Camera club

So tonight was my third visit to the camera club and on the schedule for tonight was a secret mission that we didnt find out about until we got there. Probably because at least I wouldnt have made it tonight if I had known. The task was to go out and take a portrait of a stranger, preferably in their own home. This was to break all the barriers as a photographer because if you can manage to do this you can do pretty much anything. And if you are the person opening the door it is very intrusive, imagine letting a complete stranger with a massive camera into your home to take photos of you. I dont know if I would have let them in. And I didnt take any portraits tonight, I did not have a nice feeling at all when I found out what we were doing. I tagged along with another guy, whos (stupid?) idea this was, and he was determined to do it even though he felt almost as awkward as I did. So we walked up the stairs in an apartment house and he started knocking doors. It was the same stairwell in which his brother lived so he had a small advantage if people got suspicious. And amazingly he was let in at all the three apartments he tried. I was just standing watching in the background, like an apprentice =) It might have be a little bit less confronting because I was there, maybe if he did it on his own they would have been more suspicious.

When I drove back home I realised that situations like these makes me feel really uncomfortable, like the most uncomfortable I can get, almost. I just didnt want to do it so I didnt. He tried to push me a bit which is good but I still didnt do it. Maybe if we do it again and I can mentally prepare with a bit more determination I will but this time I had decided straight away that I wasnt gonna do it, and nothing could change that. I need a bit more time to work it through in my head first. Next time...

There was only one more that had been let into someones home, the others had gotten a no, or didnt try to get into someone but instead asked people on the street if they could take their portrait. I could probably have stretched that far but my "partner" was so determined in his quest.

Anyway, it was interesting and I guess I got to know myself a bit better, at least one of my weaknesses.