B.C. man overcomes anxiety by taking photos of strangers

“It completely changed my life”: Adam finds out how a man is overcoming adversity by taking pictures of strangers.

VANCOUVER — Although Justin Veenema wanted to photograph people since he was a child, the social anxiety he’d developed during the pandemic made interacting with others feel impossible.

“I could feel my hands start to shake and my knees start to tremble,” Justin says.

It was so debilitating, Justin finally decided he had to face his fear and was determined to try approaching a random stranger and offering to take their picture.

“I wish I could say I suddenly found the courage,” Justin says. “I went out and I forced myself.”

Eight months after coming up with the idea, Justin vowed he wouldn’t return home until he spoke with at least one person.

“I was feeling like I was going to pass out or throw up or a combination of the both,” Justin says.

And then Justin found the courage to approach a stranger named Jayden Barnes, who accepted his invitation.

“And they were so kind and generous with their time. All of my fears were immediately alleviated,” Justin says. “I was like, that wasn’t as bad as I was expecting it to be for the last eight months.”

So Justin decided to not just do it again; he committed to take a stranger’s picture every day for the next 365 days straight.

“That was a decision I made that completely changed my life,” Justin says.

It was far from easy. But after achieving his goal of taking people’s pictures for a year, Justin hasn’t stopped. He now also photographs random pets and shares his images to more than a million followers on social media.

“It’s been such a heartwarming experience all around,” Justin says. “To go from someone who felt so anxious and alone to someone who feels connected.”

But although this process began as a way to help him, Justin’s kept doing it as a way to empower others.

“I’m literally looking at the most photogenic person in the world,” Justin says. “And they’re like, ‘I don’t look good in photos.’”

So Justin aims for the strangers he meets to feel seen, for their stories to be heard, and for them to leave the impromptu photoshoots feeling included.

“I wasn’t expecting anything like that,” Seth Marks smiles after accepting Justin’s invitation to be photographed and seeing the images he captured with his camera. “That was a highlight of my day.”

“I think everybody at their core wants to connect. They just don’t know how,” Justin says. “Force yourself to talk to people and if you do, it may change your life.”