2011.04.08 - An End
It has now been a year since I started this project, and it has been quite an incredible experience. I have taken so many photos that I am very proud of.
But this project must come to an end.
I started this project because I love taking photos of people, and I have this very silly and irrational fear of approaching strangers asking them for a photo. I thought this project would be a great idea to get over that fear since it would force me to ask lots of strangers for their photos.
My love of taking photos of people hasn't changed, but I admit that my fear of approaching strangers has actually gotten worse. Maybe I have become more self-conscious with the way I approach people on the street, but the fact is that I now find it harder to approach people on the street than I did a year ago.
I also found myself more focused on getting "a shot" rather than "the shot", and as a photographer that wants to create quality work (as opposed to quantity), I disliked that.
As a photographic body of work, I think it has been an enormous success, but as the guiding principles as to why I undertook this project, it has been a failure. So this is a bitter/sweet moment for me.
To every single one of you that most graciously agreed to be part of my project, I thank you with my whole heart. For those that preferred not to be, don't worry, it's all good. For all those that supported me constantly through this, thank you.
Even though I started this project a year ago, I do not have a years worth of photos. There was a month that I stopped taking photos, due to work commitments and motivation issues, and that month is now lost.
In the near future, I also want to create an exhibition with all these photos, though organising an exhibition space is proving to be a great undertaking in itself - printing each photo at A5 and not leaving any gap between them means I would need nearly 80 meters of continuous wall space! If you do not wish for your photo to be part of it, please contact me.
I also would like to start a new project, but that is to be announced...
Thank you,
David
But this project must come to an end.
I started this project because I love taking photos of people, and I have this very silly and irrational fear of approaching strangers asking them for a photo. I thought this project would be a great idea to get over that fear since it would force me to ask lots of strangers for their photos.
My love of taking photos of people hasn't changed, but I admit that my fear of approaching strangers has actually gotten worse. Maybe I have become more self-conscious with the way I approach people on the street, but the fact is that I now find it harder to approach people on the street than I did a year ago.
I also found myself more focused on getting "a shot" rather than "the shot", and as a photographer that wants to create quality work (as opposed to quantity), I disliked that.
As a photographic body of work, I think it has been an enormous success, but as the guiding principles as to why I undertook this project, it has been a failure. So this is a bitter/sweet moment for me.
To every single one of you that most graciously agreed to be part of my project, I thank you with my whole heart. For those that preferred not to be, don't worry, it's all good. For all those that supported me constantly through this, thank you.
Even though I started this project a year ago, I do not have a years worth of photos. There was a month that I stopped taking photos, due to work commitments and motivation issues, and that month is now lost.
In the near future, I also want to create an exhibition with all these photos, though organising an exhibition space is proving to be a great undertaking in itself - printing each photo at A5 and not leaving any gap between them means I would need nearly 80 meters of continuous wall space! If you do not wish for your photo to be part of it, please contact me.
I also would like to start a new project, but that is to be announced...
Thank you,
David