2. P. Sz.

One of the topics I hope to explore with "Meet a Stranger a Day" is how easy it often is to find at least one thing two strangers have in common. I approached P. Sz. just as the sun broke through the thick cover of clouds that hangs over Zurich throughout most of the Winter. As is to be expected, he asked some very legitimate questions about the nature of my endeavour - on what platform was I posting my blog, what was my occupation, what was my company's area of expertise - but it seemed that as soon as he had made the decision to allow me to portray him, he started telling me about himself. That moment may perhaps have hinged on what the two of us have in common: an interest and profession in computing. Now ten years retired, P. Sz. witnessed the early years of electronic computing in Switzerland, working with the ETH's ERMETH - one of Europe's first computers.

As we walked towards the restaurant "Le Café", where he was meeting some friends, I took 15 Pictures, many of which sadly are a testament to my limited abilities - it seems that by suggesting I could photograph while accompanying P. Sz. to his destination I inadvertently introduced the additional complication of both myself and the subject being in motion. Fortunately we soon developed a nonverbal understanding that allowed me to take a short time to compose my pictures without breaking the flow of conversation. Of the three or four resulting useable portraits I've selected the one that in my opinion best portrays P. Sz.'s keen intellect and willingness to engage. I'm not too happy about the background, but as it turns out the mannequin acts as a curious echo of the subject.

Things I need to learn:
Deal with the time-constraints that arise from most days of the week being workdays, both for me and potential subjects
Take the time to do multiple shots, check the result and redo, especially if the composition appears to work

I would like to thank P. Sz. for his kind words of encouragement - I had expected the second day to be much harder than the first, but his interest and conversation made for a most enjoyable experience!