Ruby (my whippet) and I were walking into Nottingham city centre via Nottingham Arboretum park, a beautiful urban green space within the city.
As we entered the park I heard drumming. I asked Ruby if we should go and investigate. We followed the sound and ended up at the Crimean War Memorial and Chinese Bell Tower. It’s an impressive structure, surrounded by bushes with no direct access. I could see a couple of drummers and a guy with a bike on the memorial, so Ruby and I walked through the bushes and approached the drummers.
I was greeted by “Halt who comes Hither” !!!
“I’ve come to see what the drumming is all about, I am an amateur photographer, I do street photography, photographing strangers I meet on the street”
“You want to photograph me”
“Yes, it would make a good to my strangers project
Lodz, then broke into a rap about strangers !
“I met a stranger , a stranger , a stranger on the street, he was a stranger…” or something like that !!!
“Is that a Samba Drum ?”
“No it is a Turkish Drum”
“Ahh it sounded very Samba. Are you a musician, do you play in a band?”
“I’ve played in bands, but not in one now”
“Ahhh OK, are you a student then?”
“No, I’m just a 40 something bloke, making a living in the world. I’m also an author too, I wrote a book , It’s about a young girl from Radford in Nottingham in the 1990’s, who gets into a bit of trouble and ends up inside. It’s called Dogknife. Dog followed by knife”
While this conversation is going on I am photographing Lodz.
“It will be a good picture and my pictures get a high number of hits and visits”
“In that case I will tell you my real name. It’s Liam Rodgers . My book is on amazon and is available at £0.79 to download.. Will you download it?”
“Well I don’t read books ! I’ve not read one for years. I will publicise it in your strangers photo. Actually, do you mind jumping down off the memorial and standing by these bushes, you are in bright sunlight and although the photo is very dynamic, your face is in the shadows”
Liam jumped down and I shot a few more images of him.
“The book is a good story, it gets good reviews on Amazon, if you buy it the algorithm of popularity will push it up the charts”
“Actually I met a girl from Radford when I was photographing my strangers, she took a liking to Ruby, she was homeless and had been inside. I didn’t photograph her as she wasn’t comfy about me doing it, but she seemed a nice young lady if a bit troubled”
“You see it is history repeating itself from my 90’s story”
Liam shouted up to his mates, I am getting some publicity online, all publicity is good publicity.
Liam asked to see the photos, so I showed him a few on my camera.
He offered his hand to shake, but I said we have to be Covid-19 safe, so we bumped elbows.
I googled Liam and found both his amazon book site and a wordpress website / blog for the book. I also learnt that Liam has been in bands, ran a small production company, been a youth-worker, a street busker, a tree-protester, a cook and much more.
Liam’s been in touch and I have sent him some of the photos I took.
Thanks for being stranger 234 Liam, good luck with your book sales.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dogknife-Liam-Rodgers/dp/1494421615
https://dogknife.wordpress.com/about-liam-rodgers
Anyway a nice photo & a very intriguing encounter! I shall look up Mr Rodgers on Amazon though a doubt it will be quite up my street!
Good interview Phil!
Well I’ve looked him up & I take my hat off to him....he has 33 five star reviews....done loads with his life & put me to shame for my instant Unwarranted opinion! Good for you a Liam!