Chris.Derecola

Last night we celebrated our last weekend in the area with a pretty monumental going away party. My mom was nice enough to host; my sister and her went through a lot of effort to make sure there was plenty of food, drink and Seattle themed decoration. This was somewhat of a huge undertaking because with the 40+ years Melissa and I have spent in the area, the invite list was well into the triple digits. We had about 75 people accept and even though 20-30% of them didn’t show or canceled last minute, we still had a ton of people partying.

I wanted to document the occasion, but I didn’t want to be tied to the camera all night. A few weeks ago, I got the idea to set up a very rudimentary photo booth so people could take their own picture. I knew I could tether my dSLR to my laptop with Lightroom, but I didn’t test the ease of use with it, a shutter release remote and the camera’s timer until a few hours before the party. Well, I’m happy to report that despite it being somewhat of a low effort first attempt, I’m really happy with the results.

We had people from so many different parts of our lives, I wish everyone would have take their picture. Unfortunately, we had to set it up somewhat out of the way and I kept forgetting to remind people do visit it, so exposure was a bit limited. Still, there is a decent number of pictures of guests and some very amusing ones at that.

Thank you everyone for your commitment to making the night one we will never forget.

Six months ago, I posted about starting my own 100 Strangers project. I decided I’d like to complete it by the end of the year, meaning I would have to get 2-3 strangers a week to accomplish my goal. With only 15 strangers in hand and 3.5 months to go before the end of the year, I can safely say I won’t have 100 before December 31st. Does that mean the project is a failure? If I’m honest, I actually think it’s been a huge success.

When I think about my efforts, the most striking thing is the manner in which progress is made. I’ll be honest when I say asking a complete stranger to take their picture is not an easy thing. Not only do you have to get them agree, you have to find a way to connect with them in a very short period of time to get a halfway decent picture. For me, this usually means “people watching” for an indeterminate amount of time and being perceptive enough to find common ground to connect on. This skill is easier than it sounds, but it requires patience and focus… traits many of us struggle with in our busy lives.

The irony of the project is many of my friends and family like to talk about it, while I don’t. That’s not really true. I like talking about the creative process or the project on the whole, but I don’t like talking about it in the moment. I’ve gotten many suggestions like “that guy would be great” or “you should take their picture” and I’ve found that to be uncomfortable. I understand they’re excited about the project (I’m excited they’re excited!) and want to help, it’s just that I don’t like an audience. For what it’s worth, I can easily take pictures in a crowd but I’m much, much more likely to approach someone if I’m not around anyone I know.

So what’s the future of the project? Well, I fully intend to continue my efforts and get 85 more strangers… I’m just not going to set a deadline. My original one was a bit arbitrary and while designed to motivate me, didn’t mean all that much. Now that I’m in it, and feel committed to the project, I’d much rather take my time and let it happen. In the end, I think it’ll be much better off because of it.

I don’t generally post purely photography stuff on this site, but I’m making an exception to tell you I’m starting a 100 Strangers project. Why the exception? Well, lets first talk about the project. The concept is fairly simple – take 100 portraits of people who A) are a complete stranger and B) have been told about the project and given consent. That’s it, those are the only rules. Seems easy, right? I agree the concept is not complicated, the difficulty comes in approaching people you’ve never met and asking permission to not only take a picture, but to take a portrait. Few people are comfortable talking to strangers and even fewer are okay with doing something as intimate as taking a portrait. I belong to that group (unless I’ve been drinking) and as such, this challenge is not only going to stretch me as a photographer, but also as a person. Soooo… yeah… that’s why this is posted here.

I consider the formal start date March 1st and set a personal goal of finishing by December 31st. This gives me 10 months to get 100 pictures, an average of 2-3 per week. This wouldn’t be that hard if I went with the law of averages and just asked every random person I met. The problem is I’m not only dealing with my own self-consciousness, I’m also dealing with finding my method. I want everyone I approach to be for a specific reason and you have to do so in a manner in which isn’t off-putting or creepy. To take a true portrait, you have to make people feel comfortable and as such, you have to spend a decent amount of time observing to find those who seem open to it. Really it’s about learning your subjects and turning what you learn into a great photo (all while stepping outside your comfort zone). I could list a bunch of reasons why I’m doing this, but the last sentence is the largest and most important.

Included below is the first and only picture I’ve taken for the project. I know I’m already behind the curve; I’m taking comfort in the fact that not only is the first is the hardest, but that it should get easier as time goes along. I will likely post very few images from the project here, so be sure to check out my Flickr stream or the project page on DirtyMartiniPhoto.com for on-going updates.