In August 2021, I set a goal to sit down and talk to 50 strangers in the Bay Area.
If you live in the Bay, you know that strangers don’t really talk to each other here. They’ve got their airpods in, eyes glued to their phone or laptop screen. Everyone’s got somewhere to be, a phone call to take, things to do.
But, after moving to Redwood City during the pandemic and working a remote job, I wanted to challenge that. I started wondering - who are the people of Redwood City?
So for the month of August, I approached complete strangers on the street and asked them to share their stories with me. And the stories I heard were fascinating.
When you ask someone out of the blue if they'd like to chat and share their story with you, you're bound to get rejected. Rather than hide the failed attempts, I figured that I'd share them and be transparent about the process. Plus, the interactions can be...interesting.
A raw documentation of the ups and downs of the Stories from Strangers project. Because yes, we all need a reminder that no matter how polished the end product work, the steps to get there were never easy.
28 Days on the Pacific Crest Trail
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