10+ Photos Will Change The Way You Look At Strangers

Published 8 years ago

The word “stranger” conjures up all sorts of thoughts, and many of them aren’t positive. After all, a stranger is unknown, and it’s often the unknown that scares us, but as these beautiful photographs prove, it’s amazing how transformative a simple smile can be.

The pictures were taken by Jay Weinstein, a Mumbai-based Hindi-speaking photographer of Australian-American-Ukrainian-English heritage. They’re part of a collection called “…so I asked them to smile“, which began in Rajasthan back in 2013 when he saw a man he wanted to photograph.

“The look in his eye and his stony, stern face intimidated me,” write Weinstein on his Facebook page. “It’s always that moment of hesitation that kills a shot! I ended up avoiding him and photographing other subjects until I heard his jovial voice, “Take my picture too!” Camera lens focused, my finger poised to fire. ‘Smile’, I called out. And he was transformed. His face radiated warmth, his eyes sparkled with a humor I had completely missed. Even his posture softened. I knew then what my next project would be.”

More info: So i asked them to smile | Jay Weinstein | facebook (h/t: boredpanda)