99% Digital

#40 Dylan & Phil, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

Via Flickr:

I spotted Phil’s bright orange helmet first and thought it slightly unusual for a cyclist as it looked more like a canoeist’s helmet to me – but then sports fashion isn’t my forté – in fact neither is fashion if I’m honest ;). Anyway, it looked like he wasn’t about to cycle off in the immediate future so I approached him to ask if he would take part in my project.

When I asked Phil if I could take his photo he said “sure” and asked where I wanted him to stand like it was the most natural thing in the world but as usual I handed him a card and explained about the project anyway. We chatted a bit about what he was doing and at this point his friend arrived and for the second time in a row I was presented with the one or both question so after checking that Dylan was OK with this I again went for both.

My focus was a bit off and unfortunately my sharpest shot of Dylan was also my first closed eyes “100 Strangers” shot so although I shot them both together a few times my diptych is drawn from two different photographs. I guess I should have stopped down the aperture given the bright light and distant background and got both of them sharp in the same shot.

Phil and Dylan were at the end of a Sea-to-Sea cycle run from Whitehaven to North Shields and after 3 days cycling had just 10 of the total 140 miles left to do. Today they had already managed to squeeze in a couple of pints but yesterday sounds quite gruelling and Dylan reported that it involved 4000ft of ascent and descent.

One of the reasons that Dylan agreed to have his photograph taken was because if nothing else “at least it would prove that they hadn’t been womanising for the last 3 days” – I can officially confirm that at 13:20 today – they were most definitely not womanising …

… what they did whilst enjoying their pints is anybody’s guess ;).

Phil and Dylan – thank you very much for taking part in my project – I hope the last 10 miles went smoothly and that you are enjoying a few more pints as I write this up.
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This picture is #40 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

#39 Lizzie & Elliott, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

Via Flickr:

Today’s technical c*ck up was a good one 😉 …

After photographing Alex I wandered down to the Quayside and onto the Millennium Bridge as originally planned and sat down and waited for a bit to see who happened by. Whilst waiting I took a few shots of the Tyne Bridge trying different angles and orientations, and as the light was still really difficult I knelt down, rested my camera on the railings, switched bracketing on and fired off 3 shots. As I stepped back to review the shots Lizzie wandered past (Elliott having done so a few moments before) – can you see where this is going yet?

Deciding that Lizzie would make a great stranger I wandered up to her and waited a few seconds until she had finished taking a photograph although I think she aborted what she was doing as she became aware of my presence. At this point I still wasn’t sure if Lizzie and Elliott were together or not but he tracked back when he saw me talking to Lizzie so I introduced myself to both of them and explained about the project – they agreed to take part and asked if I wanted individual shots or one of both of them. Although I have done the former in the past I prefer one encounter = one photo so I elected to go for a shot of the pair of them.

After positioning them so that there were no supporting cables in the shot I popped the flash up and took a few shots, adjusting the flash compensation to try and balance things out as again my camera wasn’t magically sorting out my ineptitude. The results were a bit hit and miss though so I dug out my external flash and slotted it on (this is the first time I have used my SB-800 for this project). I continued adjusting the flash compensation until I finally got something usable but if trial and error was present for Alex it was shouting from the top of the hills for Lizzie and Elliott – I actually asked Lizzie at one point if the flash was firing – how’s that for amateurism. Shortly after the encounter I was cursing myself for forgetting that the SB-800 has a TTL-BL mode specifically for back-lit scenes but it was only when I was back at the office that the truth became apparent and I finally noticed the little symbol on the top that told me I still had bracketing on – so as I was adjusting the flash compensation between shots the camera was doing what it was told and adjusting the exposure up or down – sometimes by as much as 2 stops (which if I understand the technicalities correctly means the light reaching the sensor was being altered by a factor of 4)!!! Eventually I did get a usable shot but again this is entirely thanks to the patience of my strangers.

Lizzie and Elliott are 1st year Architecture students from The University of Northumbria and they were out doing some coursework trying to find a suitable building to sketch. They were still looking for inspiration as they crossed over from Newcastle towards Gateshead but I’m sure they will find something – one thing our region has in abundance is architecture. They were both taking photographs when I first approached them so I guess the idea was to photograph the subject and sketch it later – I certainly hope so because as you can see from Lizzie’s hair today was a bit too windy for pen and paper.

Thanks very much Lizzie and Elliott – you were a great addition to my project today and I can now tick off yet another camera setting that I must take care to check in the future. Good luck with your studies.
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This picture is #39 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

#38 Alex, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

Via Flickr:

Wanting a change of scene I set off towards Newcastle’s Quayside today hoping to get a stranger with one of the area’s many famous landmarks in the background. Before I descended down to river level though I wandered into an area beside the High Level Bridge that I had never noticed before but as it was wholly uninteresting I immediately came out again.

In this short time though a gentleman of significantly more years than myself had appeared and the word "demographics" popped back into my head again – another chance to invite an "elderly" gentleman to take part in my project – perhaps not as "elderly" as my previous rejections but in the right ballpark. With zero hesitation I walked up to him and asked if I could take his photo. At first he was hesitant and wanted to know why but he patiently listened while I explained and enquired if he had to give his name to which I replied “no, not if you don’t want to” but I was thinking “oh no – is he going to be my first nameless stranger”? Thankfully though he did agree and was OK with giving me his name simply commenting that he is not notorious. So I present to you my third Alex.

Alex asked where I would like him to stand and what a suitable background would be so I asked if he would mind crossing to the other side of the bridge so that I could get the Tyne Bridge in the background and he had no problem with this providing I was finished in the next 26 minutes when his parking meter ran out ( are you listening Becca 😉 ). I almost didn’t make it though as I struggled to deal with the bright back-lighting but eventually by a process of trial and error and a lot of patience on Alex’s part I managed to get a reasonably balanced shot. OK, it probably took me no more than a couple of minutes but I took 9 shots before I was happy that I had something usable.

Alex is from Darlington and was in Newcastle looking up some of its history and as a railway enthusiast he had just visited the (Robert) Stephenson’s Works (the world’s first locomotive factory). When I approached him he was reading an information board presumably about the High Level Bridge and he was about to visit an engineering museum so it sounds like he was having a much more relaxed day than me.

As we parted I became aware for the second time that the card I had shown him was back in my pocket so I ran after him asking if he would like to see the photograph but he said no – whether he’d already memorized all he needed to know or simply wasn’t interested I’m not sure – but I suspect the latter. Just in case you somehow happen across this photograph anyway Alex – thank you very much for taking part in my project and for your continued patience as I wrestled with the light.

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This picture is #38 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

#37 Isaac, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

Via Flickr:

I got off to a slow start today …

I didn’t venture outside immediately for lunch …

Then I bumped into a friend that I stood and talked to for a while – about 100 Strangers for much of the time but I think my recruitment drive failed and even if he does start then his project will entirely comprise fit girls that are victims of less than honourable intentions 😉 …

Then it started to rain …

Then I walked past Isaac …

It took me a minute or two to decide to go back and ask him but I did and I’m glad that I did …

“Excuse me, can I take your photo please?” … a moment’s delay then he simply burst into laughter – I love it when they do that because you know that they are going to say yes. Which he did and without asking why although he did ask why me at which point I just pointed at his hat and said that’s why. I then handed him my card and explained about the project as usual.

Isaac was standing in an archway waiting for a bus when I met him and there was a great big plaque behind his head so I asked him to stand on the other side which was less cluttered but still needed a bit of direction to get him framed against a plain section of wall with no major distractions. It took a few attempts to get a decent image – my first shot was 1/4s and whilst I’m tempted to include it for a laugh I won’t clutter my project with it – I then tried a few with the pop up flash but they looked over-exposed on the LCD until I dialled the flash down a bit and finally got a reasonably balanced shot that I’m happy with.

In the middle of my technical floundering I asked Isaac if he was OK with me taking time to try and get this right and he said no problem but I still don’t think that I put as much consideration into the shot as I should have. I know that many are of the opinion that once a stranger agrees to be photographed then the photographer should do everything that they can to take the best portrait possible but I still can’t get past the feeling that I’m intruding if I take too much time over that part of the meeting – when they are just standing there without too much communication from me … and I do like to get my stranger’s stories.

Isaac was great fun to talk to and really easy going – he’s unemployed at the moment having recently lost his job in London and moved back to Newcastle (he first lived here between 2006 and 2008) and he’s currently looking for work in a customer services type role. He did talk about going back to college but I ran out of time to ask him what he originally studied as his bus arrived but he did quickly volunteer to email me with a little bit about himself as he headed off.

Before his bus arrived I also learned that Isaac is really into music and I think that he described himself as a bit of a “bedroom DJ” but he likes all sorts and when he grew up in his native Barbados he listened to a wide range of music including country and reggae with the latter being his favourite.

It also cropped up that Isaac has an interest in photography but he doesn’t like photographing people and nor does he think that he would have the courage to walk up to a stranger and ask to take their photo. I must admit that on many occasions I have acted as if this project was difficult but today I hope that I demonstrated that it’s really quite easy … it certainly is when you ask the Isaacs of the world anyway!

I was so tempted with my “what’s the craziest thing you have ever done?” question again but his bus had other ideas – perhaps if you read this before you email me Isaac you could give this some thought and let me know that one anecdote instead?

Issac, you were really cool today and I greatly enjoyed our chat so thanks very much for taking part in my project – like a few of my strangers I am confident that you will have a look so I hope that you like the photo.
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This picture is #37 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

#36 Lindsay, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

Via Flickr:

Lindsay and the gentleman she was with (whom I know nothing about so will refer to only as her friend) were standing at a street corner presumably deciding where to go next. I had no hesitation walking straight up to her and asking if I could take her photograph and she had no hesitation in accepting, without any question why. I handed her my card and explained what the project was about and that when she looked so distinctive and beautiful it really was an easy decision to ask her.

Her friend had a camera with him and she was dressed fabulously, looking like she had just stepped off a Hollywood film set for the latest period drama so I asked if there was a particular reason they were out today with the camera and she replied that they were just out "on a trip".

I have planned to use my 105mm lens for a fair while now so it’s ironic that I met Lindsay at a time when I was ill-equipped for a half-body let alone full-body shot but suffice to say that her fantastic style continues from head to toe.

She was happy to stand wherever I asked her to (which put me in the middle of the road, but thankfully a very quiet one) and I took a few shots and she patiently waited and smiled for me until I was finished. After I had taken her portrait I asked a bit more about their trip and learned that they were only in Newcastle for a few days but when I asked if they had enjoyed their visit the answer was unfortunately a mixed yes and no. Lindsay was in Newcastle to say goodbye to a friend of hers that passed away 3 weeks ago – although the friend is buried back home in The Netherlands, a memorial service had been arranged in their native Newcastle. I did not probe any further and merely commented that these were sad times.

Such a sad way to meet you Lindsay but thank you very much for taking part in my project and being such an obliging and lovely stranger.
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This picture is #36 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

#35 Doug, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

Via Flickr:

Finally, I use my 105mm lens …

Doug is a support worker for people with Cerebral Palsy – a job that is both rewarding and hard work. Originally from Aberdeen, university brought him to Newcastle and friends have kept him here since.

Doug was not working today and just out doing some boring mundane stuff.

I tried my “craziest thing” question again but it is apparent that this is not an easy question to answer when asked on the spot so I think I’ll give up on it except when talking to a ‘crazy’ person ;).

I walked with Doug for a very short distance as he was going my way but when things stalled on my soundbite question I decided I had taken up enough of his time and thanked him and left him to enjoy his day in peace.

Doug, thank you very much for taking part in my project, I hope you enjoyed your day off.
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This picture is #35 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

#34 Jodie & Hannah, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

Via Flickr:

Another couple with a camera but I didn’t steal it this time 😉 …

Jodie (left) and Hannah (right) were taking promotional photographs for Capital FM’s website and getting them to pose in the frame. I was just about to catch up with them and ask them to pose for me when they accosted 3 blokes so I waited patiently until they were finished then asked them. I got the impression that Hannah was up for this straight away but Jodie asked why with a definite hint of suspicion. She relaxed noticeably by the time I had finished explaining the project and agreed.

I asked them to pose with their own frame and they struck a cool pose with nice relaxed smiles but as soon as the shutter clicked they dropped the frame and walked towards me. Checking my screen the composition looked a little loose so I asked if they would mind posing again which they did – I tried to take a couple of shots but again they broke ranks as soon as the shutter clicked the first time. I guess they were busy and they were clearly working, so I thanked them for taking part and left them to it.

I changed where I was heading because I didn’t want to be wandering up the street competing with them for strangers to photograph so I headed off in the opposite direction but this yielded nothing other than a rejection so I resumed my original route which yielded Doug (#35). After saying goodbye to Doug I sat down on a bench to jot a couple of notes down (I’m giving trade secrets away here). A couple sat beside me but I didn’t look up until I was ready to leave but when I did I was surprised to see that it was Hannah and Jodie. I said Hi, joking that they were stalking me now and asked if they had earned themselves a break – Hannah said Hi and seemed quite pleased with the number of photos they had amassed but immediately went back to whatever she was doing. Jodie did not look round at any point!

I would not go as far as to say that this meeting was awkward but it definitely was not the most relaxed. I find it ironic that the most difficult encounter of the day, which comprised a record (for me) 3 strangers and a rejection, was the one of the couple taking photographs of strangers. I think they were just busy and I didn’t manage to put them at ease – hopefully if they have a look on here they will see that all is exactly as I described.

Thanks very much for taking part Jodie & Hannah – I hope I wasn’t too much of a pain!
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This picture is #34 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

#33 The Art of Coercion, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

Via Flickr:

I adopted a new technique today and it worked like a charm … first I stole my strangers’ camera then I asked if I could take their photograph!

I spotted Yao taking a photo of Helen so I offered to take a photo of them both – they gratefully accepted my offer and handed me their camera – at which point I explained that I had an ulterior motive (whilst still holding their camera) and that I would also like to take a photo for my own purposes – I handed them a card and explained a little about the project and they accepted. But then they had to … I still had their camera ;).

I took a few shots with their camera which I then handed back to them – no doubt to their great relief – before taking my camera out to take some shots for my project. I was vaguely aware that Helen looked interested in my camera and I think was about to ask which model it was but something interrupted this (although I cannot recall what) and she never did.

Helen and Yao were a really nice couple and joking aside this was a nice relaxed meeting – just look at their smiles. They are from the Shandong Province in China and have been in Newcastle for a year and a bit completing their degrees – Media for Helen and Communication for Yao. They are going home in a couple of days but whilst it will be good to be back with their family and friends again they will miss Newcastle a lot.

Helen & Yao, thank you very much for helping me with my project – I hope you like the photo and that the shots I took with your camera are worth having as well.
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This picture is #33 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

#32 Lester, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

Via Flickr:

Bonus points if you can spot what the background is before reading to the end or looking at the comments shot!

Following 3 strangers where I found out relatively little about their lives I decided that today I wanted a story – by the end my head was spinning trying to remember it all ;).

I first spotted Lester at Grey’s Monument but he was on the phone so I wandered around a bit whilst keeping an eye on him waiting for him to finish. He eventually finished his call so I walked straight up to him (actually it was more of a bee-line as he tried to escape) and asked if I could take his photo. He was "honoured" he replied with a big smile and enquired why but long before I’d finished explaining I knew he was going to say yes, which he did, commenting that he “certainly was strange” and again that smile was there – and it never really disappeared throughout. Lester was great fun to talk to and I really enjoyed the 20 minutes that followed before we parted company – with me stating that some of us worked for a living … he smiled again, taking this in the right spirit!

Whilst talking about Flickr it came to light that Lester is in the process of converting 40 years of film photographs to digital and he is putting some of the better ones on Flickr. He has about 500 reels of his own and I think he said he had about 24 of his Dad’s so there’s a fair amount of work involved there. I kept meaning to come back to photography and what it means to him but I didn’t quite manage to steer the conversation that way as it always seemed to flow from one topic to the next with no obvious point to start on something completely new.

Lester is a learning mentor in a secondary school in Jarrow and I was amused to hear him list "security guard" amongst the duties that this entails but as Jarrow is one of the more deprived areas locally having built its fortune in the coal and shipbuilding industries I am sure that this only tells half the story. Lester left school aged 15 before eventually qualifying as a primary school teacher and he worked in primary schools whilst his 4 kids were of that age then became a learning mentor 10 years ago pretty much as his kids moved to that stage of their lives – as a result coming home from work was often like a busmans holiday as he was confronted with the same types of issues he had been dealing with all day. Indeed his daughter once commented that he sorted everyone else’s problems out but not hers ;). At 60 Lester reckons that he will be at this school for the rest of his working life and seems to enjoy it commenting that he really appreciates it when he bumps into ex pupils and they say thanks for what he did for them. It seems to be that a little life experience enables them to reflect on what school is all about and appreciate it more retrospectively. Lester is in the last week of his 13 week summer break (hence my parting comment) and looking forward to getting back to work.

Slightly random fact: Lester’s eldest is now a policeman in Leeds just out of his probationary period and working in the Yorkshire Ripper’s old hunting ground.

An Eastender originally, Lester moved to Newcastle in 1991 moving into the east-end Byker area and he reckons he will see his days out here. We talked quite a bit about multi-cultural society and Lester remembers once seeing an Afro-Caribbean in the area and suddenly realising that this was not commonplace – he had been in the area for about 6 months by this point. He also recounts that when he first moved here his kids used to shush him in case the locals heard his accent and caused trouble!

A while back I came up with a new soundbite question to ask strangers and I tried it out in my last encounter but it fell completely flat but I reckoned it’d be a good bet with Lester – and I told him as much heaping on even more pressure, he came up trumps though:

Q: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
A: PS: Don’t do this kids – it’s not big and it’s not clever! Nonetheless … when he was young a friend had a party when his "2 bit film producer" Dad went to Italy. At the end of the party Lester got into his car and drove home but whilst driving down the rather long driveway he got a bit lost and drove across the lawn and flowerbeds (much to the amusement of his other friends in the car). When he woke up in the morning there were still bits of flower stuck in various parts of the car’s bodywork. He denied all knowledge when his (rather concerned) friend later mentioned the devastation but has felt somewhat guilty ever since. Maybe this public admission will help cleanse his conscience and let him sleep easier at night. It turns out then that the "Alka Seltzer" background was more pertinent than I realised ;). I wonder what the odds on his mate reading this are? Just in case and in the interests of fairness, the "2 bit" phrase was only used when I asked if I was likely to have heard of his friend’s film-producing Dad.

Lester, thanks very much for taking part in my project – it was a real pleasure talking to you and I hope you like the photos.
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This picture is #32 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

#31 Kesfe, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

Via Flickr:

This is Kesfe Kentebay and he is one of my most decisive encounters yet – I spotted him as he was walking towards me and approached him immediately. Previous “decisive encounters” have often involved letting someone walk past then chasing after them but not on this occasion.

I’m trying to think what the right word to describe Kesfe is and I think "dapper" fits – it was the smart red jacket that caught my eye but he had a confident walk as well.

When I asked if I could take his photo I didn’t quite catch what his initial response was but he was still standing in front of me so I handed him my card and launched into my spiel anyway. Again I failed to catch his response so I had to double check that he was OK with the project which he was.

Whilst checking a couple of settings on my camera I discovered that Kesfe works for Greggs (a local chain of bakery stores – Steak Bakes, mmm) and that he was on his lunch break but I didn’t glean anything else including what he does for Greggs. I also realised later that he was having quite a bit of trouble understanding me.

I had a bit of a problem with the light and with hindsight I faced Kesfe the wrong way (trying to avoid acres of washed out sky in the background). I also got my knee wet trying to take some full length shots of him from low down to add a sense of drama! Unfortunately things were cut short somewhat abruptly as a local comedian decided to start making gestures behind Kesfe – not rude or personal but definitely annoying – so I gave up at this point and showed Kesfe the photos that I had taken – the full length ones weren’t looking too good at this point but one of the half body shots looked OK although it would probably need a bit of post-processing to bring out some of the detail. Annoyingly the photo with the best exposure had the comedian’s arm reaching up behind Kesfe and no amount of post-processing was going to sort that!

As we were looking at the images Kesfe explained that his English wasn’t very good and asked me again what the point of the project was and moreover what the photo would be used for and specifically checked that it wasn’t for "anything bad" – thankfully I think that I was able to put his mind at ease in that respect. By the end I knew I had got my point across because he was saying phrases to me that I had not used but that did reflect the spirit of the project – I’m really glad we got there in the end. I also don’t think that Kesfe’s English is poor – I think we were just having a battle of two very different accents ;).

I tried to get a bit more out of Kesfe, taking a lighthearted approach but he wasn’t forthcoming so we shook hands, I thanked him and we went our separate ways.

Kesfe thanks very much for taking time to help me with my project – I hope you have a look and see that everything really was as I explained.
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This picture is #31 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page