Carlo & Stefania (16/100)

They mirror each other except for one aspect :D

Walking around, I spot the tremendously tall Carlo out of the crowd. He really towers over most. A few steps later as he separates from the crowd, Stefania appears out at his side holding his hand. I didn’t even notice her until Carlo stepped apart from the crowd. They were definitely the most styling AND coordinated couple today. How could they not be? They’re Italian :)

Amanda (15/100)

What is it about women that THEY are the ones wearing LOUD, EXPRESSIVE color?

You don’t see too many guys exhibiting the same expressiveness. That’s why these portrait are heavily weighted to the female gender. Maybe color detracts from male masculinity? If that’s the case, I could easily rebut with the argument that it takes a confident man to be loud and expressive……I commend all you women who stray away from the mediocrity of BLACKS, BROWNS, and BLUE JEANS.

Surely, Amanda has been one of the MOST expressive yet. It appears as though she jumped straight out of the wall painting and onto real life :D …… As I walk closer to approach her, I can’t help but think that only an ARTISTIC soul would choose such an AMAZING outfit.

She confirmed my assumptions when asked to write down my Flickr page; she handed me a sketcher’s pencil. It’s the kind of pencil only an artist would carry around, the kind that deliberately lacked an eraser :D

Ms. Amanda, I hope you enjoy the Flickr.

Ms. Berlin (14/100)

Sheiße, I’ve grossly neglected this project! It took a trip to Berlin to recharge the motivation to continue with the project. Hell, I’ve even forgot to ask this young lady for her name.

She said she was in her “work clothes,” indicating her sweater, which matches the exhibit flyers she’s passing out.

I assured her she was wearing the PERFECT color palette :D

Karla (13/100)

How could I not?

The haircut.

The shades.

The blazer.

The red tights.

She's workin' it.

....I almost didn't stop her because she exhibited signs of the "Don't bother me" look.

iPod in the ear.

Walking fast.

Looking at the ground.

Serious face.

FORTUNATELY, I didn't care :D That itch overcame, and I approached. She was willingly receptive, and gave me this ELECTRIFYING SMILE.

Thank you, Karla.

Amin (12/100)

“3 US Dead in Afghanistan Blast”
“UN Mission split over Afghan poll”
“Senate struggles with Afghanistan”
“U.S. support for Afghan war at all-time low”

Media is sad. Media is disheartening. All we ever hear are the negative headlines. It makes one think “what the hell are we doing over there that’s positive?” Besides all the security/political activity, what is the world really doing in Afghanistan? This is where Amin interjects. He knows, he's an Afghan-American True to the cabbie-stereotype of “saying what’s on their mind,” my passionate taxi-driver tells me more of the positive initiatives in his motherland.

He tells me about the roads built that cut a nine hour drive to three. It also used to be that some of the more rural population would ride a mule for a whole day to a clinic. For many, this is not the case anymore. Clinics have now been built in their very villages. That one day journey has been cut to nothing. To top it off, qualified local medical personnel run the show.
He goes on to tell me about improvements to his country’s infrastructure. After hearing this I wonder if the media will ever publish:

“Germans provide needed street lights in Kabul”
“Australians connect Afghan families with telephone services”
“Chinese build internet infrastructure”
“US security stabilizes”

Of course this international involvment is overwhelming, but Amin is grateful for all the improvements it provides for his motherland.

*Aesthically, there was nothing that attracted me to a portrait. But, this project is also about the social element, of which Amin had warming thoughts to share. After hearing the passion in his words, I was compelled to photograph him.*

Diana (11/100)

She is simple, but gorgeous. Even with spaghetti straps, she exudes FIERCE attitude.
Look at her colors. So bold.
Look at her vintage style. Ever so classic and sexy.
One word: WOW.

I must confess. I've met her before, but her portrait is one that I cannot miss. In fact, I fell in love at that first meeting with her. Hence the huge sentiment I have for her.

It was the same feeling this time, except amplified. The setting for this chance encounter could not have been anymore ideal. The stars and planets have seemed to aligned this time. It could not have been in anymore a Romantic (literally) and magical place. It was at the perfect time, the "golden hour" as we photographers call it. NOt just that. We so happened to cross paths in the light, away from the looming shadows of the buildings that surround us. Just look how the light presents itself. It was here, in the Eternal City, Rome, that we once again meet face to face.

Instantly, I recognize her. I fall in love again.

How could I not? She help me to see the world through her eyes. She's helped me see the BEAUTIFUL in the MUNDANE. She's showed me that everyday life becomes ART.

SHE STARTED MY OBSESSION WITH STREET PHOTOGRAPHY.

Meet Diana. She's a plastic film camera.

Mr. Venetian (10/100)

"Cool glasses! Can I take your picture?"..."Ya, ookay," and he gives me a nod.

Ok, Ok so I didn't exactly catch this gentleman's name but we didn't really share a common language to communicate with. But who cares!? This guy was too cool to miss. Spotted this Venetian local on the vaporetto on my way to my hotel in Venice. I immediately noticed the kick-ass shades. Turns out it's a local Venetian product by Danilo Carraro. I actually contemplated looking for their shop for a purchase :P

Mr. Venetian also had reading glasses to match.

Caroline (9/100)

Finally! I finally got a chance to get out and do a dedicated photowalk. I was itching to shoot and feeling guilty for not meeting any strangers. Short and simple:

I was eating another Döner Kebap at Hauptbahnhof (Munich Central Train Station) when I saw this wicked local amongst bland tourists. Seriously, all I saw was this COLOR EXPLOSION behind the swarming blur of travellers. So I asked to pull her aside to some better light while she was waiting for her friend. I got her in good exposure, but I blew out the highlights....

...It's ok though, her friggin' awesome yellow tights are in exposure.

Meet Caroline.

Tacki (8/100)

So I was at the coffee shop draining my brain of life doing some work (and subsequently reading a photo mag to counterbalance said drainage), when these two lovely ladies bust out STITCHING KITS! “WHOA, COOL!”….that’s freak’n awesome, man. They were making sweater tops. Not often you see that every day. Very individualistic and very colorful. You all know I love color. These colorful ladies also had equally colorful names, Tacki and Astrid.

They thought I was a tourist (I don’t blame them, I carry a camera EVERYWHERE I go). I was attracted to the stitching and colors. So naturally, with curiosity as a driving force, conversation ensues. We talked about “stitchin’ bitches,” selling socks on eBay for $300, some hairdresser from Innsbruck (Austria), affluent Arabians buying up the whole of Munich, and the list goes on. It was very entertaining. Tacki was ever so willingly to share some cool links. Google “knit graffiti.” Pretty awesome stuff. Thanks again ladies!

*Technique:

Not great, but a good lesson learned. The picture is pretty soft, but the interaction more than made up for my technical shortcomings. Emphasis is put on the social part of the project right? Or at least that’s my excuse. Or maybe the hands are blurry to depict the intensity at which she knitted....

I know better than this though. I should have shot wide-open with max ISO, BUT I didn’t. My reasoning was that I didn’t want it to be soft because of wide-open, and I didn’t want it to be noisy because of max ISO. Low light is tricky, but I will conquer it one day! With enough lessons by #100, I should be on the right track :D

Suheyla (7/100)

Today I went to a tailor's to get some work down on some trousers I bought. I find Suheyla running the one-lady show.

I walked into her tailoring shop and said, "Hallo, sprechen sie Englisch?" She gave me an "ok" sign with her hand and her German/Turkish accent she said, "Perfect!"...What a joker :D

Turns out she spoke very little English. All I heard her say was "tomorrow. "With a bunch of smiles and hand gestures we were able to get me measured to tailor my pants.

After the transaction and in my amateur German, I asked if I may take her photograph. She gave me a nod and stared going through her purse. I think, "man, does she want me to pay?!" ...No, no, she actually whips out a second pair of glasses! She swaps out her workhorse glasses for a more stylish BLUE! Yes! Color! A little of individuality!

Check this! Then, before I could ask her to, she goes down to her monstrous sewing machine and poses. "Cool, this lady knows what's up," I think to myself. Then, she starts going to town on some jeans giving me the body language to snap a couple more shots. "Yea, cool. What a delightful lady. She's definitely going to be part of the project :D"

Freddy (6/100)

Ok, this project is going to take longer than I thought. I’m only six pictures in, and I’m already extremely selective in who I want to photograph.

In fact, I only take pictures of people who when I spot them on the street I say to myself “whoa, cool!” If they don’t get a “whoa, cool!” then I don’t even bother. I bet I can finish this project in one weekend if I actually went for quantity. But, I’m here for quality! They have to have the “whoa, cool!” factor.

Today, there were thousands of people on the streets. Tourists. Kids. Families. High-class couples. Old people. Hot Chicks. Skater dudes. Plenty of people to shoot, right? Ennnhhh, wrong! Most of them never really caught my interest (except the hot chicks, but I can't go around photographing exclusively hot chicks. That's weird and creepy......or could I???? :D ). Not enough "whoa, cool!" factor. That’s until I saw some dude with a dope afro and red pants with boots to match. That's when I meet Freddy.

Turns out, Freddy is from San Francisco and in Munich for work. When I asked for his photograph, he asked if he can get a print. Of course, I said yes. Then jokingly he said, “well, then get to work.” So, Freddy, if you read this, message me here (or through any one of my links) so I can get that photo out to ya.

*Technique:

Like I said, now I’m comfortable taking photographs of strangers. I’m beginning to be more aware of my surroundings, the subject, the pose, and the lights. This is good. It means I’m progressing. I’m getting more attuned to ALL the aspects of the photograph and approach.

As I self-critique the interaction with Freddy, I wish I would have posed him a certain way. He had a cool bracelet with earrings to compliment. If I had to redo the shot, I would have shot straight-on and cropped from the chest up. I would have asked him to cross his arms across his chest so it would show off his bracelet. Just a thought. I did, however, asked Freddy to move away from the busy crowd and onto the sidewalk to get a better backdrop.

It’s all a learning experience :D

Lydia and Ricardo (5/100)

Opportunity knocks everywhere.

I was with my friends walking down the street to go get some dinner because it was my buddy’s Bday. It was a terrible day for pictures. It was dark. It was cold. It was rainy. There wasn’t that many people out. Nonetheless, I brought my camera out with me because I haven’t taken any portraits lately. I was determined to get at least one. Then, that’s when I spotted some color!

Yellows. Reds. Purples. Greens. Blues. Oranges. Und natürlich, Pink. Amidst the ugly, gloomy rain I found a COLOR SPLASH! The boots. The jackets. The umbrella. The backgrounds. Even the popsicles! :D

I couldn’t resist. And so, I asked these friendly Munich locals, Ricardo and Lydia, if I may take their portrait.

*Technique:

Yea, it’s technically not the best picture. I did, however, manage to capture the colors I saw, which was my intent. This was shot with ISO 1600 and I’m pretty sure @ wide-open (f/1.8). Even then, I think the shutter went to 1/30th or something. Hence the picture is a little soft. Also, I could have moved my stupid umbrella out of the way. But, I didn’t care enough for it though.

I want to note that I don’t ask people to smile in the pictures. It is their natural instinct. I like it. It makes me believe that people, by and large, are happy, friendly individuals.
Oppositely, I think I’m going to start direct people to not smile in all the pictures. I’m comfortable enough approaching people for photographs, but that only gives me the obligatory smile. Then that lends itself to look/feel more like snapshots. It’s not bad at the least, but it doesn’t progress me as a photographer. Now I want to respectfully direct my subjects to give the picture more pizzazz, more “oomph!”

Ditmar (4/100)

Jaws. Teahupo'o. Cortez Bank. These are famous names in the surfing community. Not as popular but equally as niche is Munich river surfing. More specifically, I'm talking about the wave on the Eisbach. It is a standing wave that retains its shape but continues to flow. It is akin to those man-made Wavehouse waves. In the summer months, thousands of people are drawn to a crowd that crowds a little piece of a river.

Meet Ditmar. He is a river surfer. Has been for many years. He definitely looks the part of typical surfer that can be found in Southern California. He has the skills to back it up. Unlike many of his fellow surfers who would surf until they fall, he would surf long enough to were he'd just move to the edge of the wave and have a seat on the ledge. He tells me that the wave is usually clean, as opposed to the white water at the top of the wave. It is in due part of the extra rain we've been getting lately. As you can see from the scars on his board, things lurk in the water. Actually they are some kind of concrete columns that disrupt the river flow. The locals know how to avoid them. However, there have been many accidents on them.

I'd love to surf this spot one day. I used to surf back in SoCal. It's been too though. And, the river is too dangerous. Besides, I don't think it'll be the same experience. Half of surfing for me was the paddling and sitting waiting for a wave. Sitting on the ocean was oooh sooo serene.

François (3/100)

I spotted this gentleman in the city center. His dreadlocks caught my interest. Dreads+Blazer+Cool Hat=Interesting. Too bad I didn't get an actual shot of his dreads. They ran the length of his back!

I walked up to him and said "Hallo, haben Sie eine Minute zeit?" ("Do you have a minute?"). His reaction, or lack there of, immediately told me that "hey, maybe this gentleman doesn't sprechen the Deutsch." Then I spoke English, and he understood me fine. Turns out he lives in Paris, and naturally he also speaks French (not German). I wanted to reply something in French because of my years taking French in high school. But,I didn't. It's been too long. I'd rather not embarrass myself haha.

ABAKUYA is François' band. This gentleman has roots in Cameroon, and so his music reflects as such. He is in the Munich for a music show in Tollwood. They were kind enough to invited me to come to their show on Sunday. The informal invite sounded as if it was an opportunity for some actual press photography (akin to photojournalism, of which j'adore). Somehow they would use their magical celebrity powers to get me a free pass or something. How awesome! This project is already looking promising as a great life experience.

I would love to oblige to their invitation. It sounds pretty cool. Sadly, I've now been obligated to a different place at the same time. So, François, if you read this, I will have to decline your generous offer. Mais, merci beaucoup!

Oley (2/100)

Again, I saw something cool and then wanted to photograph. In this case it was his poncho. He was just chilling on his bike, as if waiting for the rain. I actually walked past him a little bit but then got that twitch again.

Oley is Russian. I mistook his name for Spanish xP He operates one of those tour bikes where you ride around town in the cab of his bike (the yellow thing behind him). He had a very eccentric honk/horn on his handlebars that also merited a photo.

Katharina (1/100)

My first!

And because it is my first for the project, it needs a proper entry:

What a perfect person to start my project with. Katharina epitomizes the reason why I started street photography in the first place. I'd walk down the street and spot a sight of AWESOMENESS. Then I get an undeniable urge to photograph it! This is exactly what happened with Katharina.

So, I was walking down the street (go figure, huh?) to get to the Geldautomat (aka ATM) because I had no cash to buy myself a delicious Döner Kebap. I get about 100 meters to the spot, then BOOM! PINK EXPLOSION! PINK PANTS AND PINK PURSE! What a BOLD WOMAN! The color just screams "Hey, hey, take a picture!" I freak'n LOVE people who wear bold colors. Immediately, I get a twitch. My trigger finger keeps getting signals from my brain to click the shutter. But I can't, not yet. She's too far away. As she is walking in the same direction as I, I continue my path to intersect hers. Unfortunately, at the time of crossing, she was on the phone. I thought it'd be rude to bother her. And so, I walk past, missing that oppurtunity. I continue to the ATM.

Take two! Right when I finished grabbing my cash she comes walking down the stairs. I see the pink again. I get that twitch again. I wait till she comes off the stairs and then take the plunge. I was not going to let the opportunity slip me again. "CARPE DIEM!" is my life motto! I didn't even bother with a German opening; she looks like a student, and they're all fluent in English (Good, because mein Deutsch ist noch schlecht). She asked why I wanted to take her photo, and so I tell her about the project. She thought it was a pretty cool idea and asked if I had anything on the internet to check it out. So I gave her my card (that's right, a card. To become a Professional, you have to BE professional, right? :D ). I asked her what made her want to wear that color. Simply she quipped, "It's the best color!" I can concur. Shoot, even I love wearing pink!

I wish I would have talk to her more to hear her story. Maybe if she checks this blog out I can (and maybe yell at me if I got her name misspelled).

100 Strangers

I’m excited. I’m taking up a photography project. As simple as it can be put, you ask 100 strangers if you can take their portrait. This will challenge my social skills as much as my on-the-fly photographic technique. It’ll be a rush.

And so, I’ve started this blog. I needed a proper platform to document my progress in the project. However, as with any blog, I’ll probably put up other entertaining junk as well.

I haven’t had a chance to shoot yet, but I’ve attached a photo for some eye candy in the meantime.

…or you can check out my Flickr.