‘I’m not asking anything from them. I want to give them something. In exchange, I get to learn about them, and hear their story.” — Justin Veermer
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Once or twice a week Justin Veenema will stand at a busy Vancouver intersection with two cameras sitting low on his hip while he watches people go by.
He’s waiting for a vibe. Veenema lets dozens, or sometimes hundreds of people pass before he finds the right person, couple, or dog to photograph.
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“I look for people who I think have a story to share, people that look interesting or smart or fun. I try to pick up on someone’s vibe, and that leads my decision.”
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Veenema, 36, started approaching strangers in Vancouver 65 days ago, asking for permission to take their photos and posting them on Instagram. His reasons were personal.
The project offered him a way to deal with his social anxiety, to reach across the invisible gap that separates strangers from each other.
In a matter of weeks, the photos he took for his Stranger Project (@justin.veenema on Instagram) were garnering thousands of views.
Although one clip of a woman walking a bunny has almost 20 million views, he doesn’t have any ambition to become an influencer. “My goal is just to connect with people, share my photography, meet cool people and make friends,” said Veenema.
After growing up in Chatham, Ont., he moved to Vancouver in his 20s to work in tech, and was captivated by its mix of people and cultures. “I loved it, I’d never seen anything like it,” said Veenema.
After a few years, he left to explore other cities. When he returned to Vancouver last year, he found it was more difficult to meet people than he remembered.
“That Vancouver coldness was rubbing off on me. It wasn’t as easy as it was before.”
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Yet, all around him he saw interesting people. “Everyone looked like they had a story to tell. But I couldn’t just walk up to them on the street.”
With a camera in hand, that changed.
“This is a way for me to open that conversation. I’m not asking anything from them. I want to give them something. In exchange, I get to learn about them, and hear their story.”
At the core of the project is the desire for connection. “Everyone is feeling isolated. But after I approach someone, we make a connection.”
Among the stories his photos tell, the one with the most surprising plot twist is the story of Vancouver itself.
“You hear that Vancouver is a cold and unfriendly city,” said Veenema. “It’s not true. People want to connect. I thought 90 per cent of people I approached would say no. Turns out 90 per cent of people say yes.”
Veenema shoots with two cameras, an 85 mm Sony A74 and a 35mm Sony ZVE1, and an Insta 360 Go 3 that records his interaction with the people he approaches.
Every portrait tells a story of how to make strangers into friends. The tension of introduction — “Sorry to bother you, I’m a photographer. Is it OK if I take a photo of you?” — is the leap off a cliff, but the risk of rejection almost always leads to connection.
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Some are hesitant, or shy. Others don’t believe they are photogenic.
“That negative self-talk of not being good enough, or not being worthy — I really want to change that. I prove them wrong.”
His video clips sometimes include the moment he shows a once-hesitant stranger how they look through Veenema’s eyes.
“So beautiful,” one woman gasps, as if through Veenema’s lens she has seen herself for the very first time.
It’s part of what makes Veenema’s Stranger Project so compelling: that moment of recognition, where someone is no longer a stranger to themself.
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