This week has been challenging. I had a vision of what my Couples project would look like. I was imagining taking the same approach with the project, as I had the last two weeks. I wanted to go and photograph a couple in their daily life, no posing, just a document of that couple.
My first choice couple was my friend Oahn and her boyfriend Marco. Oanh is a friend from work; she is a server assistant at the Georgian Room where I serve. She is probably the smartest, and wittiest person there. She is the type of person that only needs to be shown something once, and she remembers it and performs it perfectly there after. Oanh keeps herself very busy, working full time at the Georgian Room as well as selling life insurance on the side. There wasn’t a time she had free for having her glamour shot this week.
On Thursday my mom and I took Justin down to Olympia to show him the Evergreen State College. In the car ride down mom asked me how the project was going. I explained that I was discouraged, I didn’t want to think about what angle I would take to complete the assignment. That’s when she suggested I just shoot pictures of random couples I saw out in public.
I hadn’t even thought about photographing people I didn’t know. As some of you may know, this idea is very scary to me! Strangers!!! I managed to take my camera out one night and snapped a few shots. One of the couples I got permission from, the other I just shot. I enjoyed the later much better. I was surprised that they didn’t notice me taking their picture. The over all experience defiantly wet my appetite… I look forward to documenting more couples in Seattle….
The main focus of this assignment became my best friend Gabby, and our friend Dan. Dan and Gabby have a long history together. Dan actually introduced Justin and I, back when I was the third wheel to him and Gabby. I was hesitant to use them for the Couples assignment because they are not officially a couple any more. Their continued connection and chemistry made me reconsider when shooting them for the assignment. Dan and Gabby have a natural spark together; you can see they truly care about each other and are great friends.
This assignment made me think about the different relationships couples have. In my final edit there are the images of Dan and Gabby- two great friends who are also lovers. There is a pregnant couple who are not wearing rings- the father looks so proud as he plays dominoes with his lover. The pretty young nurse with her husband, with their matching tattoos. My Chinese friend Yi with her husband of 20 years, watching as their 5 year old climbs the fence. Romance and love come in so many forms, it was fun to document a few of the ways.