Do you ask strangers that you meet in the street to be your subject?
I do, not quite exclusively but I’ve not yet photographed a professional model. The ‘Transitions’ portraits are not really of strangers anymore since I know most of the people who are likely to become part of the project (or they know of me) and it’s not really ‘in the moment’, but all the portraits in this section are done of people I meet on the street, in a matter of moments, i.e. there and then.
Street Portraits
I never pay them anything but everyone gets at least a soft copy of the image (for free) and most of the time I print and post a copy also.
What do I say? Well I used to be quite elaborate about what I said; I’d try to explain the important artistic and aesthetic principle. Nowadays I just something along the lines of ‘Hi, I’m just doing a photography project in this area and I wondered if you’d mind being part of it…..’ and then I go from there, wherever I need to in order to persuade the subject. I think about seven in 10 say yes.