The Nottingham Pride event has provided me with 3 strangers for my project. My 3rd stranger is Holly, who is a friend of Katie and Cesca (stranger image 36)
Prior to the pride event I'd earmarked a street near to where the parade started as a possible location for a stranger shot . Peck Lane is a narrow connecting path which would make a great backdrop for a shot. However my plans were scuppered by the size of the crowd waiting for the parade to start. There were so many people queuing up in position, it was going to be too difficult to ask someone to come out of the crowd and walk up to Peck Lane.
I had a wander up and down the masses of people looking for an interesting stranger. I then spotted Holly'. Holly's high heels and Holly's natural height making Holly stand out from the crowd. This together with the fact that Holly was close to the edge of the queue meant I could easily ask for a shot.
I approached Holly and explained my project and with a bit of encouragement from Katie and Cesca, Holly agreed to become a stranger.
I asked Holly if to stand by the wall of Marks and Spencer as i thought this would be a good backdrop. However as you can see Holly is wearing a dark outfit and dark fluffy wings (I never asked the significance of the wings) and this was going to be difficult to expose correctly because of the bright background.
Anyway I took a few head and shoulders shots, but then decided Holly's outfit needed to be seen in full to be appreciated.
Holly has lived in the area for a few months but originates from Manchester. Holly would like to return to Manchester sometime as it is a very Gay and Transgender friendly city. I always seem to slip football into conversations with my strangers and as Holly is a Manc (that's someone from Manchester) it seemed natural to ask whether she followed Man City or Man Utd., but Holly didn't follow football
"I know coming from Manchester I should, but no I have never followed football"
"Ahh ", I said, "well I won't talk about Bolton Wanderers then " (why do I always try and slip Bolton into conversations !!
"Oh I thought I recognised a northern accent" said Holly
Holly went on to tell me that she only came out as Holly about 3 months ago.
I offered to email the pictures to Holly, but if you notice Holly has a Canon DSLR. At first Holly declined the offer to email the shots, but once I had done Katie and Cesca's shot Holly asked me to send the pics to Katie .
Well that's quite a long narrative. I hope Holly likes the images I send to Katie.
Thank you for being stranger 37 in my series Holly. I wish you well in your journey as a transgender woman.
This picture is number 37 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
http://www.flickr.com/groups/100strangers/
My own strangers can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/57144254@N08/albums/72157657822400168
Was just passing through and thought I'd say hello Hope yer well.
@kerristephens cheers kerri
@sangwann dione thanks for your support. I know you would be ok approaching a stranger. You are a onfident and friendly person
@nickspicsnz cheers nick it was quite warm
@maggiemae thanks maggie
Strangely, I am now reading a book about a woman with black wings, not an angel, but a Valkyrie who reaps the souls of valiant dying soldiers.
I liked that comment about bravery too. Your explanation about the wings is more dramatic than mine!