All images by Dimitri Mais. Used with Creative Commons permission.
Photographing strangers on the streets must be one of the top items most photographers want to tick off their to-do list. We’ve featured some helpful guides and tutorials to help photographers become more confident and decisive in shooting street portraits, as well as some impressive portraits of strangers inspirational photographers have taken. The latest to join our roster of favorites is a set taken by Brooklyn-based Dimitri Mais on Coney Island with the help of some photographer friends.
A quick look at Dimitri’s work tells us that portrait photography is among his strengths, with a specialty in studio-styled and fine art-oriented approaches. It’s evident even for this set of portraits of strangers which he took along the Coney Island Boardwalk one summer day in early July 2013. He had fellow photographer friends help with the setup for this spontaneous photo project, and we can imagine how much they liked the results.
“We decided to team up, gear up on this beautiful summer day and photograph strangers on Coney Island on July 7th, 2013,” Dimitri recalls on his project’s description. “It truly was a great experience, meeting with [these] beautiful individuals, really grateful for their collaboration.”
Dimitri definitely needed a hand setting up some lighting gear for this, but it’s not the only aspect that fellow photography friends can help with. If you’re new to doing street portraits of strangers, it’s understandable that approaching and asking people by yourself would be a challenge. Why not also ask some friends to accompany you to help you gain a little bit of confidence?
Lastly, the most important thing to note is how projects like this show the kind of images and stories we miss if we pass from the opportunity to take photos of strangers. It’s not only for street photography, but applies for travel photography as well.
Don’t forget to check out Dimitri Mais’ website and Behance portfolio to see more of his work.
