July 12, 2008
And you are?
My Grandma lost her fight with cancer last October.
I miss her.
She was an amazing and strong woman.
A gen-u-ine Tough Broad.
I was happily reminded of her when I stumbled upon a project called 100 Strangers. 100 Strangers is essentially photojournalism practice,
but it is so much more than that. You approach strangers and take their picture. Candid shots are not allowed, so interacting with people you don't know
is required. I immediately fell in love with this concept. No, not for the joys of photography because frankly, my picture taking skills are lacking, but
because it forces us to interact with one another.
How often do you strike up a conversation with a stranger? Probably not often at all. I very rarely see people (who aren't certifiable)
sit down on the El and start chit chattin' it up with the person next to them. It just isn't done. I know it wasn't always like this. It seems like throughout the years we have forgotten the common bonds we share. Technology has made remarkable strides in excelling communication, but somewhere along the way, we lost sight of that personal contact. We text, we blog, we YouTube, we MySpace and we IM. All the while losing touch with each other. Nothing can substitute that.
Grandma could and would, talk to anyone. She could find herself in any situation and come out with 10 new friends by the end of it all.
I am ashamed to admit that this skill she had would embarass me as a child. I didn't understand why she felt the need to talk so much....talk to so many strangers. What did these people care about me or the rest of her family or even when she came to America? As I got older, I was OK with everyone knowing "This is my granddaughter from Texas," and every lil bit of information to follow. I was impressed with her ability to communicate, with her thirst for connection, with her love of people. I never told her that. I should have.
I love to take pictures of people. When I go to a ballgame, I don't pay much attention to capturing the action on the field, but in the stands.
People are so fascinating and if you can capture that in one split second, you have everything. People just make better subjects than things.
So many times I find myself looking at someone and wondering, "What is his\her story?" Now I'm going to try and find out.
I'm going to try to contribute to the 100 Strangers project and try to overcome the shyness I find myself consumed with when meeting new people.
I'm going to try to remember how easy it was for Grandma to give a friendly smile and an earful of stories.
I'm going to try to remember that we are all in this together.
