We went on a photography walk as part of our 'Themes in Contemporary Photography' module. Given a choice of several tasks, ranging from 'create a story from images' to 'portraits concerning representation' we were to decide what direction we wanted to take and put it into practice.
The photography walk was a great way for me to settle back into photography. I decided to do the portraiture task as I thought I would get some really interesting shots in the town centre. I never usually approach people I don't know in my photography and I thought it would be a good way to experiment.
I chose to go to the market as I felt people would be more willing to get involved if it meant advertising their shop or stall. I was initially very nervous about approaching people as I didn't want to seem intrusive, I quickly realised that if you smile a lot and explain what you are doing people are more likely to say yes to having their picture taken.
Having another photography student with me helped as I didn't feel so out of place walking around a market and taking seemingly random photos. It was a really good way for me to test my confidence.
If I were to take portraits of strangers in the future I would make sure there was some way of them being able to see them as part of a project, I feel it would give some context to my work and make it a bit more rewarding for the people involved. I would ask their names, and in this case, how long they had worked in the market, and maybe what they liked about working there.
I feel it was a good first attempt, but I now now that I shouldn't worry so much about inconveniencing people, because after all, people like to feel interesting and having a bit more of a conversation about what I'm doing would definitely have impacted the final image.
