A Stranger at a Time: Day 11

You may wonder what happened to day 10? Well, the only time I left my place was to go shopping downtown with my family and didn't want to bother/embarrass them with my asking people for their pictures. Having gone downtown, I think it would have been easy to find a willing subject.

The next day I joined the Sanjurokumine Mountain race in Kyoto, and walking to the start, I noticed this staff whose pink jacket, yellow sweater and bleached hair really stood out. The plan was to upload the picture in color, but the red filter really highlights what first attracted me to him, so here it is in black and white. Shot with my cell phone.

A Stranger at a Time: Day 9

Wow, already day 9 of this 31-day challenge. I struck out one day, not bad I think; I did much worse the month I tried to do sit-ups every day!

After a morning shoot for the PR-Y project and I meeting about a Christmas Day (hmmm) wedding shoot (oh!), as I was riding my bicycle back home, I spotted someone carrying a large format film camera on a tripod down the street near the Higobashi Beer Belly (that'd be an awesome client to have!), I directly asked him if I could take his picture. Being a foreigner, he was startled and thought I made a mistake, that I was asking him to take my picture, and I when I made myself clear, he asked me why. I answered he was carrying a nice camera and that seemed to satisfy him. Photographers are a weird bunch, but we understand each other and he was happy to oblige. I captured him with some late afternoon light coming through buildings. We went on to talk shop, and he was on his way to try to get reflections off the water of the towers on Nakanoshima, but with the wind, the water was pretty choppy, so he probably didn't get the shots he wanted, if he even tried.

A Stranger at a Time: Day 8

This morning I took two portrait in less than 15 minutes! Excellent, I won't need to carry my camera for the rest of the day. I usually always do, but since I'm planning a short run after w*rk to test my shoulder, I'm happy to leave as much extra at home as possible.

The first gentleman was fishing under the rain at a pond in Itami. After taking some scenery shots, he noticed me, we exchanged pleasantries, and I asked him if I could take his portrait. He used to shoot film quite a bit and bemoaned the instancy and shoot-and-delete aspects of digital photography. I partly agree with him, but each media has it particularities, and no one is forced to press the shutter. I was happy to be able to get lots of shots last Sunday while taking pictures of my friends doing capoeira. They'll be glad to have the option of choosing between many pictures, something I couldn't have done with film (actual film and development are expensive) since I was doing this as a service to my fellow capoeristas.

A few minutes later, going through a temple, a woman asked me directions to a place I didn't know; actually I didn't even understand the type of place she was looking for. After some explanation I deduced it was some sort of learning center related to temples, but I could be wrong. She was holding a nice pink umbrella and with the colors of the leaves and the rain, I thought it'd be perfect as an autumn scene. She readily obliged to my request, and we then went searching for the place she was looking for, but to no avail. Hopefully she found someone who could guide her better than I.

I decided to put two pictures today since both were significant to me in their own way.

A Stranger at a Time: Day 7

Along the Yodo river going to w*rk this afternoon, I saw a man with a paragliding sail practicing catching the wind. I jumped at the occasion and went to ask him if I could take his picture. As with yesterday, I started by taking action shots, but then went for a portrait. In the ensuing discussion, I learned that this young 67-year old had started paragliding only 2 years ago and couldn't go enjoy it these days because of a knee injury. Pretty cool for a man past conventional retirement age and sporting a necktie while practicing his hobby (during his lunch break I assume).

A Stranger at a Time: Day 6

Armed with my trusty D40, my engagement present, I spotted this lone man dancing in the park. I'm a little disappointed with the picture, if only because it isn't a portrait per se. He's doing his thing for me, but it doesn't engage us as viewers very much. But, as far as one of my primary goals with this challenge is to get the nerves to go to strangers and ask to take their pictures, I can say mission accomplished.

A Stranger at a Time: Day 5

Today I failed to get the portrait of someone. As a result of yesterday's injury I spent the whole morning - early afternoon at the hospital. I guess I could have asked either the doctor or the nurse who fell in love with Kazuma, but let's just say my head just wasn't into a photographic state of mind, even if I did get some x-ray done.

Later I tried at a busy station, Kyobashi. After many unfruitful attempts, it dawned on me that the only strangers asking questions at night there are offering evening services, either food or otherwise... Maybe if I would have shown my camera right away, their reaction would have been different. I'm afraid to show it immediately based on recommendations from others, but in this case, maybe it would have been better.

Oh well, let's not give up!

A Stranger at a Time: Day 4

Again a (kind of) lucky day for me. The shot is of one of the people I did capoeira with to get my new cord. I actually blocked very well one of his attack, I was quite happy with myself. Sadly, later as I joined the open roda, I dislocated my shoulder... As a result, this shot was taken with one hand only. I guess he wasn't a complete stranger, but chance meetings are often good opportunities for pictures. So far, I think it is my favorite, he nicely posed for me under a light above, creating a natural vignette effect.

A Stranger at a Time: Day 3

Today was a little easy again as I could get a shot of the owner of the dance studio where I do capoeira. I really wanted to get a shot of her when I noticed a Makoot doll on the wall. These dolls are created by Makoto at Atelier Corners, and the link above goes to the article I wrote for Kansai Scene on the artists there. Sorry if I'm late putting the shot up, the weekend was pretty busy.

A Stranger at a Time: Day 2

With a capoeira lesson in the evening in Minami, Osaka, I decided to go down early and hang out at Triangle Park to find subjects. It was relatively easy to get couples and single guys to pose, but every attempt with a single woman proved fruitless, not that I asked so many. The area is a popular 'nampa' pick-up spot, so the women probably thought I was doing just that. Perhaps in the daytime it would have been easier.

The picture below is a bit over-exposed, but at least now I know what settings I need on my camera and flash to get good results. I removed some highlights to make it more presentable. It was the guys bright red hat, glasses and jacket that caught my eye first. I guess they were out on a date.

Thirty Day Challenge: One Stranger at a Time

Since seeing this TED Talk, I've been doing 30-day challenges; in October I opted to do sit ups daily and failed, while in November I decided to go dry, and except for a few moments, especially during OEFF parties, it was much easier than anticipated.

This month I've decided to go out of my comfort zone and try to get the picture of consenting stranger a day. After what I think were failed opportunities, I got the courage to strike up a conversation with a benevolent Osaka citizen who was raking leaves on a path I often use when riding to work, only to get rejected.

Luckily by coincidence I ended meeting a spectator of the OEFF and while enjoying some refreshments (OK, post-w*rk suds) I took this shot of the bar's (only?) staff. I cropped to 4x5 and converted to B/W; history will tell if I do the same with the others (4x5 more likely).