Sidewalk Studio

Last Saturday I wanted to shoot portraits. Well, I always want to shoot portraits. But, this time I had no one to shoot. I cherish a free Saturday, so I wanted to come up with something a little different. After some thinking I cut off a piece of seamless paper, grabbed my camera and headed out the door to Philadelphia. I stopped on a corner near the Italian Market that was in the shade and had some decent light coming in from one side. Wall. Tape. Paper.

I stood on that corner for about an hour with my camera in my hand and talked to people that walked by.

"Hi, I'm Ryan. I'm a photographer..."
"No."

"Hi, I'm Ryan. I'm a portrait photographer. May I take your photo?"
"Of me? No, thanks."

And then someone said yes. Then someone else. And another.

The big problem with asking random strangers to shoot their photo is that you're asking random strangers to shoot their photo.  Unfortunately, everyone assumes you're going to Photoshop their face on a body doing something that your parents wouldn't want you to do and post it online.  It takes finesse to talk to someone and put them at ease in the 10 second window that it takes for them to walk past you.   Knowing that is exactly the reason that I wanted to do this project.

I've always been an introvert when it comes to people I've just met.  When I pulled up to this corner I felt silly. I almost didn't get out of the car.  Then I remembered that the entire reason I wanted to do it was to work on those skills as a photographer.

The first shot was the hardest.  I nervously asked 5-6 people and they all said no immediately.  Then two guys asked me for cab money.  $2 for two portraits:

I'm not a big fan of paying people for their portrait.  I want to be able to talk to them and convince them that I'm a trustworthy guy that just wants to take photos and not a creep with a camera.  In this case, I needed a bump.  And it worked.  After getting a couple of shots my confidence grew.  I noticed people reacting more warmly when I started talking to them because I was becoming more comfortable doing so. 

I'm fascinated with people's reactions when they step in front of a camera.  Some people smile.  Others freeze up.  I didn't give anyone any direction other than to step in front of the background.

Shooting passersby on a street corner in Philadelphia is boot-camp for getting comfortable photographing people.  Grab your camera, man up and go shoot a stranger. 

More to come.