Photography

    The Story Behind My 100 Strangers Project

    The Story Behind My 100 Strangers Project - Over 100 days I published a collection of street portraits taken in six different cities where I interviewed each subject. - louplummer.lol/100-stran… #Blaugust2024

    logo from 100 Strangers gallery

    From my 100 Strangers Project - for the last time. John, watching his friend lose to a Budweiser drinking chess hustler on the Raleigh sidewalk was the final subject in my project. I’ll be posting a link to a gallery of all 100 portraits later on today. Thanks for all your feedback.

    Two men, sitting across from each other, are intensely playing chess outdoors. A third man is standing and watching them. The backdrop includes urban street elements and the Waverly F. Akins Wake County Office Building sign.

    From My 100 Strangers Project - Ricardo and his five-year old twins (yes, there are two of them in the photo) were downtown on a rainy winter afternoon looking for some hot chocolate at the local coffee shop. Sounded like a good idea to me, so I joined them.

    An adult in a hoodie guides two young children in coats, walking across a wet street with a parked car and city buildings in the background.

    From my 100 Strangers project - Mike said he was on the way back to his downtown office after a 30-mile ride out in the country.

    A cyclist with a beard smiles while wearing a helmet and sunglasses, situated outdoors near a street with cars in the background.

    From my 100 Strangers project - Elise was selling art, mostly pencil drawings and watercolors, at a street fair in Raleigh. She said businesses had been pretty good, but she was hot and tired and ready to go home.

    A woman sits on a foldable chair, resting her arms on her knees and looking intently forward; she is among tables covered with books, boxes, and bags in an outdoor market.

    From my 100 Strangers Project - Shayonna and her sisters were handing out flyers for a fundraiser to benefit a foundation that helps people in need in their community.

    Three children hold flyers, standing in front of a booth with the “TMF Youth Community Foundation” banner, with books and informational materials on display. Cars and people fill the background.eg

    From my 100 Strangers project - Harold wasn’t the friendliest guy I ever photographed, but he’d just gotten off work and was on the way to the subway, so I cut him slack. He did affirm that he “works on Wall Street,” something I suppose a lot of bankers aspire to,

    Man in a suit walking; surrounding crowd passing by, TD Bank building with “Two Wall Street” and “Open 7 Days” signage visible.

    From my 100 Strangers project - Dike, a Nigerian immigrant earning a tough living as a pedicab driver in NYC was nonplussed by the police efforts to get him to move from his location near the entrance to the Central Park Zoo.

    A police officer and a woman observe a man giving a peace sign while sitting on a rickshaw in a tree-lined park area.

    From my 100 Strangers project - Mr. Ed had his very simple shoeshine stand (a folding chair) set up outside of a subway stop on lower Broadway. Larry, the tired businessman shown, said that he stops by for a tune up every few days.

    A man shines another man's shoes on a street corner. The seated man looks contemplative, resting his head on his hand, while the shiner focuses on polishing.

    From my 100 Strangers project - Shereesa didn’t want me to take her picture at first and used Chucky as a stand in. Later she let me get a few shots once I showed her some on my camera, but I have always liked this one.

    A person carries a large stitched-up, dreadlocked doll with a creepy smile while another person looks ahead in an outdoor market setting.

    From my 100 Strangers project - Terry was the consummate, smooth-talking salesman trying to move antiques from his place at the flea market at the North Carolina state fairgrounds in Raleigh. I asked about his hat, and he told that yes, it was for sale too.

    Man smiling at an outdoor antique market against a background of old furniture and people browsing.

    From my 100 Strangers project - Larique was shooting strangers with bubbles like he didn’t even care. I asked him if anyone had gotten mad at him and he assured me they hadn’t. “I just smile at them” he told me.

    Person holding bubble dispensers, standing in an outdoor market; people walk and browse vendor stalls under tents amidst urban architecture.

    From My 100 Strangers project - Cherrelle was watching her nephews trying their hands at making free throws at a carnival booth set up in a Charlote courtyard. Like us, she was just in town just for the day.

    Woman with curly hair wearing a striped top looking at the camera, standing with another woman in an urban area with people and an escalator in the background.

    From my 100 Strangers project - I asked LuAnn how long she had been working behind the counter at Sherry’s Bakery in Dunn, NC and she told me 17 years. When asked how many hotdogs she served in that period, she laughed and said “Lord, I don’t know. Feels like a million!”

    A person assembles food on a counter, surrounded by kitchen equipment and utensils, with order tickets clipped above and condiment bottles nearby.

    From my 100 Strangers Project - Dallas was working in Charleston, SC, South of Broad, in bitterly cold February weather. I asked him if he was used to it and he said “Hell, no. This is supposed to be South Carolina!” #Blaugust2024

    A construction worker wearing a hard hat and a hooded jacket holds a smartphone in one hand and a cigarette in their mouth, standing outdoors near a concrete pillar.

    From my 100 Strangers project - Despite his fierce look in this photo, Al was engaging and funny. He was working a part time gig as a parking lot attendant in Charlotte for a Panthers game. I stuck around a while to listen to him tell stories about growing up during segregation in NC’s biggest city.

    A man wearing a knit hat and striped jacket stands in profile, looking serious, against a textured concrete wall.

    From my 100 Strangers project - This was one of the first photos I took when I started working on the project and I failed to get this gentleman’s name. He was busking on 6th Street in Austin if anyone remembers him, I would sure love to know who he is.

    A person rests against a fire hydrant, playing a guitar, seated on a sidewalk, with a guitar case and walking cane for the blind  nearby. Urban street setting.

    From my 100 Strangers Project - Chanya was waiting to take part in a traditional Thai dance routine at the International Folk Festival held in my hometown each year. She claimed not to be nervous, but her pensive look said otherwise.

    Close-up of a woman with long, straight hair, wearing earrings, looking slightly upwards, in a black and white setting with other indistinct figures in the blurred background.

    From my 100 Strangers project - Lee, the fisherman at the Oak Island pier. We have a period every fall in NC when the blues are running and the fishing piers on our barrier islands are full nearly 24 hours a day. Lee told me that he has been fishing at Oak Island since the 1950s.

    An elderly man pushes a cart full of fishing rods and equipment on a busy wooden pier crowded with people engaged in various activities.

    From My 100 Strangers project - Kalindra was good natured enough to let me use this guy’s prop to snap a photo. Street fairs are a good place to approach people.

    A smiling woman wearing sunglasses and a polka-dot dress poses behind a picture frame held by others on a busy city sidewalk with buildings and pedestrians in the background.
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