Stranger Portrait
the INSIGHT
I’ve taken hundreds and hundreds of street portraits. It’s never a comfortable thing. I’m not sure it has to be - in actual fact what I’ve seen is that that discomfort and rigour are an integral part of any creative growth that might take place.
the QUESTION
Is it possible for you to turn toward the discomfort you feel during a challenging photography moment, rather than distracting yourself or hurrying to get it done as soon as possible?
the CHALLENGE
This week … stop someone on the street and ask them if you can make a portrait. Be playful in your approach. If they say no … that’s fine. They’re allowed to say no. It isn’t personal.
Keep going until someone says yes. Choose someone you actually want to photograph. Do your best not to hurry the shot. When shooting see if you can create space for yourself amidst the discomfort that comes up. Become acutely aware of that discomfort. Become aware of the urge to hurry.
See if you can slow down and take in more detail than you usually would. Become alert to the present moment.
Then shoot.
Don’t forget to reply to this email with your image and some words describing how you got on.
the CONTACT SHEET
YOUR INSIGHTS
In last weeks newsletter I asked you to look at the present as though you were coming back from the future. Here’s what you saw, what challenged you and what you discovered along the way. I loved seeing the different directions you took it in. Steve really pushed the boat out with his imagination and wrote a cool little time-travel story to go with his photographs. Have a read.
Al Griffin | @algriffinphotography
I stood on a familiar street corner and thought about the challenge of seeing from a future perspective. What would change? What would remain the same?
A street person, homeless, very obviously having a mental health crisis, stepped off the curb in front of me and into the busiest street in downtown Kansas City. He gestured and yelled, talking to someone only he could see. I have spent years with these men all over North America, been close friends with them, photographed them, slept in the streets with them.
This poor guy needed more help than I could give, but I watched over him for a couple of hours as he walked in and out of streetcar tracks and automobile congestion. (I am ex-police and can still step into traffic and take control of an intersection when necessary.)
I slowed the shutter and captured him in a way that would reflect his very short life expectancy while recognizing that this population will always be with us, but any specific individual in that group will never last more than a few short years.
This young man will never see the future I came back from. He will probably not see the next summer on these streets.
Patterns remain. Details are short-lived.
Stuart Mills | @millsyshoots
I chose transport, something that has changed massively in recent years, so maybe it will be really different in 30 years’ time and people will look back and wonder what we were up to. Will it be better, worse or just the same in 30 years’ time? Who knows, but this is a little record of what it was like this week in London. I tried to include as many different things as I could in one frame. Just missing a train and a plane.
Phil King | @phil_the_lens
Enjoyed this challenge as it really made me slow down even more and look creatively. I wanted to get something to make the viewer look and think about it. I found a street vendor and, rather than do a straight-on photo, I used a window reflection to get the subject on the left. I felt this gave 2 worlds in 1 frame, maybe shots that wouldn’t work individually but did together.
Iris Loder | @Irisloder
Recently I went to the Ed van der Elsken exhibition in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. I went with my mum. Mum’s exact words were, “I loved the photographs; they brought me back to my youth.” Some of his photos are excellent; some are great because they were taken 50 years ago.
When I went out for the challenge, I wanted to keep it simple. For me, fashion is a part of who I am. The photo is simple, but all with intention. A fleeting moment, two young girls wearing very much the same as a lot of other young girls at this moment. High street fashion on a boring high street in Rotterdam. Blond, false eyelashes, accessories that everyone else has, and a style that has been copied rather than thought out themselves.
This is the kind of photo I love if it were taken in 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, or 1990.
The challenge for me was to keep it simple. Not getting seen; I want natural body language, just a really ordinary moment. I actually have an archive of these kind of photos (this one was taken in the challenge week). I will flick through them in 20 years’ time.
Steve ISO :) | @Isosteve100
Editors note: (This is special - Steve went over and above here). Which, as far as I’m concerned, is what it takes to stand out from the crowd.
The Mall Time Forgot by Steve ISO
I arrived in the year 2026 at 11am on a Friday afternoon.
At least, that was what the Time Machine told me.
And that was the problem.
In 2056, nobody remember shopping malls anymore. They exist in photographs, documentaries and the occasional badly preserved virtual reconstructions.
But this one had survived in my memory.
I stepped through the doors and was hit by the smell first.
The vape shop, a strange mixture of sweetness and stale air. The alternative in 2056 was “Nic-sticks”: slim, reusable devices that don’t produce vapour. Instead, they deliver a precisely measured dose of synthetic nicotine through the tongue.
Click. First shot.
Next, I arrived at the sport shop. The Liverpool FC shirts hanging beneath bright shop lights.
I remembered football shirts being something you wore because you loved a club.
In 2056, sport had become almost entirely virtual. You could experience a match from inside the player’s head.
Click. Second shot.
I continued walking and entered the Apple shop.
On display: the iPhone 17 Pro and various watches.
I laughed.
In 2056, nobody carries a phone. Our devices are woven into us. We don’t even call them devices anymore.
A relic from the future’s past.
Click. Third shot.
Then I reached the record shop.
That stopped me completely.
Hundreds of vinyl records, music you could physically hold.
In 2056, music doesn’t exist like that anymore. You don’t own songs. You subscribe to memories of them.
I picked out a record called “Prohibition” by the Holy Rats; inside the sleeve, a photograph fell out.
Then I noticed something strange: it was a picture of the shopping mall.
But the photograph was dated 2056.
I turned the photograph over, and written on the back was “YOU SHOULDN’T BE HERE YET.”
Click. Fourth shot.
Bang! The lights went out.
For a few seconds, there was complete darkness.
Then the lights came on again.
Every shop started to age before my eyes.
I ran back to the time machine.
I raised my camera and took one final shot.
Then everything went black.
When I opened my eyes, I was back in 2056.
The mall was gone, completely demolished.
In its place stood a huge vertical garden.
I looked at my camera.
There was one new photograph. The mall, exactly as I had seen it in 2026.
Except for one thing.
In the centre of the photograph was ME, but behind me stood someone else.
I zoomed in, and it was ME. Thirty years older.
And underneath the photograph were the words “YOU CAME BACK TOO LATE.”
Tim Clark | Timclarkih
I attemped to mix of Wandsworth’s industrial past mixed with younger people in shot. The challenge was access; too many building hoardings on that street. There will be plenty to discover, just not where I was. This car was down my street. I have seen it many times, but I saw it in a new light this time.
I looked up Prohibition and learnt that the Women’s Temperance Movement were quite influential in getting booze banned. I wondered what it would look like from inside a booze joint with a woman peering in from outside to see what was going on.
Challenge: I have used frosted glass before but the challenge was to find some. I know lots of London pubs with interesting glass panels that may have worked instead.
Learnt: Be flexible. One idea can lead to another. Without the challenge I wouldn’t have a pic.
Mirek Ksiezarek | @Mr_Miro_Foto
My aim was to capture the spirit of an English pub. Many of them have a particular character, and who knows whether this will remain the same in future.
The challenging part was including people, and I didn’t quite manage it, even though I spoke to a few individuals for a while and could have asked them to sit on the chairs, for example.
I’ve realised that light is absolutely key, and while composing the shot I didn’t pay enough attention to certain elements that ended up overexposed. I then struggled to fix these in editing. It’s also a process of getting used to photographing in public places without fear, even though I didn’t ask anyone to be in the frame.
Dave Walker | @davewalker.photo
The irony is that the council print pictures of birds while they flatten the land to build high-risers.
The ‘glue’ to my time-travel I would call ‘temporary’. I wanted to capture this thought. Everything is temporary… when I travel back, I don’t expect to see anything the same.
The pizza and fish bars I expect will be replaced with more estate agents and nail salons.
What challenged me was trying to sequence this thought into just a few images that tell the story.
Although the top one is my nomination… below are others I took on my journey…
Cheers, Dave
Don’t forget … each week, reply to the newsletter with your images and your insights. Get involved and I will share a handful each week right here on the newsletter. Also … tag your images on Social media @idaretoshoot and #idaretoshoot to be featured on DARE.
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