B&W My Street Portraits ***Complete*** 15 July 2016

piggin said:
We have 'interesting' people in south wales but they are never very accommodating. lol
(Don't want to get into a punch up with someone over an image)
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People are people wherever you go Paul. Some towns/cities are perhaps more difficult to work in I would guess.
As far as getting in a punch up, I have never had a negative reaction to my request to make someones portrait. Sure, people have declined but its a matter of choice.
I feel confrontation could arise if you were to try and take someones photograph without them realising but that isn't really the ethos of the 100 strangers project.
It would be a quite extreme reaction if someone were to get violent or confrontational by being asked if you could make their portrait.
I think you will be surprised at how accommodating some people can be. Guaranteed some will say no but there will be others who are willing to be part of the project.
 
Some very good points Iain.
However I like to do a lot of night photography (city architecture etc) therefore I find myself out & about with my camera quite late some weekends.
This adds an interesting element of drunken people coming along & wanting to get involved with what’s going on.
Now I have no problem talking to people or answering questions but some are just idiots & adding alcohol does not make them any better.
I also don't understand why anyone in their right mind would want to give an ex front row rugby player that stands 2mts tall a load of grief when he is minding his own business taking a few images of buildings.:(
 
@piggin
I suppose that does put a different spin on things shooting at night. I haven't ventured out at night for my 100 strangers yet. I will certainly do so though as I wish to introduce some off camera flash to my project.
 
Amazing stuff again Iain, I think they're all excellent but I especially like Paulo, he seems such a character and the separation from the background is perfect.
 
blakester said:
@piggin
I suppose that does put a different spin on things shooting at night.
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Makes people even more interesting & if you find the right group they may even line up & take it in turn to be photographed.
The only problem is you will find idiots that think they know more about photography than you & want to prove this by trying to take your few thousand pound camera out of your hand. :(
 
jakeblu said:
Amazing stuff again Iain, I think they're all excellent but I especially like Paulo, he seems such a character and the separation from the background is perfect.
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Chees Jake,
Paulo does seem such a character, I agree. I wasn't able to get any real dialogue with him, he was a man on a mission to catch a bus so his portrait was as much as I know about him.
 
piggin said:
Makes people even more interesting & if you find the right group they may even line up & take it in turn to be photographed.
The only problem is you will find idiots that think they know more about photography than you & want to prove this by trying to take your few thousand pound camera out of your hand. :(
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Yes, it will be a whole different dynamic at night.
Safety first though, so will have my wits about me. To be honest though, I feel perfectly safe around London at night. There are plenty people around so shouldn't have any worries!
 
Obviously south wales has areas that are 'interesting' (just Google wind street swansea & debauchery lol. Most people thing its where they will find a modern Caligula).
But as you said safety (self preservation) is the first order of any such interaction with the general public.
 
piggin said:
Loving Drew
Nice work
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Thanks Paul,
I too particularly like Drew's portrait.
I like Madelines portrait for different reasons. She was a little reluctant to have me make her portrait.
She obviously said yes but perhaps a little of that reluctance shows in her look. Due to this initial reluctance, I didn't want to risk her changing her mind so I took the portrait pretty much where I first stopped her. It's something of a departure from my usual style of more flat lighting but I like it because of that, it feels a little edgy IMHO.
 
blakester said:
Thanks Paul,
I too particularly like Drew's portrait.
I like Madelines portrait for different reasons. She was a little reluctant to have me make her portrait.
She obviously said yes but perhaps a little of that reluctance shows in her look. Due to this initial reluctance, I didn't want to risk her changing her mind so I took the portrait pretty much where I first stopped her. It's something of a departure from my usual style of more flat lighting but I like it because of that, it feels a little edgy IMHO.
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Now you say that about Madeline you can see that lack of confidence/hesitation in her eyes.
Think you did the right thing & acted quickly. If you had given her anymore time then you would have had a no.
 
piggin said:
How does he look in colour or does his sleeves & shirt clash?
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The colour version is over in my main 100 strangers thread in the Personal Projects forum Paul.
I'd put a link here but I'm on my iPad and it's a bit of a faff :D.

piggin said:
Now you say that about Madeline you can see that lack of confidence/hesitation in her eyes.
Think you did the right thing & acted quickly. If you had given her anymore time then you would have had a no.
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Madeleine said initially that she wasn't comfortable with having her photograph taken but I managed to convince her.
She may still come back and ask me to take her portrait down, time will tell. I will of course comply should that be her wish. I hope she doesn't though!
 
Thanks for pointing out the other thread Iain, will have a good look later but just had a quick look now & loved Sandy's blue eye brows.
As for Drew, I love the colour version but I think it wokes a little better in B&W (sleeves are overpowered by the shift)
 
@piggin
Thanks Paul, I do prefer colour images but do look out for potential portraits for a B&W conversion.
Yes, I loved Sandy's look too. She was a very engaging young woman, a pleasure to make her portrait.
 
@piggin
Thanks Paul, I do prefer colour images but do look out for potential portraits for a B&W conversion.
Yes, I loved Sandy's look too. She was a very engaging young woman, a pleasure to make her portrait.
 
Had some time to read through your original post this morning & found it very, very interesting. Not only are the images great but the life story you have from everyone is very enlightening.
I can see why you are doing this project & will be keeping an eye on your future work ;)
 
@piggin Cheers Paul (y)
As I have mentioned before, the actual interaction and engagement with each of the 100 strangers has become just as, if not more important than the photography.
Its not really that difficult to point the camera at a stranger, the technicalities of it but finding out about them is a little more difficult. Some I have had a lot of dialogue with, others not so but thats the way it goes.
 
I can see what you mean.
Meeting people in this way must be great & you use the camera as an ice breaker to start the conversation. (Can see it still being difficult stopping random people in the street & doing this in London must add to the challenge as everyone appears to be running off to their next appointment).
 
piggin said:
I can see what you mean.
Meeting people in this way must be great & you use the camera as an ice breaker to start the conversation. (Can see it still being difficult stopping random people in the street & doing this in London must add to the challenge as everyone appears to be running off to their next appointment).
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I have a few guidelines i use when spotting potential subjects.
If someone is walking with their head down on a mission, I wouldn't stop them. Similarly, if someone is on the phone, I wouldn't interrupt.
You quickly get a sense of people who are likely to give you their time. A lot of my stranger subjects have been tourists who perhaps have more time to kill. This does bring its own challenge in language barrier at times.
I shoot mainly at weekends too, so not so many people are working which helps.

A few other do's and don'ts are I wouldn't approach anyone from behind so as not to startle them, from the front, they can see you walking towards them. I always open with a hello, explain the project, and say I'd love to make their portrait and give a reason why. This is generally a compliment not sleazy in anyway, such as their fantastic hair colour, style or tattoos as a few examples. I don't ask any personal details of the person, its an entirely one sided communication in that respect by my giving them a card with all my contact details on. That way they know they can walk away and not have some random bloke contact them on Facebook or wherever.

I obviously ask them a little about themselves, such as their first name. I tend to ask open questions but something simple like "What makes you happy?" again, not personal in anyway that they'd have to divulge any secrets or whatever.
If you were to give it a go, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at peoples reaction. I thought London is an unfriendly city, no-one making eye contact with anyone else before I started this project. People are genuinely surprised and friendly when I speak to them, they don't expect someone to come up to them and start chatting, taking their photograph.

Some have different ways of shooting this project. Some that I know of would first engage the person then once into the conversation, ask to make their portrait. I haven't tried that method, I don't think it would work for me and to be honest I don't particularly like that way of working. Different strokes for different folks as they say.
 
Oh just to add, despite all Ive said above, I am not trying to be some kind of expert on any of this, I hope I don't come across that way?
Over the course of the project, I have found out what works for me by way of approach, interaction and engagement. These are just my experiences I am talking about, other people have different ways of working. There are no right or wrongs IMHO.
 
Iain
Thank you for taking the time to type out your last two posts. I found them very enlightening, thought provoking & maybe dare I say inspiring to the point where I want to go out with my camera to take portraits of the general public.

As for you being an expert, I think you are & only a modest man would say that he was not.
 
@blakester You have definitely inspired me i have booked a week off for the end of September and i was at a loss of what to do so i reckon i will be tube hopping all week in London trying to do what you have mastered.
 
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piggin said:
Iain
Thank you for taking the time to type out your last two posts. I found them very enlightening, thought provoking & maybe dare I say inspiring to the point where I want to go out with my camera to take portraits of the general public.

As for you being an expert, I think you are & only a modest man would say that he was not.
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Thanks Paul, I will say you will be pleasantly surprised by people agreeing. Sure there will be a few refusals but I just wish them a good day and move on.


mickyc said:
@blakester You have definitely inspired me i have booked a week off for the end of September and i was at a loss of what to do so i reckon i will be tube hopping all week in London trying to do what you have mastered.
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Thanks Mike, I will look out for the results of your week off (y)
 
Excellent advice and a super set of photo's. Keep up the good work look forward to seeing more.
 
Iain
I think it's going to be a trip to Porthcawl or Mumbles this weekend if the weather holds out.
So I think there is going to be a lot of excuse me's & do you minds going on.
Hopefully a few will say yes & I will get a few good images.
 
piggin said:
Iain
I think it's going to be a trip to Porthcawl or Mumbles this weekend if the weather holds out.
So I think there is going to be a lot of excuse me's & do you minds going on.
Hopefully a few will say yes & I will get a few good images.
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Hope you do well Paul, I am sure you will.
I dont tend to excuse myself as such, I just say hello, introduce the project and ask if I could make their portrait.

ETA
That sounds arrogant, its not meant to be. What I was getting at was confidence. Have the confidence to walk up to them and ask. Be open, smile and ask them the question. If you have a confident air about you I think it helps.
 
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piggin said:
Excellent work as always but NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! where has Sandy's beautiful blue eye brows gone ;)
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:D
Thanks Paul, do you think the B&W conversion on Sandy's portrait is a step too far haha?
 
Very nice work indeed. The are all spot on as far as I'm concerned, although I prefer slighty less contrasty conversions with lightly crushed blacks, but that's just a personal preference.

You need photographic vision AND people skills to create a series of thid calibre. I've often 'fantasised' about creating a series like this, but I'd struggle with approaching people in the street.
 
grotty said:
Very nice work indeed. The are all spot on as far as I'm concerned, although I prefer slighty less contrasty conversions with lightly crushed blacks, but that's just a personal preference.

You need photographic vision AND people skills to create a series of thid calibre. I've often 'fantasised' about creating a series like this, but I'd struggle with approaching people in the street.
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Thanks Joe (y)
I do like the more contrasty look but as you say its personal preference at the end of the day.
Its not as difficult as you might imagine, you'll be surprised at people's reaction.
 
I see this thread as a living one which I shall add to as I go along or think there's some portraits that are worth showing.
I paid a visit to Cambridge today and managed to make just the one portrait of Holly.


Holly by Iain Blake, on Flickr
 
Hi lain

Excellent work.
I think the B&W has worked very well with these images & you have made good use of a tighter crop.
I especially like Gwen, very pretty lady, image well taken & the crop intensifies it all :)

I can also see why you were drawn to Holly, what a wonderful smile.
 
piggin said:
Hi lain

Excellent work.
I think the B&W has worked very well with these images & you have made good use of a tighter crop.
I especially like Gwen, very pretty lady, image well taken & the crop intensifies it all :)

I can also see why you were drawn to Holly, what a wonderful smile.
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Thanks again Paul,
I do enjoy these tighter crops.
In the past I'd have been wary of cropping so tight but I feel confident enough now that I can be bolder in crops.
 
I think the tight crop works very well with the subjects you have chosen & more people should be confident enough in their work to go with the crop.
However I have found that the model normally complains if there is too much 'character' on their face ie lines (Mrs Piggin) but I think this makes them who they are.
 
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