A portrait of a young man I stopped in the street. He was in a group and they kept walking as I asked for a shot. It took 10 paces to convince them (not too shabby of an elevator speech, eh?).
One of his friends kept mocking him as I shot it, and kept walking … right into a telephone pole.
So there.
April 2010. Taken in the similar vein as my other portrait of a construction worker, which remains one of my favorites.
As always, if you’re looking for wonderful work on portraits of strangers, I highly recommend the ever-talented Danny St.
Adam Daniel Mezei
Curious to know what it was that you found salient about this guy, SAT? An unusual-looking fellow, compared to what we normally see? You admire the facial hair?
Sue Anne
Haha, that’s a first, Adam. No, I have to say, it was just a random group that I stopped and whomever was willing to pose, I’d take my chance. I was merely on a run with close portraits. I did 6 people in under 20 minutes, like an experiment. I actually didn’t notice the hair, rather the nose.
Adam Daniel Mezei
That’s a good point, and even though he doesn’t have the typical “Han” nose, there are plenty of Shanghailanders (I still use the old term, sorry, but I’m a dinosaur) who have shnoz-es like this. I saw a few when I was milling around Old Town near the Uighur kebab stands. 😉
Here I am thinking to myself: SAT approaches him for a photo op and he might construe it as something else — ::: gulp ::: — entirely. Was that an element of risk? As in: no risk, no reward?
Pray tell, dear Sue Anne. Pray tell…
Sue Anne
Hmm, I don’t think he was Uigher. He was with a group of Chinese friends. I didn’t notice until I shot him. Maybe the angle exacerbated the size of his nose. Ah well.
And I am very polite when asking for portraits, especially with parents who let me photograph their children. Surprisingly, all went well, everyone said yes. Guess a courteous and innocent smile goes a long, long way.
Adam Daniel Mezei
SAT, I never doubted it for a second! Somehow I feel your charm can coax even the most reluctant of sorts to capture their photo.