The first time I approached Quinn and asked if I could take her photo, she politely said, “No thank you, I’m meeting someone and I’m late.”
I’ve been taking photos of strangers for the past 6 weeks now and surprisingly very few people decline my offer to take their photos.
I was disappointed that I couldn’t take any photos of Quinn, but I smiled and moved on.
20 minutes later on a totally different street, I ran into Quinn once again. I didn’t want to bother her and made sure to respect her space. I said hi again while passing and as I was walking away I asked, “Any interest in that photo?”
She smiled and said something I couldn’t hear, so I slowly walked back to see what she said. Apparently that friend Quinn was meeting still hadn’t shown up yet, so she was now open to taking a few photos—so long as it was fast. Perfect!
The shoot lasted maybe 90 seconds and ended almost exactly when her friend showed up. I even managed to get a short behind the scenes video of the shoot and got her permission to share the video too.
I love the photos we took together and hope somehow Quinn will see them, and I gave Quinn a card with my NoStrangers.art website link. But here’s the thing about photographing strangers on the street: there’s always a chance you will never see them again.
This whole project is a good exercise in letting go and surrendering to the mysterious ways of the Universe.
