If you're a would-be photojournalist looking for a challenge, check out 100 Strangers Project, a Flickr group designed to push you out onto the street where fantastic real life portraits await. 100 Strangers isn't looking for the kind of duck and cover candid shots made possible by the telephoto lens. No, we're talking walking up to people you've never met, striking up a conversation and asking for permission to do an on-the-spot photo shoot. Sound scary?

You bet. But this is the kind of journalism that makes blogs come alive with the texture and depth of the human experience.


Flickr group founder Teppo Moisio offers a few tips if you're just starting out on the group's 100 Strangers website. Here's one of my favorites for beginners:

Tip #1: Consider the assignment as a learning process. In the beginning it's more important to learn to ask for permission to take pictures than to take excellent photos. Don't give up if your first shots aren't instant classics. For the first ten shots or so, it's all about the contact and none about the picture. Switch your SLR to autoexposure and autofocus or use a simple point and shoot. Concentrate on the essential: the people.

Wondering who's out and about from the blogosphere, taking street portraits? Check out Kristin's Playground. Kristin gets a nice capture of Caitlin, a young woman holding a cigarette outside a vintage clothing store. Toves of Through My Looking Glass has a photo of Happy Chappy, an elderly man who refuses to smile.

If spontaneous conversation with strangers feels like too much of a jump, Youngna Park from Photojojo offers a great strategy that puts the fun back into it. Park suggests setting up a station in a public place where you clearly advertise your intent, offering a simple reward for your subjects. Who can resist candy corn in fall? Candy canes in winter? JPEG Magazine recorded the results in this interview.

Still need that nudge to take your camera with you the next time you leave the house? Feast on the colorful street portraits of 15prof who is very close to completing the challenge. View her Flickr set here. This photograph of Mary Boulton is my very favorite.