I was wandering around Arnold, with my camera in hand and as I walked up Church Drive I noticed a man up a ladder painting the entrance to a beautiful old building, the Church of God of Prophecy
I asked the painter if he was a member of the congregation. He said no he wasn’t. We struck up a conversation and fairly quickly I asked if it was OK to photograph him for my strangers project.
Meet James. James has been painting for 40 years. He was painting the entrance porch and had to get it finished in time for tomorrow’s service. He would be painting inside the building next week. I asked James about his heritage. He’s originally from Jamaica, and has lived in the UK for 18 years. Being from Jamaica, I raised the subject of Jamaican football and asked him if he knew of footballer Ricardo Gardner (Ricardo was one of my all time fave footballers to play for my club Bolton Wanderers). James did know about Ricardo and we had a chat about football. As James was painting a church I asked him if he went to church. James told me he was part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
I shot James while he was painting, asking him to look towards me at various intervals. The photos were really good and I asked James if he wanted copies of them. “Just post them through the letterbox of the church and they will get to me”. I was actually meaning email copies, but decided I would print a couple off for him.
Was he painting the door or his overall? Just joking. I like plastering and painting when I'm in the mood. Lovely portrait, Phil. He looks happy with his work.
@busylady you are right he does Judith