Indigo Som

camera shy

Camera Shy was a social self-portraiture project in which I asked strangers to take pictures of me when I was out in public alone. On the project blog I posted the resulting photos with a written account of each interaction.

This project was part of my ongoing attempt to understand photography & its role in our lives. I am fascinated by this widespread social agreement we apparently have, in which we can ask strangers to take pictures for us, with a reasonable expectation that they will generously comply. As it happened, I was working on this project just at the dawning of our current Age of the Selfie. I wonder how selfie culture will change stranger photography.

Asian Americans, femme dykes, bisexuals, & middle-aged women are all groups or identities that struggle with invisibility. So I have always been “invisible” in multiple ways, & now in middle age even more so. Camera Shy was a way for me to approach or enact being seen, riffing on subject/object dynamics.

Plus I got to talk to strangers—one of my most beloved & enduring practices.

http://picturesofindigo.blogspot.com