Watched this?

Pete saw this and was insistent we have a whiteboard installed during our exhibition. So, we did!

Whilst Clay Enos found his subjects on the streets, we engaged the people who came to visit the exhibition. This might seem like shooting fish in a barrel, but it really wasn’t. Getting your portrait taken is probably one of the things you’d least expect to happen at a photo exhibition. After all, the idea is to go and look at photos. Right? So, the process still involved approaching a stranger and asking them to stand in front of a plain white board so you can take their portrait.

Those people who hated being photographed still hated being photographed. Them being within the walls of St. Luke’s didn’t stop them from saying, “No, thanks”, but a little encouragement was often all that was needed to get a willing subject.

Now, you might wonder where the fun and creativity is at. “Where’s the stunning vista or bikinis? All you’re doing is getting people to stand in front of a white board!” On the face of it, that might be all it seems, but when you’re forced to work in such restrictive conditions it really does take a lot of creativity to pull off something a bit different.

Putting creativity to one side, the interaction with people and the actual taking of portraits provided fun on both sides of the camera.  Some clearly relished the opportunity to be a part of the exhibition whilst others just enjoyed having their portrait taken.  There were probably a few who were less keen, but agreed anyway.

It was a great way to get to know just who was visiting and why they were in Liverpool.  Some were locals, lots were from different countries from around the world.  Some had come specifically to see the exhibition, others had just been walking past and decided to see what was going on.

Also very interesting was to see just how different the portraits were as they varied from photographer to photographer.  Some went for straight portraits, some asked their subjects to do anything but smile, some asked their subjects to pose, some just left it all to their subjects to choose how they wanted to have their portrait taken.

What might seem like a very simple and even boring way to take portraits is actually great fun and very involving.  Even if you don’t want to go as far as setting up a board on the street, why not do what one of the collective did and set one up in your back garden and ask family & friends to pose?

Just a warning though, it can get a bit addictive!