Capturing the unique faces from the streets - My 1000 Street Portraits Project Part 1

Hi, my name is Jason Pak. I am an amateur photographer based in Sydney Australia. Well I guess I've been taking photos on and off for the past 3 years without any particular direction in mind. I just enjoyed taking photos of cityscapes, landscapes, friends and family etc.

Fast forward to the present... I've recently embarked a new photography project and thought I might share my experience and images with the Steemit members.

A little more background on my persona, I consider myself to be introverted my nature, so I felt a little apprehensive about the project I was about to embark on.  The project entails approaching "interesting" looking strangers on the streets and getting their permission to take their street portraits. Like many sensible human beings, I feared the idea of approaching strangers on the streets. Despite this innate fear, I felt I needed to really challenge myself, not only as a photographer but also on a personal development level to push myself out of my normal comfort zone.

D-Day: Saturday 20th of August.

8am in the morning I awoke from my slumber. I peered out my bedroom window to discover a clear crisp blue sky gazing back at me. My little secret hope for a wet miserable day was not to be. I had no excuse to back out. [sigh]

I left my home around 10:30am in the morning. My trusty Fujifilm X-Pro2 with the 56mm f/1.2 lens tucked away in my Think Tank camera bag. I was venturing into unknown territory and had no idea how the day would unfold.

I caught the morning train into the city, still unsure whether this was a good idea or not. I got off Town Hall Station and made my way out into the streets.

Guess what; my fears were unfounded!

It turns out approaching and asking people nicely to take their photo isn't offensive at all. Every person that I had approached were happy for me snap away and take the shot! It was an amazing revelation, and I really enjoyed making the connections.

Here are the images I have captured so far. A long way to go to making 1000 street portraits, but I'm excited to see where the journey takes me.

 

Instagram: @jasonpakphoto

jasonpak.com (redirects to my flickr page for now, working on the site for future release)

Street Portrait #1: Pam

 

 

 Street Portrait #2: Nikita

 

  

 Street Portrait #3: Elizabeth

 

 

 Street Portrait #4: Mikhail

 

 

 Street Portrait #5: Steve

 

 

 Street Portrait #6: Madeline

 

 

 Street Portrait #7: Reuben