British Photographer Michael Chapman has made a name for himself by meeting and photographing the strangers he meets on Twitter.
Sparked by the curiosity of the small interactions he had with strangers on the social network, he made a pact to meet 100 of them.
He set a clear set of guidelines. He could not have met any of the people previously. They had to volunteer to take part in the project, he couldn’t directly ask them. The stranger had to choose the location. Finally, Michael could not direct them how to pose.
The definition of a stranger seemed to be the biggest point of contention during the project. Many argued that you could have a cyber relationship with someone and know them quite well. Michael maintained that the people were strangers, due to the slight disconnect between someone’s online and offline personality.
He writes on his website “I found quite often most people came across slightly differently in person. Some of the more dramatic tweeters seemed softer, those who posted tonnes of selfies seem quite self conscious”.
Michael has now published the photo series online and has thanked everyone for their support. “This project has provided me several amazing opportunities, I’ll never forget how it started, and I’ll never be able to thank all 100 participants enough for giving up their time to be photographed by me” he said.
Images via mjchapman.co.uk
