no life stories please

It was on Dutch t.v., some artists had a great idea – their words – to get people out of their isolation. Those (old) people were given a digital camera and some instructions and then had to ask someone they did not know personally before,  if they could take portraits of them. That way they would get into contact because “in order to make a good portrait you have to know a lot of personal details of your subject” (?? –  O, really?). Also it seems odd to me that you need a camera as an excuse to start talking to someone. Hopefully this will not inspire people to start telling me their life stories when they encounter me on the streets with a camera.