ELENA BOGGIO

For my Design Degree Project (Senior Capstone), I had freedom to create whatever I wanted. I knew I wanted to do something with photography, since it had been a few years since I spent a considerable amount of time shooting. I also wanted to create a book, so I could have something tangible.

​

After weeks of deliberation, I decided on a specific concept: I wanted to photograph people doing something they do every day. I decided to photograph people drinking coffee since it's a part of many people's daily routine and it would be relatively easy to capture on the streets of Boston, a city that especially loves coffee.

​

I spent many days walking around different neighborhoods in the city with my camera, seemingly spying on people with my lens pointed at them from a distance, waiting for the perfect moment to capture. The project quickly became more than just capturing people drinking coffee; it became a social experiment. I was fascinated by how many people didn't notice me photograph them. Of the hundreds of people I photographed, only two or three noticed. Of course, at times I was far away from the person or standing to the side of them, but often I was facing them head on. Perhaps they thought I was taking a picture of something else, or perhaps they just didn't mind. I expected to be yelled at or even asked to delete the photo, but to my content, neither happened. I think, above everything, my subjects were too distracted by their own thoughts and the happenings on the street to notice me.

​

This book is a compilation of the best photos of the hundreds I captured. Not only does this book result in something tangible, but it reveals some interesting insights about human nature, or at least the people of Boston.