∆ of Strangers

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Triptychs of Strangers is a continuing series by Adde Adesokan, where the goal is to “meet total strangers – get to know them - take three personality-matching body shots - make them one.”

All encounters took place in cities such as Hamburg, Paris, London, Berlin, Hongkong, Sapa and Ho Chi Minh City.

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: About this shot This was shortly after The Leg-Stretcher … I went directly from Passy to Montmartre. It was raining heavily but that is in fact a nice weather to take photos isn’t it. Tall, good-looking, awesome style and a elegant keeper-umbrella … of course I had to talk to her. And because of this project I had a second reason, too ;-) About this stranger Meet Katrin, she is 33 years old and is from … yeah … Germany, but lives in paris for four years now. I spoke to her in english first and noticed her german accent after a while Actually this could have been the easiest chat ever, but unfortunately she didn’t had much time. Maybe her fashion awareness and engagement ring indicate something …

: And suddenly there had to be color. About this shot After being turned down for the first time – I met this stranger. My learnings from the attempt before: You should never ask a stranger if he or she could spare five minutes ……. especially if it’s raining heavily. I met him early on that saturday. He told me that he was in fact very exhausted from partying, but still he was totally in this thing. About this stranger Meet Pierre – actually: meet Pierre again. He is 25 years old and lives in Paris and studies at a “business school”. His relationship status is … “Äääh” … “Complicated?” – “Yes!” And his sexual orientation “Straight/Gay?” – “Gay!”. Needless to say knowdays (?), but thanks for being so open. He loves movies – one of his favorite movies is One Night at the Roxbury He didn’t know what to do with the hands, so I asked him about the content of his pockets > iPhone. Then I asked him about his favorite song or anything else that comes up to his mind > :-) Very cool guy – it was so much fun talking to him

: About this shot After shooting four strangers on saturday last week I had the idea of shooting a couple. I didn’t take along until I found this couple. They were on their way down from the Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre. Absolutely no doubts here, the agreed immediately. All shots were done right in the middle of the streets, it was too crowded everywhere else. First time everyone was watching: “What the heck is this weirdo doing there – taking shots of their shoes” About these strangers Our strangers are 20 and 21 and both from Santander Spain – visiting Paris for the first time. The are students – medicine and architecture. Both share their love for food and warm drinks especially arabic style. I really liked how they were enthusiastic about the shoot. A songs that makes them very happy – I never heard of them but I can understand … The Asteroid Galaxy Tour – The Golden Age 25mm, Augen, Bag, Bike, Black, Blackandwhite, Bob, Bokeh, Bridge, Montmartre, bw, Fashion, Haare, Hamburg, Mann, Olympus, Paris, Pen, Portrait, Porträt, puzzle, hands, Love, Schuhe, Schwarz, Schwarzweiss, Couple, Spain, Santander, Shoes, Stranger, sw, Tire, Triptych, Triptychon, Voigtlaender, Voigtländer, Weiss, White, Gum, Gummistiefel, Street, Strasse, paris, France, Frankreich

: Stranger #11: The prevented Smoker, Paris About this shot I was standing in front of Les deux Magots and it was the first time I was actually waiting for a stranger. This stranger was part of group of three … Normally I try to avoid picking up strangers in these kind of constellations. Even if your stranger is interested he might have the feeling of breaking his or her friends ball with this “15 minutes of Fame” kinda thing. About this stranger Before I explained the concept he said: “Excuse me: I was sitting in the cafe for hours and I really need a cigarette now. If you don’t mind …” Paulo is 36 years old, a parisian. He is an perfectionist personal assistant by day and after hours he might be cooking Chou Farci (“You really don’t know?”) a cabbage roll. His relationship status single and he is gay. His favorite movie is My Girl with Anna Chlumsky and Macaulay Culkin. I loved how he said “Sooooo emotional” with his slight french accent. Probably the most elegant stranger I met so far.

: About this series I am still amazed by the feedback. A special thanks goes out to YOU and your encouraging comments, emails and faves. This will be the last stranger of this first run. I will start working on “édition du printemps” in two weeks. About this shot This happened shortly after Paulo – The prevented Smoker. She was watching me taking shots in very odd positions: lying and kneeling … As a stranger she will go down in history, because she is in fact the first and probably only model ever that kind of invited herself About this stranger Meet Coline from … yeah … Paris. She is 55 years old and one of us! She is a photographer but I think can none of us can match up with her abstract style. I really like this video but you can also check out her Blog, Tumblr or Twitter Twitter. Someone seems to be very involved here … If you browse this you may a) understand how much she is into photography and b) why she was really curios about he things i was doing there with Paulo. She told me that she should drink less coffee, but “what can you do if your are in love”. Talking about … Coline is a single for 5 years now – and is somehow glad to live a life of piece and silence. Sexual orientation? … was answered with “Ohlalala …. i love animals” I bet cats … Maccaroni, Ingmar Bergman and Miles Davis make her complete.

: Story about this shot Place de la République: He was crossing the street and I recognized him because of his all blue outfit. I had the feeling he was really absorbed into listening to music. He was fast, but I caught him at a street corner. In situations like this I recommend not to talk to strangers from the side – try to stand in their way. My first goal is always to make them “Stop’n Chat” instead of “Walk’n Greet” ;-) About this stranger I had no specific idea in mind this was very spontaneous. And frankly I know little about him, he could barely speak english and therefore the conversation was difficult. I didn´t came up to my mind to switch to french, because he really tried to talk to me. So ended up throwing words at each other and gesticulating. It worked! Oh, about him .. He name is Kiniau. He is 26 old, straight and lives in Paris. Music is one of the most important part in his life – favorite genres are RNB, Rap, Dancehall and Reggae. He also plays in a band, and hopes for a breakthrough. I made 14 triptychs so far, but this portrait carries the most personality. I asked him to be himself … and the way he is standing there is as much Kiniau you might get. I leave the interpretations to you …

: A new stranger I met near Gare du Nord. He was on his way to an appointment. You cannot miss that he was riding a bike. I had to stop him and asked him if he would like to participate in this let’s call it project. I showed him my first triptych shot and a few other strangers on my mobile/pen and then I explained everything else. Something I learned with my 18 strangers in Paris, you have to come to the point quickly: better show stuff than explaining in words :D About this stranger It didn’t take much time and he agreed – he seemed to be really open and interested in general. His name is Pierre – he is 30 years old and is actually from Bordeaux but lives in Paris. He is a lawyer and works in an administration of public health. His relationship status is pretty clear – straight and engaged to be married. If he is not riding public bikes (“No, I don’t have my own bike”), he might be eating Côte de boeuf (“my favorite meal”) or reading Kapitan Michalis or Alexis Sorbas for the hundredths time coz Nikos Kazantzakis is his famous writer. His eyes grow immensely while talking about Bob Dylan – this song really makes him think Bob Dylan – Standing in the Doorway

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: About this shot First stranger I asked that saturday. It was in fact kinda hard to convince him … he could believe I actually mean this serious. In these kind of situations I choose give some more priority to his story in the beginning … I normally do this during the shoot but mainly after. I recognized this stranger because if his remarkable (hair and boots) style. About this stranger Meet Gökhan … who is 22 years old and lives in Wilhelmsburg – a suburb in Hamburg. He was about to meet his cousins and friends somewhere around a trendy mile we call “Schanze”. Gökhan loves fashion. “But unfortunately I work as a supervisor for machinists – I’d rather be part of the fashion industry”. Gökhan loves girls. The emphasis is on girls, not one girl, but girls. “Are you a Player” – “Yes” – “Can I write that?” – “Sure, you can” Gökhan is openly a player. As it might be part of a player lifestyle, he likes to party a lot. You might see him on any big hiphop or house party in our city. He also plays soccer in a team called Panteras Negras (he probably can’t deny the resemblance to a famous soccer player from portugal. — — sets Hamburg, Triptychs of Strangers or Strangers | this pic bigger or black | follow tumblr or twitter

: About this shot I was talking to a friend of mine and we talked about this project. He asked how I actually approach to these strangers … I showed him with this couple. Saw them walking side by side and they reminded me of The Couple … The way there were holding hands that we-are-happy-look other loose after a few weeks :-) What I learned in this shooting. When strangers tell you they don’t know how to pose, tell them whatever you want them to do and they will do it. About these strangers Meet Zoran and Robert … Both are 32 years old and a happy couple for about 2 years now. Zoran is from Mazedonia and works as a scientist for the Max-Planck-Institut. Robert is no surprise a german and works as Graphic Designer. Zoran is the guy you mind wanna talk about books, Robert is the movie-guy. If you like Potiche (book or movie) – you’ll definitely have a great conversation about François Ozon. Another couple. And this worked well … I think they really enjoyed it.

: About this series and me feeling like nun Haven’t seen it coming so quick, but this saturday I took the fight for new stranger out to the streets. I was really in the mood to continue this series. Even though I haven’t asked a stranger to take his or her picture for almost 5 weeks now. You might remember: Back in those days I was a whore when it comes to street photography, during the last weeks I felt like a nun. Saturday I worked up my courage and started over … About this shot This was the last shot of three stranger shots that day. I had the idea of this shot a couple of weeks ago when I was at the fleamarket with some friends. I saw him sitting on a bench enjoying his meal. He was eating french fries and curry sausage – a very famous dish over here. About this stranger Meet Vassili … a name I heard for the first time in a german telenovela called “Lindenstrasse” … he has a greek background, grown up in Rüsselsheim and now lives in Hamburg. Vassili is 28 years old and studies graphic design (focus on typography) … I won`t go too much into details, but we had a kinda nerdy talk about typefaces … but one of his classic favorites is Bodoni … He’s into music – he used to be a dj – mainly electro and new wave. We found out that we share our appreciation to group called Chromeo. I used a song by them as a soundtrack before – see here. His favorite song is “Needy Girl”. Once you have seen the video, you might probably understand why I actually knew he likes them before even telling me ;-) — — sets Hamburg, Triptychs of Strangers or <a href="http://www.flickr.c

: About this shot I was not really in the mood that day and I was somehow waiting for something to happen. ~~But nothing happened~~ … but I had not enough eggs … Manfred was already rated “A++ with a star” as he walked by for the first time. And even though he looked like a redburned english tourist – he still appeared full of confidence, joy and style to us ;-) About thes stranger Meet Manfred … who is 64 years old. 20 years ago he came to Hamburg from a place in the south of Germany called Würzburg. Hamburg and Manfred is by far the better fit – he used to be a sailor and he loves St. Pauli (district and soccer club). He came back from watching soccer (FC St. Pauli vs. Werder Bremen) and was annoyed about the fact that his club will not remain in the first german soccer division (Bundesliga) :-(. After a great fight that lasted 45 minutes only and not 90 minutes – a problem we have experienced the whole season. We mourn with the fans and one of hamburgs finest districts! FC St. Pauli will rise again. — — sets Hamburg, Triptychs of Strangers or Strangers | this pic bigger or black | follow tumblr or twitter

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