We went to the Nottingham Carnival on Sunday, an excellent community based event, with many photos opportunities , where everybody seems happy and enjoys the afternoon.
Prior to the event I was walking up and down the Embankment taking some pre carnival parade shots when I saw the Lord Mayor of Notingham walking towards me.
"Excuse me are you the Mayor" (bit of a daft question when you think about it !!)
"Yes I am Mohammed Saghir, Lord Mayor of Nottingham"
"Ahh right, I am an amateur photographer doing a project on street photography. Is it OK to take a photo of you"
"Yes of course"
I look up to the skies, the Victoria Emabnkment by the side of the River Trent is a beautiful tree lined road. The trees are very mature and form a canopy of branches and leaves over the road . The lighting was going to be tricky with areas of light and shade, so I asked the Mayor to move to what I thought was the best location to take a few pics.
Mohammed asked me to get his chain in the shot. I think he was very proud to be wearing it
As I was shooting the images other people started grabbing a few shots, so Mohammed was also posing for them and his gaze was moving away from my camera.
I showed Mohammed the pictures on the back of my 450D and asked him if I could post them into my project.
Mohammed agreed without hesitation, reminding me though to keep his chain in the shot. I shook Mohammed's hand and thanked him for the photo.
Mohammed is 59 and was born in Chak Haryam in Kashmir.
Mohammed's story is shown in the link below. Incidentally, last year Mohammed was the Sheriff Of Nottingham (and yes we do have a sheriff of Nottingham !!)
http://
http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/about-the-council/councillors-and-leadership/the-lord-mayor-of-nottingham/
This picture is number 42 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
100 Strangers Flickr Group page
https://www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/
My own strangers can be seen here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/57144254@N08/albums/72157657822400168
Thanks for being my stranger number 42 Mohammed
Great shot Phil.