People are strange...
Recently I felt an urge to do something that I have never done before. Something that made me feel pretty nervous (a good sign of a challenge you could say). I decided to take photos of strangers in London…
For context, I am a serious people watcher. I love travelling thought London to my shoots or meetings and dream up stories about the person sitting opposite me on the train or a reflection I see of someone in a window. I imagine our conversations and their delight when I show them the photo of themselves. And then how they can go about their day with the memory of a strange encounter with a girl on the train…
I am obsessed with portraits. I find peoples faces so intriguing. There are so many stories imbedded in their lines and pores. How they stand and what they wear. How the inner world somehow can be translated on the outside. John O’Donohue, one of my favourite Irish writers of late puts it in a way that I relate to.
“The human face carries mystery and is the exposure point of the mystery of the individual life. It is where the private, inner world of a person protrudes into the anonymous world.
While the rest of the body is covered, THE FACE is naked. The vulnerability of this nakedness issues a profound call for understanding and compassion. The human face is a meeting place of two unknowns: the infinity of the outer world and the unchartered, inner world to which each individual alone has access.
This is the night world that lies behind the
brightness of the visage. The smile on a face is a surprise or illumination. It is as if the inner night of this hidden world brightens suddenly, when the smile crosses the face.”
More recently my daydreaming has entered a new realm of possibility - I could imagine myself going up to these strangers and taking a photo of them and seeing the cold exterior melt away into warmth and understanding . So it seemed like a natural step that I would feel brave enough to actually do it one day! To make myself accountable I started mentioning it to people in conversation which really helped motivate me and make a plan. But the really needle-shift moment came when another photographer caught wind of this side project and jumped on board.
Enter Beth Lavin, a branding photographer I’ve know for a while and I knew this was exactly what would stop me chickening out of this photo challenge. She had so many ideas and helped mould the plan and so we booked a location and a date. Inspired by humans of New York, it felt important to curate diverse characters and give them a safe place to be seen and heard.
THE PLAN
Early one summer’s evening, we headed to Carnaby street and lingered in the street, eyeing up potential sitters. We let our gut lead who we would feel drown to - generally a warmth or an expressive appearance and something interesting or colourful that they were wearing. We avoided anyone who seemed they were in a rush to get somewhere or looking down at their phone. Intuition really was the key here. We also made a mental list of what to say so we didn’t forget anything important in the moment.
The note on my phone so I didn't forget something important...
HOW IT WENT
I can’t tell you the how exhilarating this process was! Walking up to someone knowing that they might just ignore you or say no made us dig really deep inside ourselves… But then the absolute adrenaline-rush of taking a portrait in just a couple of minutes - I wasn’t quite ready for that exhilarating high! It was like a the most intense portrait experience that you could imagine. I loved it! And really can’t wait to do it again soon.
THEIMAGES
Humans are born for connection. So having a chance encounter to realise that we had something in common or a point of reference was very soul-affirming and reminded me in such a fresh way of why I just love taking portraits so much.
Meet Aflie who works in fashion just off a little side street to Carnaby. He was my first portrait of the evening!
Sarah-Anne was out with her partner and loved that we have lots in common such as having lived in Surrey and a background in dance.
Annie was having a cigarette break for her bar job and the perfect background made this one of my favourite sets of the evening.
Daniel worked with Annie and hopes to study journalism after his year out.
Michelle was out with her friend and that pistachio ice-cream was really calling to me 😂
Lastly we have Bradley and his adorable pooch. We were born in the same year and this was a wonderful interaction to finish the evening.
I’m so grateful for every one of these people who had the guts to say yes and be part of this project so far. I did get a few no’s but I am glad because it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and absolutely no on was rude to me or dismissive.
One thing I really learned from doing these Stranger Portraits was that people like to chat and be listened to, but personally I learnt that it really pays off as an artist going outside your comfort zone. The best shoots I’ve ever done have been in this zone of discomfort so maybe this is something I can lean into in other areas of my life.
I’m working on a theme and a name so that this can become a regular thing and maybe even have the guts to go up to anyone in any circumstance and gift them a Portrait when the moment calls me. Stay in touch with me and all my updates including behind the scenes of my shoots here. And in the meantime why not learn more about me here or read the blog which features some of my favourite topics including The Female Gaze.
I’ll leave you with a question to ponder. If a (friendly!) stranger came up to you in London and wanted to take your portrait for a project. Would you say yes? Or what would stop you from saying yes? Let me know below…
