100 Strangers Project

[stellarshots]

A photographer friend recently pointed out the 100 Strangers Project to me. I really want to do this but I don't even know where to begin! LOL!

If you were going to try to photograph 100 strangers, what location would you head to first? What would you do with the photos when you're done? Blog them? Send free prints to the "subjects"? Create a video montage or put together a collage to hang on your wall? Just looking to see some input on this... I know there's a lot of great minds out there and this ought to be interesting. ;-)

[candleman]

i've been contemplating for months doing a 100 strangers.
got sidetracked with another hobby

a barber near my work would be #1 on the list.. so much character.
so,
my suggestion.

1. think of people you see in your day to day life but dont know them..
2. take your camera wherever you go and if you see someone interesting at a neat location.. go over and ask.

many people will say you can take pictures of people in any public place...
I wouldnt ever take a picture of someone without their permission, even if its a public place.
when you're spitting your teeth out on the pavement you can explain that its a public place and its legal.
ask first and save yourself the pain.

i would add them to the 100 strangers flickr group, and post them 1 at a time with a quick story on my facebook fanpage.

...you know.. now that i have a spare body i may start carrying my old D80 with me and actually do this project.

[tuxcomputers]

Originally Posted by candleman

many people will say you can take pictures of people in any public place...
I wouldnt ever take a picture of someone without their permission, even if its a public place.
when you're spitting your teeth out on the pavement you can explain that its a public place and its legal.

I take photos of people in public places all the time, it's my favourite type of photography, never once have I asked permission. Being punched in the face? That says more about your perceived fears than reality.

2 days ago I spent 12 hours in the Queen St Mall, only once was I asked if I had just taken his photo, I said yes, that was it.

100 strangers? I would have done that on Monday, not much of a challenge.

Edit: Oh I see, I just went to that web site, to check out what it was all about, maybe it should be renamed to "100 grinning idiots project".

Edit2: I just followed the link to the Flickr group, it explains more about the purpose of the project, good idea but too much effort. About the grinning idiots thing, I mean come on, so what these 2 were strangers to the photog, it's still not interesting:

[freezeframe03]

I'm working on that project...at an extremely slow pace...I don't go out and about that much. The point is to talk to your strangers and find out a little bit about them and post a story bit with your photo.

[candleman]

Originally Posted by tuxcomputers

I take photos of people in public places all the time, it's my favourite type of photography, never once have I asked permission. Being punched in the face? That says more about your perceived fears than reality.

2 days ago I spent 12 hours in the Queen St Mall, only once was I asked if I had just taken his photo, I said yes, that was it.

100 strangers? I would have done that on Monday, not much of a challenge.

Edit: Oh I see, I just went to that web site, to check out what it was all about, maybe it should be renamed to "100 grinning idiots project".

Edit2: I just followed the link to the Flickr group, it explains more about the purpose of the project, good idea but too much effort. About the grinning idiots thing, I mean come on, so what these 2 were strangers to the photog, it's still not interesting:

I’m sure the internet is impressed...


Yes theres lots of “average” images in the 100 strangers.. the real chellenge is to do it well.
And there are some great images in there when you look.

Originally Posted by tuxcomputers

Being punched in the face? That says more about your perceived fears than reality.

Oh, and how do you know about my life experiences?

not perceived at all,

I’ve actually had a bad experience with a random idiot... whom I wasn’t even taking pictures of.
he jumped out in front of our car and demanded i show him the pictures.
i did, and he walked away angrily.
if i had taken a picture of him.. can you see where this would have gone?

it CAN and DOES happen... the fact that one person asked you doesn’t mean people think its acceptable. you just got lucky you didnt catch someone with a bad attitude.
I think you will find most of the people you did photograph walked away to avoid confrontation and didn’t really like it.

Just because its legal, doesn’t mean its safe. Not everybody follows the rules, and not everybody thinks twice. There are a shitload of nutjobs out there, and erring on the side of caution can save you allot of grief.

Use Google and you’ll find many many cases of assault, harassment and even deaths of photographers in similar circumstances.
Oh look, i found some for you.
Man wanted for attack on amateur photographer; Police release picture of man wanted for questioning news - Amateur Photographer - news, camera reviews, lens reviews, camera equipment guides, photography courses, competitions, photography forums
Has our increasingly paranoid society declared war on the humble 'weekend snapper'? - Telegraph
Middlesbrough cops, goons and clerks grab and detain photographer for shooting on a public street - Boing Boing

just so you know.. being cautious doent mean its a “fear”,
having a smoke alarm and fire extinguisher doesn’t make you afraid of fire, it just means you’re taking preventative measures.
So ask first.. and you will never have a problem.

[BigVinnie]

I always ask.

The lady in he photo below I met at the beach last Saturday. It was a minus tide and she was out crabbing. She told me photography was her hobby and we had a nice chat after she was done.

You never know when you might meet someone interesting. The only way to know is to talk to them. It is easier than you think.

[stellarshots]

I think the stories behind the people make it that much more interesting.

I do have to say the thought of making someone upset scares me. I could just see myself running into someone with a bad attitude and ending up with my precious camera smashed to smithereens at my feet. (Yep. My mind's eye doesn't even consider what might happen to my face. LOL!) I'd always ask permission to take a photo of someone. Though I'm sure the really mean ones are few and far between. ;-)

So in the United States, is there any cause for concern if you decide to post these photos on your blog or on the Internet?

[tuxcomputers]

Originally Posted by stellarshots

So in the United States, is there any cause for concern if you decide to post these photos on your blog or on the Internet?

Do you mean privacy concerns? If you do then no, only in France can you have an expectation of privacy in a public place, maybe the french have a a different definition of the two so that somehow the meaning overlap, who knows?

You own the copyright to the photograph, there is only one thing you can't do with the photograph without the subjects permission and that is "passing off". Passing off is when you associate the person with endorsing a product or service.

You can take a photo of Tom Cruise, blow it up to a photo 8 foot x 10 foot and sell it without his permission. If you tried to use the same photo on a billboard for your river cruise business saying "Come Cruise with me" then you can expect an angry letter from his lawyers.

People get confused when they hear you can't use someones image for "commercial" purposes. That commercial means "advertisement" not "Of or relating to commerce"

[smoochism]

I recently started this project. The easiest way for me to get started was to just go to the downtown area of a city near my house, grab a coffee, and sit outside. As people walked by I asked for their photos if I thought they looked interesting.

[JKK]

Huh that sounds cool... I think I will try this myself. Thanks