I had some work of mine featured in the Dig This section of Dig Boston. This was initially shot when I was working on my portfolio on a cross country road trip in June of 2011. We stopped in Southeastern California, somewhere in the Mojave, and I waved this fellow down while he was making a u-turn. It took a mere five minutes to chat him up in order to let me make this portrait. Although every portrait on the trip was approached differently, it usually went like this: chat for five minutes to build up trust, show legitimacy by taking out my camera, shoot quickly after asking their permission, then disappearing once I’ve thanked them. Surprisingly, once people realized I was a professional, they wanted to keep me longer to tell me more of their life stories. Taking pictures of strangers is daunting, but became easier once I found a successful way of doing it. See more photos from the trip here.

©2013 Ben Gebo Photography

©2013 Ben Gebo Photography

author avatar
bengebo
Commercial and Editorial photographer.