A Cambridge man is trying to photograph 8,000 strangers, and is learning a lot about humans doing it
In an age where artificial intelligence acquires a new skill each day, there are fears of consumers turning to technology over hired professionals. A popular trick up AI’s sleeve recently is the ability to produce a seemingly professional headshot (whether for a LinkedIn profile photo, or an imagined rendering straight out of a classic ’90s yearbook.) This trend can be worrisome for artists, especially portrait photographers, but a local man aspires to keep the art form alive — and offline.
Cambridge photographer Gregory Scott Katsoulis created 8,000 Faces — a series of black-and-white portraits of the people he passes daily. The Massachusetts native studied film at Hampshire College and later built a career as an author and photographer, specializing in maternity and baby shoots.
Toward the end of 2009, Katsoulis had been settled in Cambridge for roughly four years and was looking to extend his photography work to a wider audience. He was inspired by the people he’d see riding the T or walking through his neighborhood.
“I know the idea of ‘the stranger’ is often accompanied by fear, but I’ve always loved possibility, and every stranger’s face is an unwritten story,” he said.
Katsoulis decided to start a photo series of strangers’ portraits, breaking the barriers of unfamiliarity and sharing a glimpse of someone’s life through an image.
“There is so much in a face, isn’t there?” said Matthew Porto, an associate professor at Berklee College of Music, whose photo was taken by Katsoulis in November. “Maybe it’s not just the eyes that are the gateway to the soul, but the face as well.”
Katsoulis began in 2010 with the goal of taking 100 original photographs. The first photo he took was of a man whose impressive handlebar mustache caught Katsoulis’s eye. Katsoulis said he would get a dopamine hit after he’d taken a stranger’s photo and they were happy with the image.
“Everyone takes photos constantly… But there’s a whole subgroup of people who hate how they look,” he explained. “I would love for someone, for one half of a second, to see a picture of themselves the way that other people see [them].”
He met his 100-person goal within two years and decided to extend the project to 1,000 portraits. From 2013 through 2019, Katsoulis wandered populated areas during the warm months — from Harvard’s campus, the Commons, to Newbury Street.
“I always leave the level of engagement up to the person. There are people who say yes almost instantly, let me take the picture and head on their way without any conversation at all. There are people who say no [but] will chat with me for 20 minutes,” Katsoulis explained about the public’s participation.
“There’s [something] really captivating about the intimacy of a portrait but it being taken by a stranger,” said Andrea Catania, whose image was taken in October.
Despite what he learns about his subjects, no personal details — not even their name — is included when he posts their photo to his website or social media. To Katsoulis, the subject’s anonymity is an important aspect of the project. (The subjects featured in this article agreed to be identified, as confirmed by Katsoulis.)
“My hope is that when people view one of the portraits, they wonder about the person and their empathy is activated,” he said.
In September 2019, Katsoulis sat down to review the images he’d spent almost a decade collecting. By then, the photographer had accomplished his goal of taking 1,000 strangers’ photos — and some change.
He realized he had a total of 1,004 photos. “Well, that didn’t feel good,” he said.
Bolstered by the series’s success, Katsoulis thought of adding yet another zero and increasing the goal to 10,000 faces. But as that Instagram handle was taken (as was @9000faces), he secured the username @8000faces, satisfied with the task at hand.
The series paused during the pandemic, but once it was safe to socialize again, Katsoulis grabbed his camera and got back outside in summer 2022. This time around, with a larger goal, he made some ground rules:
He does not approach anyone who is alone.
The subject must be standing in good light.
The subject shouldn’t be walking too fast. Those people are usually in a rush.
Currently, Katsoulis has almost 3,000 portraits posted to the project’s website and close to 2,000 uploaded to Instagram. As the project has evolved, Katsoulis learned more about human behavior.
“I certainly studied some psychology and sociology in college, but my observations are purely coming from my broader interest in humanity,” he said. His project depends on the willingness of strangers to stand in front of his lens, and over the years he’s noticed patterns relating to the people who say yes, and those who say no.
According to Katsoulis, the older crowds have a higher tendency to decline. Younger crowds almost always accept. The photographer also said that if the person shrugs after he’s made his pitch, they’re likely to pose for a photo. No shrug, no picture.
Additionally, he explained that the types of responses changed before and after the pandemic, citing “rudimentary group psychology.”
“If I were to walk to a group of people and ask to take their picture, whoever is dominant in the group is going to answer,” he said of interactions pre-COVID-19 pandemic. “If [they] said yes, everyone would have their picture taken. If they said no, nobody would.”
Recently, however, Katsoulis is hearing a “yes” within a group of “no’s.” One day, Katsoulis photographed a Harvard professor of social psychology, who suggested this behavior might be a product of people getting to know themselves better during lockdown, perhaps growing a stronger sense of individuality.
“Eight thousand faces feels like a loving place to exist and be a part of,” said Chasity Langman of Tennessee, who was touring Harvard’s campus with her daughters when Katsoulis approached them. “I see new faces daily on [Instagram] and it reminds me how we are all connected, all human.”
Although most of photographs have been taken in the Boston area, Katsoulis has extended the series through travel including Maine and a few places outside US borders. He’d love to eventually travel the world to include as many diverse faces as he can.
“I don’t think I’ll stop if I get to 8,000,” Katsoulis said. “I really enjoy taking people’s photos, and have this ’70s mindset of loving yourself for who you are, something that is going away in our culture.”