A lifetime ago when I was a second year photography student I started taking portraits, mostly with medium format cameras and mostly of people on the same course, as it was relatively (but not entirely) painless to approach people and have them understand the motive(s). The next step for me was to get an 80mm lens for my 35mm OM1n and find the guts to stop people in the street and ask to take a few photographs there and then. I was fairly nervous but even before starting on that project, or even before having a camera, I knew that photography, unlike writing, came with a requirement to directly interact with the world. It wasn't a pursuit where you could hide in your room (although it turns out there have been a few who have managed to do just that).
Once you have got over the initial anxiety of stopping strangers it does get easier, in fact you devleop a kind of control over the situation, as it is sort of becomes just 'something you do' as you walk around and have a camera with you, looking people in the eye as they pass you by.
I did it for a term but eventually rejected everything I shot. It was an experience from a long time ago but maybe it makes me appreciate more than I would have the street portraits of Jitka Hanzlova. One thing is for sure, she does it about a million times better than I ever did.
