One Year Of Strangers

I woke up this morning feeling super blocked and unsure of what to write about. So I went through my old writing to this time last year, and was surprised to discover that exactly 365 days ago, I had the idea to take photos of strangers.

I had no idea people would love this project so much. I wasn’t thinking about that.

Mostly I just wanted to push my photography and creativity to a new edge and see what I discover.

There’s something so exciting about stepping into uncertainty, not for “follows” and external validation, but because you're curious to see what’s on the other side of the unknown.

It’s okay for an artist not to have it figured out or to be fully ready. Sometimes you just need to step into the unknown, one step at a time, and be open to discovering something new.

The following is from my journal exactly 365 days ago:

I bought this domain (www.nostrangers.art) yesterday.

I made the entire website today.

This weekend I am going out for my first set of photos for this project. I am nervous, but also excited.

I normally get a few hours with each person I photograph, but for this project I’ll only have seconds.

I have done this style of photography before and can be fun, except for all the rejection. I am curious to see if things are different now. Maybe people will be more open?

My intentions for NoStrangers:

• I want to take awesome photos of new humans.

• I want to have fun and feel creativity refreshed.

• I want to meet new humans and share their stories through this project.

• I want to grow as a photographer, artist and human.

• I want to emotionally impact as many humans as possible.

As I read this post from last year, I wonder if there is something I can learn about myself and my creativity as I step into the new project I am launching soon.

Big love,

D

PS: If you feel called to, dig into one of your old journals and drop a quote or piece of advice from your younger self in the comments below.