Guest-Speaker Rasmus Vasli's "Photographing Strangers"

Artist Rasmus Vasli conducted a lecture describing his work with portrait photography. He explained his haphazard technique of going on walks with his camera, no concept in mind, and simply shooting portraits of people he'd see on the street, having spoken to them and asked their consent.

"A Proud Man"

I really like this style of shooting, because although it's not entirely natural - the subjects are still very much aware of the camera's presence and so somewhat pose - the lens captures them in a freeze-frame of their everyday lives. They have no time at all to prepare how they will look, and are captured within their normal surroundings with natural light, as opposed to in a studio set-up. 


In his blog, entitled "Cup Of Pea", Vasli accompanies each image with a short caption about what he learnt from talking his subject. This is the only contextual information we directly receive. Otherwise, it is up to us to determine the character of each photographed person, drawing ideas from their surroundings, clothing and expression.

"Derek"

For a better look Rasmus Vasli's work, here is the link to his blog "Cup Of Pea" -
http://cupofpea.blogspot.co.uk/