The Making of "Gaze"

Winner of the December, 2016 "Portrait of a Stranger" photo contest

By geomez in Photo Contests on Feb 5, 2017

"Gaze"

First I’d like to thank everyone who nominated and voted for my picture on the forum. It is a terrific honor and I’m grateful.

I try to take a camera with me to every event I go. I usually opt for an inconspicuous one but for a while I was taking my yellow brick K-01 and a small prime around with me, in part for its uniqueness but also to try to accommodate the awkward little thing into my style of photography. I figured a 1st grader’s birthday party at Peter Piper Pizza (Arizona’s local Chuck E. Cheese equivalent with beer) would be a good place to get some portraits of my kids, and to attempt some street-style photography.

I’ve always been drawn to the beauty, humanity, and realism of street photography, and often fantasized about successfully telling visceral human stories with my favorite visual medium. I took my fantasy so far that I even purchased a Ricoh GR, because if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it “right”. As it turns out successful street photography takes a lot of bravery and social skills, two things I generally lack around strangers. It didn’t take long for me to realize that street just isn’t for me, but I haven’t given up all hope. I always have a camera with me in public, hoping that a perfect street moment will present itself without forcing me beyond my self-imposed social boundaries.