We met up at Kinokuniya, KLCC and began to discuss the concept of street photography that we were going to do. The concept that we planned this time round is slightly different than normal, which we are combining photography and people's stories into one.
Basically we will approach people to talk and we will be listening to their stories/what they are going to tell us after a photograph is taken or before the photograph is taken. It is similar to 'Human of New York' concept but as we all are trying out for the first time, it is still quite far from the original concept, in terms of the impact and the insight.
But I think Jim and JS did a good job in extracting people's stories tho'. Can't wait to see their products :))
So we started off the 'project' at KLCC park. We divided ourselves into two team, KP and I in one team, whereas JS and Jim in another. JR (the one with better experiences and a master in this), on the other hand joined either team as to see how we were doing, guiding us as we try.
First try : we tried the 'let me help you to snap a photo of you and your friend' trick. It worked! We talked to the tourists for a little while and he told us about his experience in Malaysia, which he enjoyed very much. He also introduced his friend to us and looking forward for the rest of his stay here. So the conversation ended without a picture taken by any of our cameras. Whoops! What a wasted chance D:
(Some random street photographs :) )
Second try : we use the same trick on a couple of people. After fails and many more trials, we finally got some photos of them. Like...
"We came from Medan, Indonesia. We were at Klang yesterday and just reached KL today. These are my close relatives and this is my sweet daughter, who is nine years old *hugging her daughter tight*. Y'know, Malaysia is such a beautiful country, we basically love everything here! The food, the places and the people here are very friendly. We are little upset that we are leaving tomorrow, hope to visit Malaysia again, another time soon." :)
After that, we met another group of students from Korea in front of Pavillion Crystal Fountain. KP showed a picture of them taking their selfies, and offered to take a photo of them using her DSLR. In the end, we were invited to join their selfies together as we stood under the light rain.
They told us that they are here for a vacation programme under HELP university and they are really, really excited to be here, in Malaysia! :) One of them said, 'her favourite food is nasi lemak!'
All of us laughed.
As the rain got heavier, we moved into the mall, exchanged thank you(s) in Korean language and bid farewell. I wish I could talk more with them and probably exchanged contacts but sadly, we didn't.
Based on these few hours of trials, fails and trials, it is obviously seen that where do I (personally) need to improve. Everybody has their own respective ways of approaching people, I believe my way is different too. Most importantly, we must know what our objectives are and have a clear mindset of what we are going to do. Master the skills, level up the confidence and boost the courage within ourselves.
"Talking to/socialize with many people in university/hospital/a closed community, does not mean you are a good communicator when it comes to approaching people whom you don't know at public."
Always remember that.
Don't force if people are not willing to tell you, let it comes naturally.
All in all it was a good experience for me, and the rest, I believe. Appreciate all the guidance and advices from JR and KP's presence in joining me to break the shy-and-courage-barrier together. :) Special thanks to Jimmy for the initiative and idea for the street shoot and also my online friend who has now become my friend in real life, JS for saying YES to our random street shoot and participating the fun. Hahaha.
Hope everyone had a memorable day- attempted new things, experienced a different way of approaching, especially to new people and also tried different kind of photography.
Thank you guys (so so much!) for making this happen. You guys have no idea how grateful I am and I am adding this to my personal, upcoming #happinessproject. :) I don't wanna jinx anything so let's hope and wish that the project (will definitely come true but I want to say is) will last long. :)
Am not too sure how soon we will see each other again, just wishing all of you the best of luck in everything you all do -work/studies. :) Oh, do not forget to contribute to the society too no matter where you are.
Cheerio, everybody! :))
xx
[Photos in this posts are by KP and myself, group photo by Jimmy.]
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