Yori
It was a cool, overcast spring day in Toronto. With rain and showers predicted for all day, it was too wet to encourage me out for a bike ride or a photo walk. The rain paused long enough near noon that I went out to pick up a couple of items at the grocery store and I carried my camera “just in case.” “Just in case” happened as I was crossing the street and it took the form of this attractive young woman with an explosion of blond curls. We passed one another as we were crossing the street and I turned on my heel to catch up with her on the sidewalk before she reached the subway station. I thought she might be ignoring my introduction and request but she was just tuned into her earbuds. When she realized I was talking to her, she pulled an earbud out and listened with interest. She said she would take a few minutes to participate in my Human Family photo project. Meet Yori. I asked about the origin of her name and she said her father told her it has its origins in Jerusalem. Google told me that one version of Yori has Japanese roots and means “reliable.” There are also some references to Hebrew versions.
My challenge was to come up with a suitable location to photograph Yori, given that we were on a busy streetcorner with only a bank and the subway station – both of which were rather unappealing. Between the two buildings was a small alley with a fence at the back. The dark, wet wood of the fence had potential, but it was complicated by a parked car and No Loitering and No Smoking signs. These are the challenges of doing street portraits.
I squeezed Yori and myself between the parked car and the fence and worked to avoid the signs on the fence. My first test shot had to be taken quite close in because of the confined space and although I was very happy with it, Yori surprised me by saying she didn’t like it at all. The same thing happened with my next couple of attempts. I tried to understand what would make her feel better about the photos and we ended up with me leaning back over the wet hood of the car to get a bit more distance. I had to laugh at the spectacle me and my gymnastics must have been presenting to anyone passing by on their way to the subway. To finish painting the scene, city buses were idling noisily to my left as they prepared to leave the station and they were belching diesel exhaust. I had little choice but to plunge forward because I could see that Yori was an excellent subject. Oh, and did I mention the smear of pigeon poop on the fence? I assured her that I could remove that later with Photoshop.
As I was giving Yori a bit of direction regarding looking at the camera, she adjusted the zipper on her jacket and I told her the inclusion of her hands would add to the photo. I took a photo of her with her hands on the zipper and I liked it. Suddenly she said “I have an idea, can I just do my own posing?” I said “Of course you can. If you have an idea, go for it.” To my surprise, she removed her backpack and started shedding her coat. I was concerned about her things getting wet on the ground but she was a young woman on a mission and who was I to interfere. She struck a pose in her yellow tank top and when we looked at the photos she said she was pleased with those. Relieved that we had finally come up with some portraits Yori was pleased with, I proceeded to find out a bit about her.
Yori is 19 and she was born in Sudan which borders Egypt and the Red Sea in North East Africa. She and her family came to Canada when she was 9. I had met her as she was heading home from the nearby Adult Learning Centre where she is completing high school. Her goal in life is to finish high school and college and train for a career as a pilot. She said “I know it will be a lot of work but that’s my goal.” Her interests outside school are art and photography. “Like you” she said with a smile.
Yori’s advice to her younger self was “Don’t let anyone tell you what to do – or who you are.” Her message to the project is “Stay strong and stay motivated.”
Once we exchanged contact information and were parting with a friendly handshake, I asked to take one more photo with my cell phone to demonstrate the location we used to make the portraits. I already knew that the challenges of the location were going to form a significant part of this story and I wanted to illustrate that. Yori looked at that photo on my phone and wanted to make sure I would send her that one as as well. I did.
This is my 832nd submission to The Human Family Group on Flickr.
You can view more street portraits and stories by visiting The Human Family.
Yori
It was a cool, overcast spring day in Toronto. With rain and showers predicted for all day, it was too wet to encourage me out for a bike ride or a photo walk. The rain paused long enough near noon that I went out to pick up a couple of items at the grocery store and I carried my camera “just in case.” “Just in case” happened as I was crossing the street and it took the form of this attractive young woman with an explosion of blond curls. We passed one another as we were crossing the street and I turned on my heel to catch up with her on the sidewalk before she reached the subway station. I thought she might be ignoring my introduction and request but she was just tuned into her earbuds. When she realized I was talking to her, she pulled an earbud out and listened with interest. She said she would take a few minutes to participate in my Human Family photo project. Meet Yori. I asked about the origin of her name and she said her father told her it has its origins in Jerusalem. Google told me that one version of Yori has Japanese roots and means “reliable.” There are also some references to Hebrew versions.
My challenge was to come up with a suitable location to photograph Yori, given that we were on a busy streetcorner with only a bank and the subway station – both of which were rather unappealing. Between the two buildings was a small alley with a fence at the back. The dark, wet wood of the fence had potential, but it was complicated by a parked car and No Loitering and No Smoking signs. These are the challenges of doing street portraits.
I squeezed Yori and myself between the parked car and the fence and worked to avoid the signs on the fence. My first test shot had to be taken quite close in because of the confined space and although I was very happy with it, Yori surprised me by saying she didn’t like it at all. The same thing happened with my next couple of attempts. I tried to understand what would make her feel better about the photos and we ended up with me leaning back over the wet hood of the car to get a bit more distance. I had to laugh at the spectacle me and my gymnastics must have been presenting to anyone passing by on their way to the subway. To finish painting the scene, city buses were idling noisily to my left as they prepared to leave the station and they were belching diesel exhaust. I had little choice but to plunge forward because I could see that Yori was an excellent subject. Oh, and did I mention the smear of pigeon poop on the fence? I assured her that I could remove that later with Photoshop.
As I was giving Yori a bit of direction regarding looking at the camera, she adjusted the zipper on her jacket and I told her the inclusion of her hands would add to the photo. I took a photo of her with her hands on the zipper and I liked it. Suddenly she said “I have an idea, can I just do my own posing?” I said “Of course you can. If you have an idea, go for it.” To my surprise, she removed her backpack and started shedding her coat. I was concerned about her things getting wet on the ground but she was a young woman on a mission and who was I to interfere. She struck a pose in her yellow tank top and when we looked at the photos she said she was pleased with those. Relieved that we had finally come up with some portraits Yori was pleased with, I proceeded to find out a bit about her.
Yori is 19 and she was born in Sudan which borders Egypt and the Red Sea in North East Africa. She and her family came to Canada when she was 9. I had met her as she was heading home from the nearby Adult Learning Centre where she is completing high school. Her goal in life is to finish high school and college and train for a career as a pilot. She said “I know it will be a lot of work but that’s my goal.” Her interests outside school are art and photography. “Like you” she said with a smile.
Yori’s advice to her younger self was “Don’t let anyone tell you what to do – or who you are.” Her message to the project is “Stay strong and stay motivated.”
Once we exchanged contact information and were parting with a friendly handshake, I asked to take one more photo with my cell phone to demonstrate the location we used to make the portraits. I already knew that the challenges of the location were going to form a significant part of this story and I wanted to illustrate that. Yori looked at that photo on my phone and wanted to make sure I would send her that one as as well. I did.
This is my 832nd submission to The Human Family Group on Flickr.
You can view more street portraits and stories by visiting The Human Family.