hello 48.....hello complete strangers.....

yesterday was my forty eighth birthday

~

i had nothing planned and nothing on my calendar other than "happy birthday to me."

after getting dressed i had one of those lightbulb moments. what if i challenged myself to take photos of 48 complete strangers on my 48th birthday. now i had a plan.

i hopped in the car and drove down to the union, only to discover that there was nowhere to park. 

off to state street i went. 

immediately after parking, i started going up to strangers, telling them i was a photographer and that for my 48th birthday i wanted photos of 48 strangers. they all smiled and said yes.

well, i did have one man in a hurry who passed quickly by saying "no" before i even told him what i was doing, but other than that, everyone i met was happy to stop and pose for me.

~

i found families, bartenders, lovers, homeless people, a nephew visiting from austria, bike riders, book readers, marketing students, visitors from england, a parking authority, other photographers and people in a hurry and everyone of them wished me a happy birthday when we parted.

~

some i talked to in great length. others were just a quick, "thank you so much."

bryan, who i found while he was on his break, offered to buy me a drink or a shot for my birthday from the bar he was working in. i passed, but the offer was so sweet. instead, we talked about life, colorado, snow boarding, portland, oregon and the coast. 

model like mike told me where he was from and how he was searching for what he wanted to do with his life, hoping soon to find his passion. he reminded me so much of my son. i told him i only found what i was passionate about 5 years ago and that it will happen when he least expects it.

the marketing students said they loved this idea of mine, the 48 strangers for my 48th birthday. the guy in the group said, "i completely respect what you're doing." that made me smile.

~

so in two and a half hours, i had talked to 48 people, smiled more times than i can count and had more birthday wishes than i ever imagined. i was even told that i looked more like 38 than 48. wow. if that isn't a great gift i don't what is. below is a video i made of all 48 strangers. i hope they make you smile as much as they did me.

*

{slide show works best if you let your cursor rest on the side of the first photo that comes up...as that will get rid of the thumbnail photos at the bottom}