The Cville People Project, a documentary photography project, was partially inspired by the Humans of New York website, which is the result of the attempt of one photographer to provide a sort of photographic census of New York City.

However, the focus of this project is somewhat different. I believe that we come to know a city through the people who live there, so my goal is to depict the city of Charlottesville through its inhabitants. I intend to make portraits of as many Charlottesvillians as possible and share them, along with a little bit about each person, on this photoblog.

Feel free to contact me at cville.people@gmail.com if you would like to be part of the project or know someone who would.

You can see more of my photos on my other blog The Things I've Seen and on my Flickr stream. You can also follow me on Instagram (K_A_Sprouse) or Twitter (@K_A_Sprouse).

16th June 2012

Photo with 2 notes

Steve, the amateur model Sometimes you go looking for a photo opportunity, and sometimes the photo opportunities come looking for you.I was standing outside of my favorite brunch place, the Blue Moon Diner, waiting for my wife to come out, when Steve walked up to me, took a long look at my camera, and started striking poses.  “Take a photo of this!” he said, and popped into a pose.  Far be it for me to deny a man the chance to be a subject for a portrait, so I told him that I’d be more than happy to take his photo, but first we had to find a decent background.  I took a quick look around and spotted a nice blue wall across the street that was in full shade, so I said “Let’s go over there.”  Steve, obviously not being one for crosswalks, stepped boldly out into the street, bringing traffic to a halt, and I trotted along behind him across the street.  I told him where to stand, and he immediate began trying out his model moves.  I told him that he was doing just fine and didn’t need to work so hard, and he slowed down a bit.  Then I made this photo.  While we were chatting afterward, his friend Franklin came along and wanted to know what we were doing, and when we explained it to him, he wanted me to make a portrait of him, too.  So I did.  And then a photo of the two of them together, just for good measure.  Neither one of them has managed to find a full-time job, doing “a little bit of this and a little bit of that” to survive, so they don’t have internet access or email accounts.  I told them that I’d make some prints and leave them with the folks at the diner, which made both of them pretty happy.  And it made me pretty happy, too. West Main Street in Charlottesville, VA

Steve, the amateur model

Sometimes you go looking for a photo opportunity, and sometimes the photo opportunities come looking for you.

I was standing outside of my favorite brunch place, the Blue Moon Diner, waiting for my wife to come out, when Steve walked up to me, took a long look at my camera, and started striking poses.  “Take a photo of this!” he said, and popped into a pose.  Far be it for me to deny a man the chance to be a subject for a portrait, so I told him that I’d be more than happy to take his photo, but first we had to find a decent background.  I took a quick look around and spotted a nice blue wall across the street that was in full shade, so I said “Let’s go over there.”  Steve, obviously not being one for crosswalks, stepped boldly out into the street, bringing traffic to a halt, and I trotted along behind him across the street.  I told him where to stand, and he immediate began trying out his model moves.  I told him that he was doing just fine and didn’t need to work so hard, and he slowed down a bit.  Then I made this photo.  While we were chatting afterward, his friend Franklin came along and wanted to know what we were doing, and when we explained it to him, he wanted me to make a portrait of him, too.  So I did.  And then a photo of the two of them together, just for good measure.  Neither one of them has managed to find a full-time job, doing “a little bit of this and a little bit of that” to survive, so they don’t have internet access or email accounts.  I told them that I’d make some prints and leave them with the folks at the diner, which made both of them pretty happy.  And it made me pretty happy, too.

West Main Street in Charlottesville, VA

Tagged: CharlottesvilleCvilleVirginiaCville People Project100 strangersstreet portraitportraitBlue Moon Diner

  1. kasprouse reblogged this from cvillepeople and added:
    Reblogged from my other blog.
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