Junior Olivia Portegello takes to the street for art

In an era of photography where the “Humans of New York” Facebook page has over 9 million likes, junior Olivia Portegello is striving to make her mark. A BFA student at both Tufts and the SMFA, Portegello balances her time between creating, commuting and snapping the lens of her Nikon D7100.

Portegello describes herself as an artist who dabbles -- “everything except painting,” she said -- with experience in graphic arts, mixed media and photo. Her work concentrates on a distinct style of photography, however, examining connections between herself and strangers.

“I find that photographing strangers is usually a much more sincere form of art,” she said.

This sincerity comes in different forms, as exemplified in one of Portegello’s initial photography projects, where she sat on the stoop of her apartment and photographed strangers who passed her by.

When asked about one of her most memorable interactions while behind the lens, Portegello mentioned a moment with a tuba player at Manhattan’s High Line park.

“I asked him if I could take his picture,” she said. “He didn’t say yes and he didn’t say no -- he just put his mouth on the tuba and posed. So I took the picture anyway, and he nodded and just continued to play the tuba. That sparked my whole interest in stranger interaction.”

Though she is still deciding the focus of her next project, look out; if you’re on the streets of Boston anytime soon, be sure to have your face portrait-ready, for Portegello could be just around the corner.