WATCH ABOVE: A portrait blog featuring Edmontonians and their stories is now a book. Emily Mertz has the details.
EDMONTON — One year after launching Faces of Edmonton as a blog showcasing photos of Edmontonians and their unique stories, the project has become a book.
Over the course of a year, photographer and writer Shayne Woodsmith has taken somewhere in the neighbourhood of 8,000 portraits.
He greets strangers in the street, in the park, or on the bus, and asks a simple question: “May I take your photo?”
What comes from that request is much more than a simple photograph. Faces of Edmonton offers a glimpse into that individual’s life. Sometimes, Woodsmith asks specific questions: What’s your favourite thing to do? What are you most proud of? Is there anything you regret? Other times, he just lets the conversation flow.
“The camera’s an ice-breaker. It’s so nice,” said Woodsmith.
“Sometimes it inhibits the conversation I think at the beginning, but at least it’s a reason to start the conversation.
“In this new age of selfies and digital photography where everyone’s a photographer and everyone’s posting what they’re doing, I think more people are open to it maybe than they would have been in the past.”
READ MORE: Faces of Edmonton: One man’s quest to showcase our city and its people
Woodsmith said the project started as a way for him to feel more connected to his city.
“I hope that this makes people feel more comfortable with the people in their community, but also, I would love it that, because of this, somebody has approached a stranger at some point just to sit down and have a conversation with them. That would make me really happy. I haven’t heard about that yet, but that would be the ultimate goal, I think, for me.”
He also hopes his work inspires empathy.
“I hope people see someone that they walked passed one day and they say, ‘oh, that’s his story’ or ‘that’s her story.'”
One thing it’s shown him is just how diverse Edmonton is. He was thrilled to be able to showcase that diversity in book form.
“When I hold a book and I read through a book, there’s a different sensation,” said Woodsmith. “There’s something tactile to interact with, so there’s a different experience that way. I notice it when people are flipping through it or they send me messages and say, ‘this post made me cry’ or ‘this post made me laugh.’
“That happens on the blog as well but I think there’s something more intimate and personal about it when it’s in your hands and you can run your fingers across the page.”
The books are being sold at local markets as well as Tix on the Square, Audrey’s Books, and the Muttart Conservatory. You can check out Faces of Edmonton on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.
“It’s taking on a new life which is really exciting.”
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