USA

I’m quite nervous about taking pictures of strangers in the USA.

Recently, I thought that may be just because I grew up there. But when I started scanning my old negatives and slides, I found that I took more pictures of strangers than I remember. Often pretty girls, which is both a bit embarrassing and, I suppose, typical.

Taking pictures of strangers was a topic in one of my photography classes, but when I pinned my photos up in class, the professor complained that I had a bunch of people posing and smiling for the camera, and she asked what was wrong with other expressions. Later, she saw that I had captured what she considered more interesting expressions, I just didn’t feel comfortable showing those pictures. When I reflect on it, I recognize my desire for the subject’s smiles to reassure me that taking a picture was OK.

In any case, when I started taking pictures again, I suppose I’d internalized a sense that American’s distrust strangers, so I’ve avoided this genre while traveling in the US. I tried in Vermont in 2011, and I think some of the expressions I captured illustrate the vulnerability that people felt when aware that I might be taking pictures of them. This just seemed to confirm my fears.

When I visited Los Vegas in 2011, however, I figure it was the exception to the rule.