Strangers

Many photographers are not comfortable approaching strangers and asking to take their picture. By and large, these are the photographers that end up specializing in still life, architecture & landscape photography.

I love portraiture photography.  I simply love the connection to humanity.  Getting a subject to relax and for a moment reveal a bit of their inner self makes me tick.

So no surprise, I had the girls take this on during one of our sessions.  They were certain that they just couldn't do it.  They were shy and giggly at first so we practiced on a few people that they are familiar with at the school.  Of course, caution with strangers is still important especially for young girls which we also covered.  Then off to Decatur Square we went for a little live practice.  

The 1st person was a homeless man who was quite gracious and accommodating.  This was followed by a man doing some landscaping work.  The final and best 2 were these really cool dudes with tattoos who worked at a local restaurant and were outside for a smoke.  This was their crowing glory.  These guys ended up telling the girls what good photographers they were and how proud they were of their life journey.  The girls had such a good time.

No Longer Strangers

Carpe Diem,

Lorrie

www.LorrieDallekPhotography.com

Learning to See

For this first Session I was assigned 2 girls; EnKawli a refugee from Myanmar, who fled with her family in Thailand and Georfie from the Congo last in a refugee camp in Burundi. EnKawli was 11 years of age when she started at the Global Village Project, the youngest girl in the program.  Today, both girls are 12 years old.  They are a great age; still a bit shy, keenly interested in learning and tech savvy.  I really love the time that I spend with them.

I purchased a few refurbished Canon PowerShot 3330 camera from Canon at a great price. A perfect starter camera for a program where my emphasis is composition and situational shooting.    After grinding through the mechanics of the camera we went outside of the school to shoot.  The girls love going outside mid day regardless of how cold it might be.

Its a warm day and we are free as birds checking out all the scenery

After shooting we come back into the classroom where we review all of their images and pick their 2 favorites.  Subsequently, their homework is to write a composition about their picks and shoot some more while at home.  

During the next class, grammar , punctuation & spelling is corrected.  As defined by Daphne Hall, the teacher, we are using the photography to also reinforce their literacy skills.   

I am just blown away that these 2 girls have only been in the USA for 8 months and are speaking and writing in English!

Carpe Diem,

Lorrie

www.LorrieDallekPhotography.com