The curtain drew on the Football season on Sunday, so this is my last football related / Bolton Wanderers related stranger until August (well maybe July if I get a pre season friendly to attend).
I have managed to photo quite an eclectic set of strangers at this seasons football. Steward, Programme Seller, Police Officer, Turnstile Watcher, Coach Driver for the football team, Fanzine Editor, One Man and his Dog and a Former Professional Footballer. On Sunday I added a new category to the football set “a charity volunteer”.
Meet Wendy and her collection bucket. I spotted Wendy outside the stadium with her bucket. As I walked by her I thought she might make a good stranger, but decided to see if there was anybody else to photograph as I thought I might have problems with her grey hair in the bright light. My friend Bill and I did another lap around the stadium and Wendy was still there with her bucket.
I decided I might be able to cope with Wendy’s hair as the weather had turned a bit cloudy.
So I approached Wendy with a smile (and some money for her bucket) and struck up a conversation about the charity she was collecting for. Wendy was collecting for the National Deaf Childrens Society, a national charity dedicated to creating a world without barriers for deaf children and young people. Football clubs, for all their failings are a integral part of the local community, especially in a “one football club town” like Bolton. Bolton Wanderers support several charities each season and the NDCS charity was one of their chosen charities for the 2016-2017 season.
All you need to know about the NDCS can be found in the link below :
http://www.ndcs.org.uk/
When I asked Wendy for a photo for my project she was eager to take part and she struck up a pose with her bucket taking a prominent position in the frame (I cannot remember if I suggested lifting the bucker or Wendy did, but it was a good idea)
It was really busy outside the stadium with over 22,000 supporters trying to get in the stadium for the early 12 midday kick off, so I had to try and capture Wendy when nobody was walking behind her. I got photobombed a couple of times and the image you see is cropped tightly to avoid people who had strayed into the frame.
I showed Wendy the pictures on the camera and she said she liked them. I offered to send her some but she said it wasn’t necessary. I post processed the image in Rawtherapee and GIMP and I think I got Wendy’s hair just about correct. I made the image mono as the bucket was bright purple and would have drawn the eye away from Wendy in her black top.
Thank you for taking part in my project Wendy, if you see this image I hope you like it.
This picture is number 81 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
https://www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/
My own strangers can be seen here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/57144254@N08/albums/72157657822400168
