Last Saturday, I spent half an hour standing at the junction in front of Pavilion trying to pluck up some courage to approach interestingly dressed/looking people to ask whether I could take their picture. I ended up wandering around trying to point my camera discreetly in their general direction to quickly snap a shot before they noticed what I was doing.
I’ve been looking at a lot of street photography projects recently, more noticeably the Humans of New York project which really inspired me. It wasn’t only the great photography that resonated with me, soundbites and mini-interviews attached to those photos. Some told stories of their country of origin, others told of their saddest or most frightening experiences in their lifetime and couples told of how they met, or how their significant others proposed to them. This project to me is so meaningful because it emphasizes on how everyone in the street, even the ones you meet in passing or even foreigners who are working hard making their living in your country/city; have a story within them. A story that sometimes belies the way they look.
The first step would be for me I think would be to come up with an idea for a photo essay. Second would be to actually learn and adopt the confidence for approaching people on the streets for their photograph. I don’t know whether Malaysians in general are comfortable with strangers going up and photographing them so that’s definitely another thing to find out. But I suppose if you don’t try you’ll never know eh? I would also like to go to more interesting parts of KL, but I am no longer confident in the level of safety in roaming around the streets. Maybe it’s just me, but I consistently feel more paranoid than I should be when I’m carrying my camera out.
I love, love the Humans of New York project, too! The stories are just heart-warming. It defies the stereotype of New Yorkers not being talkative or friendly. I think you should continue capturing KL! Who knows what types of stories you'll encounter. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, I would definitely love to that. Hopefully I'll be able to uncover more about the people in my own city!
DeleteHumans of NY is a great project. I'm like you, too scared to do something like this myself. well, too scared might be the wrong way to put it. too self-conscious, maybe. as to Malaysians being more open to being photographed... hell, yes. I love it here. I've never been to a country where people are more open and welcoming. it might be slightly different in KL. big cities are always 'slightly' different. but here on Penang, it's wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI think I fall under the category of too self-conscious too. It's nice to hear it from your point of view as it gives me more confidence to approach people. I've always felt like maybe Malaysians were more of a closed up bunch compared to in other countries so I've never been able to pluck up enough courage to approach anybody. But after what you've said I think there should be no problems at all. :)
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