I was walking with my little whippet in Nottingham city centre on Monday. We were in Hockley when I noticed a young lady taking a photo with what looked like an old film camera. Followers will know I love old cameras and lenses, so I decided I would go and have a chat with her. We were some distance away from her so I walked briskly to catch her up. Ruby wasn’t for walking fast though as she was interested in a sniffing a couple of street trees.
I did notice the lady turned into Cobden Chambers, a little courtyard which is quite photogenic, so I knew I could have a chat with her there.
“Hi, is that an old film camera you have, I saw you taking a photo in Hockley”
“Yes it is, I inherited it, I am testing it out”
“It looks fantastic, a Voigtländer, do you have a light meter too”
“Yes and it still works too”
I then introduced myself and explained I was an amateur photographer who collects old lenses and asked if she was photography student. The young lady introduced herself to me, she was Lucy and was studying fine art.
“Nottingham Trent Uni?” I asked
“Yes, I am in my first year”
“So how do you like Nottingham”
“Oh I love it, it is a great city, so many artists. I was at Manchester Met Uni, I am from Manchester , but I didn’t like the vibe of the city, it didn’t feel right, I love Nottingham”
“Your from Manchester” I replied, “I am from Bolton, I left Bolton forty something years ago to live and work in Nottingham and I’m still here”
“Oh right, I was born in Bolton hospital” Lucy replied.
We continued to chat about cameras, I told her the 50mm f3.5 lens on her camera would take lovely photos. I told her that she should look out for old Russian cameras and lenses as they tended to be copies of classic cameras and lenses and were good value for money.
I asked Lucy if she would be one of my strangers and Lucy said “yes” straight away. I only took a few shots of Lucy as I could tell by the images were fabulous as I shot them. We exchanged social media contacts and off we went on our separate ways, not before Lucy had a stroke and said hello to Ruby.
Thank you for taking part in my strangers project Lucy, it was lovely to meet you.
Shot with my Sony A7 and Tamron 28-75mm , such is the combo’ you can zoom in and see what shot number Lucy’s film is on (6).
This one is primo Phil! That old camera is a beauty, and the leather case and all too. Lucy looks wonderfully windblown and natural. I love your backdrop and the little green bokeh lights.
Well such a fortuitous meeting on both sides, Lucy would learn so much from you too…..that was a great meeting all round plus a photo of the lovely Lucy!
@busylady yes Judith I am nearly at 300, I always want my 100's to be standout strangers. Number 100 was an RNLI coastguard who had just rescued a young lady from the sea and 200 was a stunning bar manager setting up her bar on Christmas Eve morning ! So number 300 is going to be a bit of a challenge to equal !
February 5th, 2022
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