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100 Stranger Project

Martin.D

Themenersteller
Hi

Hope English is not a problem for you guys :D I speak more German than I can type but feel free to comment in German if you wish after all this is a German forum :top:

British guy working here in Germany...

After being influenced by the likes of Markus Schwarze and similar photographers I have decided to do my own stranger project but first off only a mere 100...

My very first time photographing strangers was a few weeks back - the shot below was taken during the Carnival in Münster, Germany...

I managed around 32 portraits in total and so using this as a starting point I will continue with a 100 stranger project..


Stranger #01




.....we spotted him a good few meters away and it was people like this guy we wanted to target, people with character, people that stood out from the crowd and this guy was one of them. This was not the first person I had approached but by this time I felt comfortable enough to ask just about anyone. I asked him in English if I could take his photo but he assumed we wanted him to take a photo of us to which I replied no, we would like to take a photo of you and as you can see he agreed. We asked him kindly if he would move backwards a little, level with a large shop window that cast a lovely yellow light and made an ideal location that acted as rim light. I rattled a number of shot's off, 6 in total and this was my favourite - after the short session we said thank you and he continued on his way and we continued on ours..


Stranger #02



While waiting for the carnival to get going we snooped around the side streets, images of people in fancy dress was not our goal but rather images of people with character roaming the surrounding areas. While crossing the road between the floats we bumped into this guy, beer in one hand and his personnel bag in the other - looked like he was living on the streets and was stinking of beer!

Roland asked him if he could take his portrait, not a word of English came out of his mouth just warum and a few other slurred words, I explained to him in German as best I could the reasons why and he agreed - after Roland took his picture he asked me to take his so I did...

Stranger #03



I noticed that when photographing strangers if you target a small group of people often all of them will start asking question's about why / what you're doing, from this you have the opportunity to shoot a group of individuals in a matter of minutes. With this particular guy his wife / girl friend was the important one - while Roland was making his shot of the lady I told him about our 100 stranger project and thought it was cool and requested that I take his shot! How could I refuse, check out that head gear! awesome to say the least, even has a built in lens! He started to laugh and could not stop - nearly every time I took a stranger shot I requested that they not smile but look direct into the lens and act normal! for some this is difficult when the camera is being pointed at them, the younger generation find they have to play around while the older like to check there hair and outfit is pleasing for the camera.. as you can see from this image he looked pretty much normal! one of my favourite's from this day :)

Stranger #04



This guy was also interested in what I was doing and for the hell of it and in good English he said "Well, you can take my photo too" so I did!

Lessons learnt from this outing - move further back! I'm out tommorow i.e Sunday for some more stranger portraits, from this collection I have maybe 10 more that I'm totally happy with..

Stranger #05



While snooping around the side streets we came across 2 young ladies hand in hand - both drunk or seemed to be, we asked them if it was possible for a portrait and they agreed - having 2 photographers works well on a busy day and having the ability to separate and keep both occupied is a bonus.. I thought maybe this shot wouldn't work due to the bright midday sun but having her funky glasses on made all the difference..

In case I get a question as to why the crazy head gear and outfit - it was Carnival day :)

Stranger #06



While approaching a small church I noticed a guy dressed in a long coat and tweed cap sweeping up some old leaves, I told Roland I want to photograph him!

We made our way closer and introduced ourselves and told him about our project, we had a lengthy conversation about photography but mainly about myself coming from the UK and Roland from Hungry. We talked about the local area and how Münster was so popular for cyclists. Frank that was his name, he was the organist at the church you see behind, he also works at a local hospital. I think we spent around 20 minutes talking to him, a very interesting guy and spoke English very well - during our conversation I took several images both close up and a couple of full length shots. Once we had finished our conversation I gave him a business card and he informed me he would be in contact..

Today I received an email from Frank asking if it was possible to get a copy of the portraits I took - I can do better than that Frank! middle of this week I shall get some prints done and a close friend from Münster will hand deliver them to you!
 
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Stranger #07



This guy was sat with a young lady eating some pommes "German for chips" near to the end of his lunch I asked him if I could take his picture. The lady turned around and said "We both" I said no just him! for obvious reasons!

After a little small talk he agreed - on standing up he over towered me by a good 20 cm! much to taller than me so I asked him to crouch down while I took the shot, by over exaggerating the pose I think it made a better portrait :)

after our short session I passed on my details and we moved on....

Stranger #08



Nope she's not in fancy dress, this is an actual German Female Police officer! She made me smile 100 meters away and I knew I had to ask her!

I think a police officer is more approachable than your average person and therefore I did not think twice about asking to take her picture. She was walking with her fellow colleague and I changed direction and headed directly to them. I popped the question straight out and she said yes - but then hesitated and told me that she preferred a photo with her partner - I said "No Way" I need to photograph yourself and explained why - she blushed and agreed..

While taking a couple of shot's we got interrupted by a young lady, first question she asked "are you the real police" to which I replied "I hope so because she's carrying a real pistol" Doh...

Stranger #09



Here we have stranger number #09 - Same day as my previous shots - While walking along the pavement we spotted this alley and I knew I had to take a shot using it as my back drop. This guy was standing close by watching the carnival go by, I asked him kindly if I could take his photo - after explaining the reasons why he agreed..

Still have many more to process and a few from recent outings - I have to leave shorter gaps between posting because I forget the story behind the image!

Stranger #10



With the end of the day closing in we spotted 2 young ladies riding bicycles directly towards us, from a good 50 meters away we knew we wanted to stop them. One very pretty young lady with no face paint and the other decorated like the joker from batman. We asked them if we could take there photo to which they agreed - they started to dismount from the bikes to which we told them it's ok we will be only a few seconds, stay on your bike. The joker zipped down her jacket to reveal her groovy tie, she wanted to remove her jacket but given the cold weather I requested that she leave it on - also adds to the photo.. We took a handful of photos before showing the final result on the back of the camera - pleased as punch we handed over our business card - they smiled and continued on there journey...
 
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Stranger #11



Dieter from Detmold, my family and I visited Detmold a couple of weeks back. Our intention was to enjoy the sun, grab some coffee and enjoy our time with the children. While walking the main streets I looked over my shoulder and noticed this guy totally dressed out of the ordinary riding the most unusual bike I have ever seen "full body shot below" - I'm not one for stopping an individual riding a bike but on this occasion I had to. I quickly run over to him, asked him kindly to stop and told him what I was doing and after looking totally amazed he agreed to the photo. Off to the side a large Church shaded the direct sunlight and so I asked him if he would step out of the sun and adopt a natural stance while I composed my shot. At this time my wife and children had realised what I was up to and came over to look on.

I quickly fired off a number of shots taking advantage of what little time I had knowing I was keeping him from continuing on his journey. My wife built up a conversation with him, he talked about how he used to work with some of Germany's top photographers back in the film days and found it very interesting that I wanted to take his photo. Every time I took a photo he would reply "very nice, oh yes very nice" which I thought was very funny but at the same time made me feel more relaxed knowing he was enjoying the session. He talked about a gallery that he owned and worked in and this was his destination before I stopped him - after maybe 5 minutes he talked about the bicycle that he was riding, it was pink, stamped with CrazyDay on the frame - a custom bike that brought a lot of attention. After a further 5 minutes our children started to get bored, I thanked him kindly for his time and passed on a business card!

p615989838-4.jpg



Stranger #12




...going back to Stranger #03 this guy was stood next time him and interested in what myself and Roland was up too, we told him and then I asked if it was possible to take his photo and he agreed. He's a Nikon shooter himself and was interested in what equipment I was using, he talked about crop and full frame cameras and seemed a knowledgeable guy. I took only 2 or 3 photos, passed on my business card and then we moved on....
 
I've already told you on flickr that I like your pictures!

The colors are very beautiful and I like how you process the lights/highlights!
Keep on doing this and you'll improve yourself a lot!

I look forward to see some more : )
 
Stranger #13



This guy was roaming the streets with a friend, bottle of beer in one hand and reserve bag full of beer in the other. He never spoke a word, I asked him if I could take his photo and he nodded ... I took 2 or 3 images, said thank you and we moved on..That was it!

Stranger #14




A busy street full of people from all age groups thoroughly enjoying the carnival and in the centre of it all a young couple having a laugh and a giggle. As we spotted them they noticed us and straight away we asked for a photo, they both hesitated questioning us as to why. We told them why and both thought it was fantastic idea and wanted to be a part of it..

With the street so busy and not thinking straight I rattled off a number of photos with the midday sun directly to her front but looking back I'm glad I did because I really like the harsh lighting against her glowing red hair. She kept wanting to smile and for her it seemed only natural but for me I wanted her not to smile, I finally took a shot with just a hint of a smirk...

After the shooting we had a short conversion, by the way her English was fantastic - I passed on my gratitude and handed over a business card...
 
gefällt mir bis hierhin sehr gut! vor allem abwechslungsreich :top:

der blick vom typen auf bild 13 ist der hammer :D wenn man ihm eine sprech- bzw. denkblase (heisst das so?) verpassen würde...man könnte echt ALLES hineinschreiben...und es wäre lustig :lol:

danke dafür :)
 
Danke Nils :D

Stranger #15



This next lady we passed on 2 occasions while walking the side streets of a small town in Germany called Detmold - first occasion she was carrying a bed mattress with a friend, I did not want to interrupt so on her return journey my wife stopped her. She asked politely if it was ok for me to taker her picture, she questioned why and was fascinated by my interest in photographing strangers and the fact we had stopped her. After a lengthy conversation she agreed, I turned her around and placed the sun directly behind her and made a few shots - in between shots I showed her the images via the lcd display, she was smiling the whole time and still stunned that we had asked her in the first place... After my final shot I browsed the images I had already taken and showed her the one I liked which was the photo you see here - Again like always I passed on my business card and we continued our journey and she continued on hers..
 
13 looks like a great character actor. Would have like a LITTLE more DOF for a better look at the hat :)

In general, are you approaching the people in English or German?
 
Great pictures, I love the variety of the people you photographed.

Cheers, Robert
 
13 looks like a great character actor. Would have like a LITTLE more DOF for a better look at the hat :)

In general, are you approaching the people in English or German?

13 was a funny guy - not a single word spoken! he was also drunk :D I approach them in English and then if it's a struggle I bring out my German, my wife is German but I'm still in the process of learning! :top:

Great pictures, I love the variety of the people you photographed.

Cheers, Robert

Thank you - As time goes on I hope I get better and the character does not weaken.. .. first time doing this kind of project...
 
It's the 5437. 100 Stranger Projekt...I see them more as a exercise to ask
strangers for a photograph. Nearly all of them are copys of other stranger
projects...nothing new...all with Bokeh all with roundabout 50mm...all frontal in
the face and all of them are posed. You see one stranger project and you know
them all. Its like HDR or colorkey pictures, its a trend...and now it has become
boring.
 
Great pictures, i´ll follow this thread :D

Thank you and thank you for following!

It's the 5437. 100 Stranger Projekt...I see them more as a exercise to ask
strangers for a photograph. Nearly all of them are copys of other stranger
projects...nothing new...all with Bokeh all with roundabout 50mm...all frontal in
the face and all of them are posed. You see one stranger project and you know
them all. Its like HDR or colorkey pictures, its a trend...and now it has become
boring.
Sorry it does not please you but thank you for looking! :top:



Hey man these pics are damn good. Keep it going:top:

Thank you kindly!
 
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