On Tuesday, Ruby (that’s my Whippet dog) and I went a walk around Hyson Green, The Arboretum and The Forest
We walked for quite some time, it was a cold afternoon. I took some nice contre jour photos in the Arboretum, but didn’t meet any strangers.
As we made our way back to the car I noticed two young ladies sat on a park bench on the Forest, both were looking very relaxed. They were actually sat on the backs of the bench, which I assume was because the actual seat may still have been damp from the overnight frost.
As I walked past I smiled and gave them a nod and said they both looked relaxed and happy. They smiled back and I went over for a chat. I asked them straight away for a photo, telling them they looked really cool perched on the back of the bench.
They looked at each other, smiled and agreed in harmony to take part in my Strangers project.
Meet Jesse and Danielle. I shot them as is, straight on as they were both in the same focal plane and I knew I could get both pair of eyes sharp. I shot a few images and then asked them to wait a minute while I checked if their eyes were sharp on the image. That made them both smile and laugh “sharp eyes” , they said on a cold day they thought they might be blurry. When they were laughing I clicked the shot you see above.
Jesse is a poet and Danielle a support worker. Danielle told me it was her day off . I asked Jesse if she had any poems published. Jesse told me she hadn’t, but she did “Open Mike” sessions at the Golden Fleece on Mansfield Road. I asked if poetry had genres and if so what was her genre. “Anti Establishment”, “Politics”, “Social Justice” she replied. I said a bit of anti establishment was OK. “I swear a bit” said Jesse. I said I wasn’t too sure about the swearing, but the rest was OK. I asked if she “rapped” and she said she did. “We are loud and like to moan a bit !”. Being loud is OK I told her as it is good to be heard !
I gave them my card and told them to contact me if they wanted some pics. Jesse has since contacted me asking for the pics and invited me to the “Open Mike” session for some poetry and music photography.
We all shook hands.
“Oooh you have warm hands” said Danielle. I said I always did ! Danielle’s were quite cold. Although I’d been walking for an hour and a half, whereas Danielle was sitting in the cold on the back of a bench.
I’ve posted the pic in mono, as I do like a mono street shot. Jesse’s hair and bobble hat were purple, but I thought the greens of the grass clashed a bit !
Thanks for being stranger 204 in my third round of 100 strangers Jesse and Danielle. I hope you like the photos I send you.
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
