I went to Nottingham University Jubilee Campus this afternoon in an attempt to try some abstract photography on the beautiful buildings one finds on the campus. I was using my vintage Pentax SMC M 28mm f3.5 lens. I also popped my Canon 60D and nifty fifty into my bag in case I met a stranger.
As you can see I did indeed meet a stranger. Meet Lewis, who was leading and coaching a roller blading team at the university. The team had just pulled up on the road outside the sports hall, so I engaged in a bit of chit chat with them
The group are known as “Bladesoc” and are a group of students and former students who love roller blading.
Lewis falls into the latter category of former students. He’s just passed his PhD (that makes him a Doctor of Philosophy). He is about to start a job in Japan, working for the government in the area of the country devastated by the nuclear reactor accident back in 2011. I think he told me his doctorate involved research into nuclear physics / particles (but I may have misheard that bit). Lewis must be one of the good guys to want to go and work in Japan and nuclear energy.
Lewis is actually from Nottingham. A Nottingham lad from Beeston, who went to his local Uni’. When I mentioned the 100 strangers project he agreed straight away. He told me he was thinking about taking part in the “I am Beeston” an article in an online magazine “The Beestonian”, which highlights stories about local Beeston people. I told him I’d heard of the article as one of my strangers writes for “The Beestonian”.
I asked about helmets as many of the group didn’t have a helmet, but Lewis told me that it was a personal choice.
I normally like catchlights in the eyes when I do strangers, but it was a very flat and grey day, so I struggled to get them in Lewis. That said the location of a wall and building behind it made a great backdrop as the brick colours and dark tones in the brick really work well with Lewis’s helmet and dark hoodie.
Thanks for being stranger number 215 Lewis, good as you start your career in Japan
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
