City shadows

A surprisingly sunny day for London for the start of the year; still very cold though. I noticed the sunlight on this building the moment I stepped from my door, and yet again I walked on a few metres before telling myself off, and going back for the photo.

I should really count how many times I miss photos during the day. A lot of them still have to do with strangers, I'm still not confident. An idea I had would be to create a business card that had thumbnails of some of my photos on one side, and an explanation on the other that I'm doing a photo-a-day project, and a URL at which they could possibly see their photo. I have a belief that would legitimise me a bit more, so give me more of an "excuse" to take a stranger's photo.

I know, however, that legitimacy is something you can give to yourself. No one out there on the streets of London knows that I'm just some guy with a camera, but nor do they know if I'm some famous photographer. Any legitimacy I need can be gained in just the way I conduct myself before, during, and after the stranger's portrait.

I know this, I know all this. I've read many blog articles about how to approach strangers, I just still haven't.