Many of you will know I am a Bolton Wanderers supporter living in Nottingham. Today was my "home fixture" as the Wanderers visited Nottingham Forest.
I took the opportunity to try and add to my 100 Strangers Project by doing some "street" photography prior to the match.
I got two strangers today, so meet Tristan.
Tristan was part of the Nottingham Forest security team and was monitoring the Wanderers supporters as they entered the away section of the ground.
As I approached him he asked me to open my back pack to search the contents. I told him I had an apple, an orange a flask and a camera.
"What lens has it got?" Tristan asked.
"50mm" was my response.
"Ahh that's OK" he said "We don't like lens above 90mm"
Hmmmm, I thought, Tristan sounds knowledgeable, perhaps he would be a stranger.
So I introduced the concept of 100 strangers to him and Tristan thought it was a cool idea.
So I took a few pictures on my old Canon 450D and 50mm (I take my old camera to the footie)
I showed Tristan the photos and he was very impressed..
"Are you a photographer, these are great"
"Only an amateur" I said.
I then asked Tristan about himself. He's been working as a steward down at Forest for 2 years. His full time job is "working on the bins" (to quote Tristan). For none UK readers, "working on the bins" is a binman / refuse collector.
Tristan asked me which borough I lived in. I told him Gedling, which is where Tristan does the bins.
I then told him my street, but he isn't our binman. I told him our binmen were good and always took extra rubbish off me when our bin was fun.
"Yes we are good binmen in Gedling"
"Do you know your binmen" asked Tristan.
"Not by name" I said, but went on to describe a couple of the crew. Tristan knew them and said they were good lads.
I said I would look out for Tristan and his wagon when I was out and about.
I gave Tristan a contact card and he said he would be in touch for the photos.
Oh and the football. I lived in Nottingham for 39 years now and in all that time I have only ever seen the Wanderers win once in the city. Today was no exception to the rule as we lost 3-2 in a game which we should have won, on a bitterly cold Nottingham afternoon.
Thank you for being stranger number 115 Tristan :)
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
