When you're a stranger - Ben and Eddie

Yesterday a Ilford black and white disposable camera arrived at work for me. Sweet I'm part of the blip worldwide film photography project - "When you're a stranger".

A simple but demanding task, photograph one stranger in a single shot and document the experience. Today was my day to give it a crack.

Through my 41/2 + years of blipping I've done quite a few street shots and a few blips of strangers. Despite that background I felt quite scared today. Would I be rejected? Would someone be rude to me? Would I be able to explain the project to a stranger?

I was between meetings walking across campus when I spotted Ben and Eddie. I didn't know who they were but yesterday they were part of a team carefully assessing the building I work in for earthquake damage. I'd noticed them outside my open window and heard Eddie remark on the height of the dirt against the building. I knew it wasn't earthquake related so poked my head out the window to tell them a missing down pipe on the building was added and plumbed into the drain along that side of the building.

That was it. They were still strangers to me, I merely gave them some information. When I expressed my interest for this project I wanted my photograph to be one of the guys in my city who work to assess and repair it.

When I saw Ben and Eddie today I said hi and introduced myself. I told them about the "When you're a stranger project". What I loved the most was they both wanted their photos taken so played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would have the hounour. Ben (on the left) was the winner.

I found operating the simple disposable camera surprisingly difficult. I have no idea if I focused it and hopefully it's not a mess of a blur.

Both Ben and Eddi were happy to be my blip today and maybe we'll have a new blipper (or 2 :-) Thanks guys, I learned a lot through our short encounter.

It's easy to fear strangers but more often than not the experience is enriching. I also learned the value of making connections with others. I could have ignored them outside of my window yesterday but chose to help so they could record accurately and move on with their job.

A little bit of kindness goes a long way.

(Local blippers, I've offered Pixel Smith the camera as he also expressed interest in the project. If he hasn't come back to me by end of Sunday, is there someone else who would like the camera next?).