Monthly Archives: September 2017

Shortly after photographing Justin (stranger #1), I crossed Tryon Street and headed towards the main library. There were two women taking pictures of each other in front of the Charlotte Buddy Bear — a 7-foot tall artistic bear statue given to Charlotte by several German organizations. I offered to take a picture of both of them using their cell phone, and they were happy for me to do so. As I turned to leave, I saw this guy smiling at us as he walked by.

Meet Al.

Al seemed friendly and approachable, so I quickly walked up next to him, said “hi” and asked him how his day was going. He just came from the library and had been been filling out employment forms. I asked him what kind of work he’s looking for and he said “anything”. He had previously done work shooting video for different groups.
Al is from a smaller city southeast of Charlotte and has family all over the Charlotte area. When I told him about the 100 Strangers Project, he smiled and said “…and I’m one of them.”.

We walked a little further down the street together after taking the photo. I wasn’t able to learn much more about Al as our conversation was interrupted twice with music blasting out of a nearby car and again with a loud argument on the sidewalk.

I wished him luck with the job search and he wished me luck with the 100 Strangers project.

Technical Notes: I only took three photos over a timespan of less than 15 seconds. All shots were natural light with no reflector or flash. I directed him to hold a serious pose for the first two which looked great. Then I told him he could smile if he wanted to. He turned his head away and came back showing some teeth. This is the picture I chose because I felt it showed more of his personality.

1/100 – Justin aka Manok $ Roe

Welcome to my first 100 Strangers portrait!  Since I discovered the 100 Strangers project in early September 2017, I knew it was something I had to do.  Basically, the goal is to approach strangers on the street, take their portrait and learn a little about them.  Of course there are many technical challenges of shooting different people in changing environments, but the biggest challenge is stepping out of your comfort zone and approaching complete strangers.

I live in Charlotte, NC (USA) which has a population of about 800,000. While walking around the city center, I locked eyes with this stylish individual sitting on a bench.

Meet Justin.

Justin is a rapper who is also known as Manok $ Roe. He described his style as a cross between Prodigy (Mobb Deep) and Jadakiss. As he was talking, a guy told him that he sounded like Frank Sinatra (which he took as a big complement).

He told me that his average day is “trying to survive and provide for my family”. He has a little girl and a son on the way.

When asked if he was getting any traction on YouTube, he said “I’m not speaking what they want to hear. They want to hear lies, and I’m telling the truth”.

Best of luck in the future Justin. I hope our paths cross again.

Technical Notes: I realized after the fact that I should have used a reflector (which I had with me) to light the right side of his face and shirt. I took a couple shots of him up against a building but they looked a bit flat, so I repositioned him on the curb which created a more dynamic background. I captured several frames with different hand gestures, but I found this simple, relaxed pose to be the most compelling.