Stranger 6/100 - Ali

Ali took my photo today, so I felt obliged to take his. Ali is the second stranger in as many days that I've photographed, who is a professional photographer.

 

 

Ali works for Lifetouch, a photographic studio that specializes in school portraits. Previously, Ali also worked in photography at Zody's and Gemco (there's a couple of blasts from the past). After those stores closed, he has worked ever since at Lifetouch. All in all, he's been in the photography business for 38 years.

 

 

Lifetouch was at our school today taking photos of all of our students, creating instant student ID cards. These photos will eventually make it into our yearbook at the end of the year.

 

When I sat down for my photo today, Ali was on the other end of the camera. I watched him work throughout the day as I brought my other classes to get their photos taken. You could see that he truly enjoys making kids smile and getting the best shot possible of each one.

 

The last class of the day, my off period, I went back and watched what he did from his point of view, behind him. He had so much patience and energy.

 

 

Once the last photo had been taken, I approached him and asked him if I could take his photo which he willingly obliged. At first, he thought I wanted to take a photo of him with the standard gray mottled backdrop, but I told him I really wanted a shot of him with his gear that he used today, so he adjusted his gear down, posed and I got the shot.

 

This picture is #6 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

Done