A first glance at this image and you might think it not a real police officer. You may think it is someone dressed up for a hen party. However closer inspection will show that it is actually an officer of the law.
This is Mia, who is an officer in the British Transport Police.
Mia was part of a community awareness stand at Nottingham Pride and was joining in the fun of the event by wearing a wig in the LGBT rainbow colours.
Mia was a willing participant on my project and allowed me to take several shots as I asked her to stand in front of a black door, a window and a big sandy coloured wall.
I like to do my portraits in landscape format as the negative space in the frame around the person can create bigger impact. However the landscape shots of Mia all had too much clutter in them (the black door had too many white cracks in it, the window had distracting reflections and the wall wasn't big enough for a landscape shot.
The best shot capturing Mia's nice smile and catch lights in her eye was this portrait format shot.
Mia has worked for the Transport Police for 5 to 6 years and enjoys her job. I mentioned to her that I was aware of a campaign they were running warning students in the school holidays not to play on railway lines !
Edited in Rawtherapee, with an Fuji 160C film emulation
This picture is number 38 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page
Great shot of Mia! Super Fav. Here in NJ and NE USA, we had a police "night out" on Friday for a police community outreach to the community. We all need this.
She may not be the prettiest person around but her brought smile and shining eyes would make anybody love her. Your shot has brought out all her features. Well done. Fav. I always enjoy reading your story.
