Stratford Road Project (100 Strangers)

robertgilbert86

robertgilbert86

robertgilbert86

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I've been working on this project for just over a month now and thought it should interest people here.

The Stratford Road Project is based on other 100 Strangers projects in which people make it their aim to take 100 portraits of strangers and tell their story. I decided to make mine less arbitrary and give it some value by focusing on one road in Birmingham to create a social document of who uses it today.

Here's a blurb from the blog;
This photo-blog is about people who can be found on the Stratford Road in Birmingham. This arterial road runs from near the city centre to the M42 motorway and eventually Stratford-Upon-Avon. I plan to take one-hundred portraits of people between Sparkbrook and Shirley and find out a little bit about who they are.
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Read the blog here: http://stratfordroadproject.wordpress.com (click for bigger)



Here are a few of my favourites so far:


415 - Aziz by Rob Gilbert, on Flickr


591 - Kelly by Rob Gilbert, on Flickr


1551 - Sainab by Rob Gilbert, on Flickr


567 - Arif by Rob Gilbert, on Flickr

Flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robertgilbert86/sets/72157627007723579/with/5909650874/
 
Thanks guys, glad you're liking these. I'm a bit worried they're all going to become very similar though...

Nexus I can see what you're saying about Arif, the composition is a bit off, I've shot with too wide an aperture and had it on +1/2ev for some reason. I think this is because when talking with the person I sometimes forget most of the technical stuff and only make sure I get the eye in focus (and even fail on that sometimes). I only get 2 or 3 shots of each person and I may never see them again so I take what I get. The wrong settings actually work for me though, f4 gets a ton of detail in focus but still isolates the subject from his background, and the composition is a little bit quirky rather than the usual thirds-based shots.
 
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Cheers guys, I've been out today so should post up a few more tomorrow.

Andrew, that quote is from August! I did about 10 weeks worth in the summer and stopped after 52 people - I just fancied a break and thought it was getting a little 'samey'. I did however plan to restart in the winter to give a bit of variation and schools/colleges would also be back in term. Now I'm trying to be a bit more picky with my subjects and fill in the gaps in terms of age, gender and race. This and fewer hours of daylight are making things a little more difficult but it's really just a question of putting the time in.

I'm shooting on a D700 with a 50mm f1.4 AF @ f2.8. I toyed with a few lenses/techniques at the start but wanted a consistent set so it's the above in a very similar composition each time. The downside to the 50mm is I'm only about 0.5m away from people when shooting and if you look carefully you can see many examples of people backing off!

How are you by the way Andrew? I'm surprised you're finding the EXIF masked, when I save an image from the blog it's in there and the data should be on flickr too.

Andy, I do plan to promote the project whilst it's still in progress so fingers crossed for what that throws up. Any advice on who/what/where to contact?
 
laiman said:
I really love this project and would very much like to do something similar myself or even just the 100 strangers type project.
I think I would find it difficult to just randomly walk up to people especially in Glasgow, what's your approach? Do you look for people who are not especially busy, waiting for a bus etc or do you just stop random people who are walking around and look a bit interesting?
I keep looking at the photos and just can't help but enjoy the colour you get with your processing gush, gush, in before let me have your babies etc.

Edit; Do you add all the people you photograph to the blog or do some not make the cut? How do you find out where people originate? Is it a set question if you like or does it just come up in conversation? I was thinking about it and I imagine myself saying "Have you always lived round here?" and ending up sounding a bit like I'm saying "Go home, foreigner".
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Well I'd say think of a project that is useful to other people, not just yourself. It doesn't need to be documentary like this but I don't see the point in just collecting an arbitrary 100 portraits of people (or pretty young girls as many 100-Stranger-ers do).

Then think about how you will persuade people to be part of it. Remember they are giving you something for free, you need to show them they will get something of similar value back. Mine is fairly simple and I tell people it's part of a social document/time capsule of who uses the road today, which should be interesting for future generations. The conversational skills should develop over time (or not in my case) but have a few questions prepared. If people have a foreign accent or name they're not going to be offended by you asking about their origin.

One sticking point for many people is having the photo put on the internet. Legally I don't think you need their permission (adults at least) but it's kind of a dick move to be shifty about it so ask and if they say no either respect that or try selling the concept better (i.e. if it's not on the internet people won't see it).

With regards to who to photograph this will depend on your project. I try and keep it varied but representative. Asking people at bus stops can be good and bad, on one hand they're probably bored so any distraction is good. On the other hand they may be thinking more about missing their bus or their bus arrives and it's all a bit rushed. I generally just walk the streets and stop people who look interesting or might say yes.

I include everyone I photograph in the project, hence a few dodgy out-of-focus photos and heavy crops. Only one person has later contacted me and asked that their picture isn't used, which is lucky because it was a bad photo. As a side note, rather than taking people's details I give them a slip with the blog and my email address. In future projects I would probably take some form of contact from them though.

Vertigo1 said:
Amazing project, kudos for doing it. I actually live just off the Robin Hood island and drive up and down the Stratford Road every day, although I rarely walk on it so you're unlikely to catch me :D
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Well honk if you see a skinny guy with big hair and a D700 w/prime!
 
Here's a slightly different update to the usual: I've been taking environmental shots to try and give context to outsiders. These aren't 'street' photos and have generally been the most difficult part of the project but I think they have a certain consistency, something I've been looking to improve. On with the show.

Sparkbrook to Springfield

Hall Green

Shirley

There are a few more sets on the blog roll but they're not as good.














Flickr sets.
 
Well I've reached 100 people, I'll do a few more posts on the blog analysing the loose data I've gathered. It's been good though, and I'm starting to promote it in various local blogs and so on. Next up we'll see if the newspapers or even local galleries like it.

Best viewed from the blog:

Hall Green and Shirley – 02/03/12

Hall Green – 23/03/12/






1144 - Michael by Rob Gilbert, on Flickr
-134 - Nikki by Rob Gilbert, on Flickr
-231 - Steve by Rob Gilbert, on Flickr
1061 - Mark by Rob Gilbert, on Flickr
 
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