100 Strangers : Round 3 : No. 297 : Sasha and Sophie
On Sunday my wife and I took her father out to lunch in Nottingham to celebrate his birthday. Before we met him for lunch I had a wander around the streets of Nottingham looking for possible strangers. I always have a peek around speakers corner as you can sometimes get a good stranger there.
It was raining and dull. I did notice a guy stood in a doorway sheltering from the rain with a camera. We had a chat about street photography (he was called Chris and will be my next stranger). Chris told me he was going to photograph a demonstration scheduled to take place in the morning. Apparently a group of women were going to meet up to protesting about Trans women. Chris was there to support the Trans community and photograph the people who were opposed to the speakers.
After I’d photographed Chris at speakers corner, two trans women, Sasha and Sophie arrived in readiness to oppose any TERF speakers. Many of you may not be aware of the term TERF (I wasn’t before today, Sophie used it to describe the protest). It is an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. The term originally applied to the minority of feminists espousing sentiments that other feminists considered transphobic, such as the rejection of the assertion that trans women are women, the exclusion of trans women from women's spaces, and opposition to transgender rights legislation. The meaning has since expanded to refer more broadly to people with trans-exclusionary views who may have no involvement with radical feminism (Wikipedia)
I asked Sasha and Sophie if it was OK to photograph them and they both said yes straight away. They unfolded some home made banners (shown in the photos) and I ensured I got the banners in the frame so that their message can be seen by everyone who views this photo. It was Sasha’s and Sophie’s 6 month anniversary this weekend and their plans for the Valentine’s weekend turned out a little different than expected as they changed the original plans so they could counter protest against the TERF’s
Sasha and Sophie added me on social media and I have since sent Sophie the photos, which she really likes. I asked if it was OK to show them kissing and Sophie said yes as the photo was lovely. The kiss was a spontaneous moment between them, I did ask if they could do it again just to ensure I didn’t miss it in camera. The photo posted is the first spontaneous kiss.
Thanks for taking part in my strangers project Sasha and Sophie. It was nice to meet you both, I hope you had a great 6 month anniversary Valentine’s weekend.
I decided to post the image in mono as it has a reportage feel to it.
I was going to save this story for my 300th stranger shot, but Sophie and Sasha were keen to see the photos, so I posted on Instagram yesterday so they could see the story.
