THE PROJECT BEGAN partly as an antidote to the digital-image world and its impermanence. I had been waxing nostalgic about film and the smell of darkroom chemicals, and I was looking for a way to get back to taking pictures like I did when I was 14. I wanted to wander, to look, to explore with no specific destination.
I had a friend who was posting a photo a day on his Web site, and I liked the idea of trying that on my site. I also liked the idea of taking portraits with my 1984 vintage 8×10 wooden Deardorff camera, which attracted the attention of passersby.
But who was I going to photograph? Finding someone and then scheduling a time is always tricky. I decided the easiest thing to do would be to go out with the camera and find someone, a stranger, who wouldn’t mind standing still in front of a camera for three minutes-the time it takes to make an image with the Deardorff.
The project turned out to be a lot like fishing or hunting. Some days I went out and got a photo quickly. Some days it was all about the one that got away. Other times I went out, two hours would go by and no photo. But since I’d resolved to take one photo of a stranger a day, I’d get a little less selective and a little more brazen, usually favoring anyone who looked friendly and approachable.
Once I found a willing subject, working with the Deardorff was like taking photos in slow motion. I’d put the camera on a tripod, disappear under the dark cloth, position the camera, focus, reappear, close the shutter, take a meter reading, set the shutter speed and f/stop, cock the shutter, and, finally take the picture.
Everyone has an incredible story. This was my small attempt to record a moment of each one.
