I read a great post over at Diane Schuller’s blog. In the post she discusses strategies for approaching strangers when you want to photograph them. One of my favorite photographers of all time is Beth over at Bizzlepix. She used to work as a photojournalist and excels at capturing everyday people doing everyday things in unique and interesting ways. I only dream of being able to take those kinds of photos! But if I ever want to try, I know that I have to learn how to approach people and engage them so that I can photograph them. Diane’s post is excellent because she goes into details about all aspects of the potential interaction with a stranger. I need details when it comes to new things!
Reading this reminded me that I actually have taken some photos of strangers and have quite a few un-processed images from the trip we took to India in January. For the first seven days of our trip, we stayed in Michael Nagar, a neighborhood that is just north of downtown Kolkata and near the airport. It’s a darling little enclave of colorful stucco homes, tropical trees and friendly neighbors. Each day, we’d walk around town and through the markets. If you’ve ever met a Bong (someone from West Bengal), then you probably know that they have a deep and dedicated passion for eating fish (they also like to talk about meals of fish from their past and also discuss potential meals of fish in the future). So, the fish market is a daily stop for neighborhood families. All of the fish is super fresh and incredibly delicious (lightly fry in turmeric and salt, then add water and finish cooking in the broth – yum!)
The market was so full of colors and characters that I overcame my shyness and with the help of my husband’s translation skills was able to get some of the market vendors to pose for a few photos. This guy was my favorite of the day. (I apologize in advance to any vegetarians that might find this photo a bit too…fishy.)
Seriously – try a Bengali fish curry! Here are some recipes in a wonderfully named forum thread called, The Giant Bengali Fish Thread. And simple is good – salt, turmeric and some ground mustard seeds is just about all you really need. Along with a nice fresh, meaty white fish or two.