My wife and daughters went to nail salon in Nottingham today to have their toes painted. I gave them a lift into the city centre and then parked our car outside the city and went for a walk with my dog Ruby around the diverse and eclectic city suburbs of Hyson Green and Radford looking for strangers.
It was only 9.15 a.m when I parked up so the streets and shops were really quiet. I did meet a young lady who made a massive fuss over Ruby. I struck up a conversation with her and found out she’d been in prison and was now homeless. She agreed to be a stranger, then as I got my camera out she got a little hesitant and worried that her skin was in poor condition for a photo. I assured her her skin was fine but didn’t push her for a photo as that is not my style.
Anyway, undeterred by a refusal , I made my way up the tram line towards the Arboretum Park. As I approached a tram stop I saw a lady with bright purple / pink hair and my “strangerdar” told me she would say “Yes” , however Ruby decided to have a sniff on a bit of greenery and as we approached the stop a tram arrived and the lady got on the tram. She was talking and waving to Gilly and I decided to ask him for a shot.
Meet Gilly …
“Hi, I like you face mask, is it a Ghana flag”
“No it’s the Ethiopian”
“Ahh the colours look the same”
The tram was about to pull out of the stop and the pink haired lady was waving to Gilly.
“Put your mask on” he gestured to her
“Do you know her”
“Yes I’m her friend Gilly Gumdrop”
“Gilly Gumdrop?”
“Yes that’s what she calls me”
I then ask Gilly for a photo and he agrees straight away.
“Shall I take my bandanna off”
“Do you have big hair”
“Well I think it makes a statement”
I shot a couple of shots against a wall and then asked Gilly to move to the end of the wall as I thought the light was better.
I shot a few more and these were better.
“Right that’s it I have to go, you’ve got your photos. That dog loves you. The way she looks at you when you are taking the photo”
“What’s your name?”
“I told you, Gilly… Gilly Gumdrops”
That was it, off he went and off Ruby and I went. Although I did make a big fuss of her for being a good whippet while I did my photoshoot.
I shot this on my Sony A6000, with the Sony 50mm f1.8 lens
To 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
@tinley23 Lesley many thanks for your supportive words and support 😀