Sometimes I hope people do not recognize me, staring at them. It is a kind of photographer’s disease. When I am out, I scan the scene all the time, trying to identify people, who have something special. Once I spotted someone, I immediately start thinking about what I would do, having them in front of my lens. That takes typically more time than appropriate. You do not stare at people, you don’t know. Luckily most of the time, I am doing this without being spotted. Maybe I already developed some talent for not being detected. I assumme, it can be quite embarrassing.
Once I confirmed my first impression, I decide to approach the person and introduce myself, followed by the offering of a shooting. This is also a quite weird thing, but what can I do?
Luckily recently most of the people are quite open and they tend to agree to a shooting. Certainly, they can still say „no“ later, but I have my website and they are able to judge the quality of my work, before they commit to anything. People I like and I find will add something special to my portfolio, I shoot for free.
Such a person is Ruby, who I met at an art exhibition at the Shanghai Powerstation of Art. I think she is quite special. Her look sticks out of the normal and I was sure, we could do some very nice portraits, once I have her committed.
She immediately agreed to come to my studio, although it was quite far away for her.
We were able to create some nice photos and on top, I think, it was a nice experience for her. She revealed to me that she generally is a very shy person. But somehow she was triggered by me, trying to change that in the future and also be more open in public. From now on, she said, she also wants to make the first step, talking to a stranger.
If you read this Ruby, let me know, how it worked out for you!