Hello Stranger

05/13/2014

There is really nothing more to say — except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.
Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

The New York Times (April 27, 2014) had a striking combination of an article, "Hello, Stranger," that focused on how people are impacted by interacting with strangers, and photographs from the book Touching Strangers in which a photographer, Richard Renaldi, asked strangers he stopped on the street to interact while he took their portraits.

The article cited numerous studies about the benefits of interacting with strangers. For example:

"Scientists... approached commuters in a Chicago-area train station to break the rules. In return for a $5 Starbucks gift card, these commuters agreed to participate in a simple experiment during their train ride. One group was asked to talk to the stranger who sat down next to them on the train that morning. Other people were told to follow standard commuter norms, keeping to themselves. By the end of the train ride, commuters who talked to a stranger reported having a more positive experience than those who sat in solitude."

Renaldi's photograph captured some of this same positive emotion that comes interacting with strangers.

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