With a population of over four million people, it might be hard to find a sense of community in the Orlando area. Grace Howard, a senior at UCF and Orlando native, is trying to change that.
Inspired by Humans of New York, a project created by Brandon Stanton, which captures portraits and stories of people in New York City, Grace created Faces of Orlando (FOO) with hopes of taking Brandon’s example and bringing it to the Orlando community.
I had a chance to sit down with the woman behind the camera to find out how FOO came to be.
What inspired you to create FOO?
“I have to give all of the credit to Brandon, to be honest. I have his book and I’m obsessed with it.”
“You can get an idea of someones entire soul just through their body position and their smirk or frown. It’s really interesting. I feel like this is an opportunity to bring a stronger sense of community and connection to Orlando. I was so beyond inspired by HONY and I couldn’t resist trying to see if I could pull it off in Orlando, and thats actually a really difficult task. The greater Orlando area is about 4,000 square miles to cover and we have 2 million people!”
So how do you plan on covering Orlando?
“Basically I’m trying to take blueprint of what Brandon was doing but he was very strategic. I didn’t plan as much as I should of but I’m getting there. I want to eventually get to my main goal which is 1,000 frames in a year.”
Grace has a map of the city in her room and plans to pin-point every location she goes to in Orlando.
How do you approach everyone that you photograph?
“Its honestly a mix of winging it and planning it. I have questions in mind that I’ve developed after talking to specific people and demographics. For example with siblings, a strategy I learned from Brandon, you ask them whats the best thing they like about their brother or sister, especially with little kids. You can get good quotes with that. I want them to do all of the talking.”
“Why is also be best question that you can ask anyone. That’s a lesson I learned from journalism in general.”
How do you hope this project will affect others?
“It will be amazing to show our grandkids what type of people lived in New York in 2011 and beyond, and that’s all I can think about when I’m documenting my community. I’ll be able to show my grandkids or have other people be able to show their family how it’s progressed and developed. So, I really hope that FOO can bring a stronger sense of community and connection between everyone. That’s really the main goal: to bring people together.”
Have you changed at all after getting to know some of these people?
“I used to be the photographer that liked to hide behind the camera. It’s really easy to be the wallflower and make sure that nobody sees you. This is a big test of my will and it’s a good way of forcing me to connect with other people and get out of my comfort zone to converse with complete strangers.”
What has been your favorite moment so far?
“Definitely, Will. The homeless man with the dreads.”
“I had to sit down with him for a few hours in order for him to let me take his photo. He said a lot of people take but they don’t give. From my perspective as a photographer, I never thought about it, that not only do I take the photo but I take something with me of that person. And I’m not necessarily giving back to them. So, that conversation was my way of genuinely trying to contribute to him and try to show my concern for his well-being and I wanted to know his story. That’s something that I’ve been trying to work on. A lot of people are waiting until they can talk about themselves. I’m trying very hard to put other people first and talk less and ask questions about them more. It’s really changed me in two ways: one, I want to get to know people and in another sense, I’m starting to build a thick skin because I’ve been yelled at and told no. You have to get used to rejection and people thinking that your crazy. But you do have to be a little crazy to do this kind of thing.”
Grace, a journalism major passionate about photography, said FOO has now become her reason to wake up everyday, which is a pretty neat thing.
To see these inspirational photos and stories, make sure to follow Faces of Orlando (FOO) on Facebook and Tumblr.