Master woodworker...

David KM has added a photo to the pool:

James - Los Altos, California. Meet James, soft spoken but a gentle soul and an exceptional master woodworker. I asked to take his portrait and he obliged. Next step, finding a window with afternoon light and a conversation about his favorite pieces… this took his mind off me snapping away. I am trying to really develop a rapport with my subjects. This is my second go around in the project and I could care less about the numbers these days. I remember back in 2010 having a conversation with Xavier when I was at around number 10 or so. He wrote to me, kindly assuring me about my jitters, poor composition, lighting, equipment, etc… He wrote, “It’s easy to take a picture of a pretty girl with lots of bokeh, the real challenge is finding something special.” . I guess this is what I now feel more than ever. I am so guilty of bokeh blasting pretty girls and it is easy, he was right. I just don’t see that as anything special or much of a challenge anymore. That standard head and shoulder shot with standard bokeh, you know the ones I'm talking about… they are everywhere. What am I after with this second round? Why do it again?

Growth as a photographer, thats what I want. I am going to challenge myself, long gone are the days of fear of approaching people in public. Here I had to talk James into finding a place to make this portrait. It took some time to get him to open up and trust me. It took some time to build a rapport and get him to relax. It took time from his day and mine. For that I have to sincerely thank James… for giving me this time to really take his portrait. This all took a bit of doing but I like the results better

I will strive for this next 100 strangers to be a new type of challenge. When you look at the work of some of the great portrait photographers you can see the rapport they had with their subjects. The camera is no longer part of the equation, there is a trust between the photographer and the person being photographed. Look at the portraits of Mapplethorpe, Avedon, Mann, Arbus… you will see this trust captured in their portraiture. I plan on taking people out of their element and spending some real time to interact. In December I bought a old tavern chair, re-finished it and plan on trying to talk at least some of my strangers to sit for their portrait in public. Who knows if it will work, it will take some negotiating with my strangers and some trust. I would also like to take couple pictures and hear their stories. Maybe two totally unrelated strangers posing together. The goal will be to build a trust and allow me to capture more than just a face. This is my challenge and my goal in round two.

See my first one stranger portraits and my continuation of the project here...

Canon EOS 7D w/ 35mm ƒ/1.4L
Exposure 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture f/1.6
Focal Length 35 mm
ISO Speed 800
Exposure Bias -1/3 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire


#004 in my second 100 strangers project. Interested in the 100 Strangers project?