that neighborhood, but i should make an effort to visit there more often because it is a gem. the sun was shining and the temperature was up, serving two purposes: melting the snow and reminding me of one my favorite things about this city.

after a few blocks, i spotted vanessa coming towards me. she was dodging some melting snow as she was walking and seemed a little concerned when i first interrupted her. i told her what i was doing and asked if she would be today's stranger. she told me her mother and baby were waiting for her just across the street, then asked if i meant to do it right now. i explained that i did and that it only took a few minutes. she gave me a big smile and then asked, "how can i trust you?" i returned her smile and told her that she was just going to have to. that seemed to be enough because she agreed to it.

vanessa is originally from peru, but has been living here in denver for the past 12 years. her mother and the rest of her family live in peru, but her mom was here (presumably) visiting her brand new grandson. vanessa and her husband are the proud, first-time parents of a four-month old boy. vanessa was still glowing with the excitement.

we had a very short, but sweet interaction and then parted ways. vanessa said she would most likely contact me about the photos. a lot of people say that, but rarely follow through. however, before i even had the time to write about her, vanessa wrote to me to express her enthusiasm for being a part of this.

thank you so much, vanessa!

10 january, 2010

jim . 63 years old / evergreen . colorado

on our way to evergreen, my friend and i stopped at the "bark park" (first mentioned on this blog on christmas day) with the three dogs we were tending to. this particular dog park is quite a bit nice than others i have seen, as it is essentially just an enclosed few acres of wooded area, separated into a few smaller areas for those who do not want to traipse around the wilderness in search of their four-legged friends. i brought my camera gear along in hopes of meeting a friendly, dog-loving stranger. there was a group of people standing in the first enclosed area, but none of them stuck out to me, so we continued through the woods, taking care not to slip in the mud while being as entertaining to the dogs as we possibly could.

after a few minutes of this, my friend hillary said, "there he is." i looked up to see an older man walking down the trail with a great dane. they were on the other side of the fence, up the hill from where we standing. fully agreeing with hillary, i made a dash for the fence, hoping to speak to the man before they wandered off. fearing i wasn't going to make it, i called out to him, and dove into the beginnings of my stangers' story while continuing my way up the slope.

jim responded very kindly and with enthusiasm. we talked for quite a few minutes before taking any pictures and our conversation was very easy and natural. jim seemed happy to share some of his information with me. and this was another reminder of why i am doing this - i get a tremendous amount of satisfaction out of genuine conversation with others.

early in our chat, i complimented jim on his jacket. he said it was an old l.l. bean jacket, which brought up the subject of maine and my being from there. jim dove into stories about his living on a commune for 20-something years - some kind of a ranch where each of the residents was expected (and willing) to share in the work load. he did not mention the name of the place, but he said they have 200 locations in 17 countries. maybe i should spend some time on such a place.

we talked about his beautiful dog, a young great dane who goes by the name "bodhi". bodhi is a sanskrit word which jim took some time to explain to me. i'll let you do the research for yourself, but the short version is that this particular bodhi should be able to get through the rest of his life with fewer problems than he started with. jim rescued him from a life of abuse and has been his caretaker for only a few months - shocking news considering the well bonded relationship they already had.

jim is a forensic engineer, a career he has been involved with since the 80s. he said he enjoyed his job very much because it is never the same. he went down to louisiana after the hurricane to determine what damage was caused by the storm and what was preexisting and he spent some time at a winery in california, figuring out what was making the wine spoil. the juxtaposition sounded great to me.

jim had a lot of kindness in his face and something very special in his eyes. his smile seemed to be omnipresent. after a few minutes of talking and taking a few photos, we all made our way down to a field where bodhi had a play date with some other great danes. hillary and i escorted our troop down there and set to enjoying part of the day watching the dogs interact with each other. eventually i asked jim to throw a ball towards me so that i could get some actions shots of bodhi running at me. i failed to consider two things: jim's ball throwing experience and my lack of experience in action photography. jim's first throw hit me in the leg and i soon realized that that meant a very large dog was going to be coming directly at me. it worked out just fine, though.

thank you, jim.

09 january, 2010

dylan . 20 years old / denver . colorado

i looked for today's stranger for a long time. there were plenty of people out, but i just couldn't make the move to approach any of them. i walked downtown, down one side and up the other on the 16th street mall, over towards city, o' city, up by kilgore books, then across colfax and eventually ended up on 17th avenue. the weather was beautiful - quite a bit warmer than the last days have been and the sun was doing its best to lift my spirits - but i was tiring of the process.

as i was walking by a café i have never visited - a place called "illegal grounds" - i saw two young women sitting outside in the sun. they were chatting and didn't appear to be leaving anytime soon, so i interrupted their conversation with the strangers' spiel. i figured one of them would immediately point to the other, but they both responded with interest. i asked if they were going to fight over the opportunity, but kelly quickly gave dylan the honors. we made plans to include both of them in the second photograph, but it didn't work out. it turns out that both kelly and dylan work in the café. kelly was just finishing her shift and dylan was currently on the clock. some customers showed up so dylan went inside to serve them while kelly and i sat at the table and chatted. in hindsight, it would have made more sense to photograph kelly, but the confusion makes for a nice story.

kelly eventually volunteered to take care of the customers for a few minutes so dylan and i could chat. that was very kind of her. it might have taken a while if she hadn't been so thoughtful. a few months ago, dylan and her boyfriend moved to denver from idaho. she said she just wanted to get away from boise. she and her boyfriend may move to portland, oregon, but dylan said she is enjoying the sunny denver weather. she is currently just working to take care of herself and support some of her hobbies. she didn't seem to be particularly rushed, which i found refreshing.

i think i made dylan uncomfortable. maybe it was the big camera. maybe it was my striped hat. maybe i had something stuck in my teeth. i don't know. regardless, i am glad she agreed to be a part of this project. thanks, dylan!

08 january, 2010

ljiljana . 62 years old / denver . colorado

i used to avoid the 16th street mall like the plague. i am not sure what has changed, perhaps it is just the weather, but i now consider it my default. there are plenty of people down there and plenty of variation among them. i would guess that very few of the people walking along that street are living in lower downtown, so it serves as a melting pot - a nice mix of people from all over town. a quick glance at the last few days of strangers will help you see my point.

it was supposedly 20 degrees warmer today than yesterday, but i wouldn't have guessed it. i was freezing as i made my way through the crowds in search of that special someone that would be the stranger of the day. the food carts on 16th street are in the median. i notice them as i walk by on either side of the street, but rarely have any need to be in the median (accept when i need to avoid greenpeace workers), so i don't have much interaction with the vendors. i almost passed by ljiljana's cart, but her red glasses had some kind of magnetic pull.

she was very sweet and welcoming from the very beginning of our interaction. she did not have other customers for a few minutes, providing us with ample time to chat and take pictures. i was immediately enthralled by her. she was so warm and had a lovely accent and displayed an openness that i rarely come across.

ljiljana is from what used to be called yugoslavia. she refers to it as "x-yugoslavia". when the fighting began in the early 90s, she and her husband and children started making plans to leave. she told me that at some point she waited in line to see a doctor to tell him that her son was ill. while it wasn't true, it was one of the few ways she was going to be granted permission to leave the area. it was going to be more difficult for her husband to leave, but they worked that out, too. ljiljana recounted a story about an american woman who helped usher 28 people across the croatian border in a large vehicle carrying an american flag. she instructed them to sit still and be quiet and reported to the guards at the border that everyone on board was american. once they made it into croatia, the entire group lived in a hotel. international law allowed for them to stay for free because they were war refugees.

ljiljana and her family moved to the united states in 1994. they ended up in denver, unable to speak much english and struggled to find work. the government provided them with a small stipend and they made do with what they could. before too long, ljiljana was out on the street selling ice cream out of a mini-freezer. when the weather turned cold, her husband built her a cart around that freezer and she has been selling food and ice cream on the 16th street mall ever since. she seemed completely delighted with her story and, i must say, i found it riveting. once again, i consider it a tremendous loss that i did not have an audio recorder to capture every word she spoke.

if you are ever hard pressed to find an advocate for this country and what it has to offer, i encourage you to go speak to ljiljana. she is firm believer that if one works hard and pays their taxes then they will be just fine. her two sons were able to attend school here and now they are both very successful. ljiljana is very grateful for the way her life has turned out. she told me several times that she is very happy.

we talked for several minutes and she allowed me to take as many photos as i wanted. we had a lovely interaction. i told her that i liked her glasses, assuming she had deliberately chosen the red frames to make a statement. it turns out that the glasses she brought with her on her journey eventually broke. she wanted something similar to replace them, but she could only find such large frames in red. so... she has red frames.

thank you so much, ljiljana! i hope this year brings many good things your way.

07 january, 2010

jerry . 61 years old / denver . colorado

it snowed yesterday and the temperature dropped to below zero in the night. it only worked its way up to about 10 degrees today. i had a job for the denver forum at noon and needed to look semi-professional, so i disregarded some of my more practical, warmer clothing. i walked around for about 40 minutes before the job, looking for strangers. a couple of people said no, but they were pleasant enough about it. my toes and fingers started to go numb, so i decided to wait until after the job to continue the search.

after taking some low-light, indoor, action pictures of richard reeves, a well-known journalist, i changed the settings on my camera and went back out into the cold to continue the search for a stranger. it is interesting how cold temperatures can make just about any environment feel like a frontier. the city felt a little different today and each step required some concentration. i figured i had a daunting task ahead of me as people don't want to be bothered when it is so frigid. i asked a woman who was wrapped up in warm clothes, but she had a bus to catch.

i walked on for a short while and eventually caught site of an older gentleman in a bright red jacket and vibrant blue winter hat. i darted across the street and walked beside him for a moment, then excused myself and explained what i was doing. he agreed to participate right away, but it was obvious that he was cold. while still trying to be personable and get some information, i worked as quickly as i could.

jerry had a thick souther accent. "drawl" is the term, i think. i asked if he was from denver - he told me he wasn't but he lived here now. when i asked him if he was retired, he told me that he was disabled. curious whether he was injured in the military or had some kind of accident, i asked him about it. jerry simply told me that had a mental disability. i asked if he had a wife or any children and he candidly told me that he never met the right girl. i gave him a big smile and suggested that he still might meet her. his eyes lit up and he chuckled and agreed that that was a possibility. i asked if he had any other family. he doesn't.

he photographed very well. jerry is the kind of subject that interests me most. elderly people with never ending depths of wisdom in the lines of their faces. he had some kind of simplicity and kindness in his eyes that made me want to know everything about him. i wanted to know what he did with his life. how he came to denver. where he was born. what he did on a regular basis. where he picked up that jacket. i was curious whether or not he knew how incredible he looked. i had so many questions, but could not ask them. it was too cold and jerry's hands were really cold. and i never know how much to ask of the strangers. i keep thinking that will change... that one day it will all come together and everyone i meet will start pouring their lives out to me. it is not going to happen like that. deep down i know that, but i still hope.

thanks so much for being today's stranger, jerry.

06 january, 2010

tony . 28 years old / denver . colorado

after again spending the morning at the s.a.m.e. café, hanging more of the photos from this project, i went home for a quick bite to eat, and then gathered my gear to set out into the very cold, snowy day to look for today’s stranger. there are days when it seems that everything i do revolves around these strangers. as you might imagine, i often struggle with whether or not that is okay.

i walked down 16th avenue and then nearly the entire length of the 16th street mall, looking at every single person i passed and did not feel a strong pull towards any of them. i eventually decided to visit a friend of mine, but when i was finally only a few doors away, i saw tony. his nose piercing and haircut, coupled with his long, black, winter jacket made for an intriguing combination. looks don’t intimidate me anymore. i feel like i can approach anybody, so i decided to invite tony to be today’s subject.

tony agreed to being today’s stranger before i even finished the pitch. i told him it would take a few minutes, so he told me he would go into the pizza shop to order a slice. i assumed he would come back out after he placed his order, but as i stood outside in the cold, i started to doubt that he would return. i mean, i figured he would have to come out eventually, but i didn’t know if he was going to eat first or what. just when my petty anxiety was getting the best of me, he poked his head out the door to tell me to just come inside to talk.

he retrieved his pizza slice and we pulled up two chairs to a table. while he ate his lunch he started telling me his story. this is how i wish these daily interactions would always go, but because they rarely do, tony’s willingness caught me off guard.

tony works as a professional body piercer at a parlor on market street called “celebrity tattoo and piercing”. he began an apprenticeship when he was 18 and originally decided to become a piercer so that he could look however he wanted to. his face used to be covered in piercings, but he has toned down considerably. the nose ring (i don’t know what it is called) was his original wish, so he decided to keep it.

when tony was 19 he was arrested. i asked him what he did, but he said, “you don’t want to know.” in truth, i did and still do want to know, but i wasn’t compelled to push him for information. he spent some time fighting his charges in court, but was eventually sentenced to seven years in prison. he ended up serving six and a half of those years, but spent the last two of them in solitary confinement.

his cellmate kept stealing from him, so tony revealed to the other inmates the reason his cellmate was in prison. in return, his cellmate accused tony of selling drugs and, because the guards considered him to be a reliable source, they put tony in solitary. he said he didn’t see the sun for two years. the sun is my life force, so i highly doubt i would make it through that.

fondness is definitely not the right word, but tony doesn’t look back at his time in prison with resentment. he told me he was ashamed of himself and very sorry to his family and friends and even taxpayers for what he did, but he learned valuable lessons in there that he doesn’t think he would have learned out in the world. tony told me he is a completely different person now: he is much slower to get angry and frustrated. he realizes what he has and doesn’t have control over and acts accordingly. he has a stronger value system now and considers how his actions affect people around him. he lives a different life now. he doesn’t want to party or fool around. he has no desire to seek out any trouble.

tony works a second job at a funeral home. his grandfather works there, too, so tony asked him if he could get him a job. he wasn’t sure if he would be able to go back to body piercing or if it still paid well, so he needed something else to pay the bills when he was released from jail. tony plans to attend school to study the funeral home business and hopes to make a career out of it. he told me a bit about what it is like working around dead people on a regular basis and i decided that it is yet another thing that i am not cut out for.

tony and i left the pizza place to go down to the parlor and we chatted for a few more minutes. just before i left, tony and two tattoo artists were discussing plans to give tony a tattoo of michelangelo, one of the teenage mutant ninja turtles. as i was leaving, they were talking about the history of the turtles. i didn’t have much to contribute as my knowledge of the mutants only went as far as the super nintendo video game.

i didn’t know him before he went to prison, but i would say tony is a changed man. he was interesting to talk to and i took him for a very friendly guy. thanks for being a part of this project, tony. i wish you all the best.

05 january, 2010

olga . 58 years old / denver . colorado

i spent the morning returning rented ski equipment and hanging the first year of this project at a café on colfax called "s.a.m.e." (so all may eat). it is a lovely little place, so if you have the chance, please stop by to look at the pictures, and while you are there, take a few minutes to enjoy some tasty food, too.

later in the day, after catching up on some work, i gathered my camera gear and went in search of today's stranger. i made it down to the beginning of the 16th street mall and was immediately drawn to a woman sitting on a chair with stacks of papers in her lap. she was smoking a cigarette, so i figured she had a couple of minutes to spare. i approached her and told her what i was doing and asked her to participate. she listened carefully and then explained in a very heavy accent that she did not photograph well. i told her that everybody said the same thing and i was willing to take the chance. she laughed and agreed to go through with it, but warned me that i would want to throw the pictures away later.

it turns out that olga is from russia, but she has been living in the united states for 23 years. on two occasions she responded to my questions in russian: first with (phonetic spellings, sorry) "niet" and then with "da". i don't speak russian, but i understood "no" and "yes". early in our conversation, when i introduced myself, i offered to shake her left hand because she was using her right to handle a cigarette. she said, "no, that is not right." and then repositioned her entire load to shake my right hand. i liked her right away. i was curios about what she was carrying... the papers in her lap turned out to be mailings. she told me she mailed things. that was her job. i didn't fully understand, but i let it go.

olga's husband died a little over a year ago. i could tell by her response that she misses her husband very much. she told me she had a 35-year old son and he lives here in colorado. i asked her if he takes care of her and she replied, "sometimes." and then laughed. she had a beautiful smile and wonderful spark in her eye. i don't think she was completely sold on the idea of being a part of this project, so i applaud her for going through with it.

thank you so much, olga.

04 january, 2010

stevie . 70 years old / copper mountain . colorado

my friend and his father took me skiing again today. i'm not doing well financially these days, so today and yesterday were really a tremendous blessing. it's always refreshing when seemingly impossible things happen... it makes the sun seems a little brighter and the sky a little bluer. after a full day of skiing and taking in the majestic sites at copper mountain, we unloaded our gear in the parking lot, and i quickly set out in search of the day's stranger. the sun was quickly working its way behind a nearby mountain, leaving behind a cold, dim light.

i saw a couple unloading their gear into the back of their car and approached them with my typical sales pitch. i have appreciated the change of environment as i feel that people are less skeptical of me at ski resorts than they tend to be out on the streets of denver. i doubt the first thing on their mind is that i want money or a cigarette. i suppose i could just be imagining that people normally assume the worst, but i don't think that is the case.

the couple responded with enthusiasm and i quickly learned that their names were art and stevie. stevie is actually a stephanie, but nobody calls her that. i asked which of them preferred to be the featured stranger and art exclaimed that stevie was much stranger than he was, so she should be the one. stevie and i set to work on the photos and then i asked art to sit in on the second shot. then, with my camera, he took a photograph of stevie and me together. the day's stranger has photographed me on a few occasions, but never with my own equipment. i thought it was just lovely.

i didn't find out too much information about stevie. she seemed content in offering more information about her husband than about herself. to stevie's surprise, art is currently enjoying his retirement. after many years as an orthopedic surgeon, they both thought that he might come down with a case of "retirement fail", but so far, so good. stevie has a ".edu" email address, so i am guessing she is either furthering her education or employed by a university in some fashion. one would assume i would ask questions to solve such mysteries. i have no defense. i am also very curious about stevie's headband, which i am quite sure reads "bus bitch". i should have asked about that, but i didn't notice it until i looked at the images in photoshop.

while i might not have all of the facts, i can say with all assurance that stevie and art are an absolutely lovely couple. thank you both so very much for being a part of this project.

03 january, 2010

garrett . 26 years old / winter park . colorado

a great friend and his father took me skiing today. we went up to winter park and spent the day skiing the mary jane side of the resort. it was really wonderful! at some point in the day we took a break to eat some food and recuperate for a few minutes. i decided it would be a good time to look for a stranger. i had big aspirations of skiing with my camera gear and photographing a stranger on the peak of the mountain, but i was too nervous to put my equipment in such a precarious situation as my skiing skills aren't quite up to par with my photographic abilities.

i stepped outside and saw a couple sitting at a table outside. i approached them and told them what i was up to and grace and garrett responded with enthusiasm. we had a wonderful chat and then garrett and i walked over towards the trees to take some photos. garrett and grace are engaged and made the trip up to colorado from arkansas to spend some days together on the slopes.

garrett is between jobs right now, but has decided to pursue a career in teaching high school spanish. he was looking forward to the prospect of the new job.

thanks so much for your time, garrett. i hope you and grace had a safe trip home.

02 january, 2009

karen . 62 hours ago / denver . colorado

i went up to the "tattered cover" bookstore on colfax to meet a friend for some coffee. while we were sitting there, getting our daily dose of caffeine, i noticed a woman at the register. actually, i noticed the woman's scarf.

when i was young, my father worked in a woolen mill. i guess it was there that he learned of a particular kind of blanket. he mentioned the blanket to me a few different times. it wasn't something that came up regularly, so i don't know why it has stuck with me throughout the years, but it has. the blanket is called a hudson's bay blanket and has quite an interesting history. well... the design of this woman's scarf looked very similar to the design of the blanket. so, to satisfy my curiosity, i had to ask her about it. i followed her outside and caught her just before she disappeared.

i told her i had two questions for her. first of all, i told her about the project and asked her to be today's stranger. she agreed. then, i asked her about her scarf. it turns out that it was indeed a hudson's bay scarf. she was surprised that i knew what it was. i told her the above mini story and we chatted for a few minutes.

karen is a paralegal. i really didn't know what one of those was, so i asked her to explain it to me. i am not an expert now, but i certainly know more than i did. she basically runs the show at a law office, doing as much or as little as her superiors ask. among other duties, she gathers information to help build cases. it sounds like a very interesting and, i imagine, sometimes rewarding job. karen has been in colorado "long enough to say she is from here", but moved around a lot in her younger years as her father was in the military.

she was a lovely woman and very easy to chat with. she asked a few questions about this project and, for some reason or another, i felt compelled to give her a bit more information than i usually do. thank you so much, karen.