Heather (Explore)
I was just leaving Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market when I saw this stylishly-dressed woman from a distance and I was immediately interested in photographing her. Luckily, she dawdled, checking her cell phone, which gave me a chance to approach her. I’m so glad I did because once I introduced myself and my project she was very interested in helping out. She explained that she is a professional photographer and she thought my Human Family project sounded great. Meeting another photographer is a mixed bag. They often want to assist a fellow photographer but at the same time it’s a bit intimidating to photograph someone who’s serious about their photography. Luckily, she was eager to help and was very supportive of my effort, not in the least intimidating. Meet Heather.
I showed Heather my contact card so she could see what kind of informal portraits I take and I suggested we step through the doors and take some photos against the reddish historic wood doors of the market building. Heather was very down to earth and motivated to follow any lead I could give so I could complete my project photos. We then moved into the doorway to the market and had a little comic adventure as I wanted the doors open to have the darker market interior as a background. The problem was that the doors were automatic so I had to keep running behind Heather to trigger the doors, then rush back and take a photo just as the doors were closing again. That, combined with the other market-goers entering and leaving through the same doors kept us busy for a few minutes.
Heather told me that she is visiting from New Jersey where she lives and works as a photographer and photographer’s assistant. She does mostly weddings and portrait work but wants to branch out to do more nature and travel photography. She loves to travel and mentioned that she visits Africa yearly. She is 29 and was born and raised just a stone’s throw from New York City. She is in Toronto for a mini-vacation and had just viewed the Guillermo Del Toro exhibit which she said was very good and very creepy. (ago.ca/exhibitions/guillermo-del-toro). I had met Heather just as she was waiting to meet a tour group. “Whenever I travel to a new place, I like to take a tour to get oriented to the city and its highlights.” Luckily, her group had not yet formed and we had time to get acquainted.
Heather’s message to her younger self was “Relax. Everything will work out ok.” I have heard this before as a message to the younger self. It seems to reflect the angst that many adolescents feel as they go through the difficult process of figuring out who they are and how they are going to fit into the world around them. A challenge she has encountered in life was the loss of her mother at the age of 15. No age is a good one to lose a parent, but for a girl to lose her mother at 15 must have been difficult indeed. When I asked what helped her overcome this, she said “The passage of time helps some, and I was lucky that my grandmother was always there for me even though she was going through the loss of her own daughter. It wasn’t easy, but I’m ok.”
Heather’s message to the project is “Travel. See the world. Meet lots of people who are very different from you.” We both reflected on how the world would be a better place if more people did this. We finished up with my mentioning what a perfect message that was for the Human Family project. I wished her well with her tour and her visit to Toronto and we promised to follow each other’s work online. You can see Heather’s excellent photography at www.heatheraephotography.com.
This is my 562nd submission to The Human Family Group on Flickr.
You can view more street portraits and stories by visiting The Human Family.
Heather (Explore)
I was just leaving Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market when I saw this stylishly-dressed woman from a distance and I was immediately interested in photographing her. Luckily, she dawdled, checking her cell phone, which gave me a chance to approach her. I’m so glad I did because once I introduced myself and my project she was very interested in helping out. She explained that she is a professional photographer and she thought my Human Family project sounded great. Meeting another photographer is a mixed bag. They often want to assist a fellow photographer but at the same time it’s a bit intimidating to photograph someone who’s serious about their photography. Luckily, she was eager to help and was very supportive of my effort, not in the least intimidating. Meet Heather.
I showed Heather my contact card so she could see what kind of informal portraits I take and I suggested we step through the doors and take some photos against the reddish historic wood doors of the market building. Heather was very down to earth and motivated to follow any lead I could give so I could complete my project photos. We then moved into the doorway to the market and had a little comic adventure as I wanted the doors open to have the darker market interior as a background. The problem was that the doors were automatic so I had to keep running behind Heather to trigger the doors, then rush back and take a photo just as the doors were closing again. That, combined with the other market-goers entering and leaving through the same doors kept us busy for a few minutes.
Heather told me that she is visiting from New Jersey where she lives and works as a photographer and photographer’s assistant. She does mostly weddings and portrait work but wants to branch out to do more nature and travel photography. She loves to travel and mentioned that she visits Africa yearly. She is 29 and was born and raised just a stone’s throw from New York City. She is in Toronto for a mini-vacation and had just viewed the Guillermo Del Toro exhibit which she said was very good and very creepy. (ago.ca/exhibitions/guillermo-del-toro). I had met Heather just as she was waiting to meet a tour group. “Whenever I travel to a new place, I like to take a tour to get oriented to the city and its highlights.” Luckily, her group had not yet formed and we had time to get acquainted.
Heather’s message to her younger self was “Relax. Everything will work out ok.” I have heard this before as a message to the younger self. It seems to reflect the angst that many adolescents feel as they go through the difficult process of figuring out who they are and how they are going to fit into the world around them. A challenge she has encountered in life was the loss of her mother at the age of 15. No age is a good one to lose a parent, but for a girl to lose her mother at 15 must have been difficult indeed. When I asked what helped her overcome this, she said “The passage of time helps some, and I was lucky that my grandmother was always there for me even though she was going through the loss of her own daughter. It wasn’t easy, but I’m ok.”
Heather’s message to the project is “Travel. See the world. Meet lots of people who are very different from you.” We both reflected on how the world would be a better place if more people did this. We finished up with my mentioning what a perfect message that was for the Human Family project. I wished her well with her tour and her visit to Toronto and we promised to follow each other’s work online. You can see Heather’s excellent photography at www.heatheraephotography.com.
This is my 562nd submission to The Human Family Group on Flickr.
You can view more street portraits and stories by visiting The Human Family.