Via Flickr:
A very brief encounter today. When I asked Alan if I could take his photograph he started to explain that he was waiting for someone and then they were going to return to their parked car which was about to run out of paid time. I explained that 5 minutes would be plenty of time and in fact I could take less if he wanted. At this he agreed – I wouldn’t say that he was reluctant but I did get the impression that he was slightly edgy about time. He had no interest in looking at the photograph so my card remained in my bag.
Where we stood he was under the canopy at the entrance to a shopping centre so I asked him to step out into the street a bit and after a couple of shots with his sunglasses on I asked if he would mind removing them and when he obliged I fired off another couple without.
In between these two bursts a woman joined us and laughing, asked what on earth are you doing, so I explained about the project for a second time when Alan delegated to me for an explanation. She then retreated out of the way quite happily.
As I was photographing Alan without his glasses he almost seemed to be edging away and was clearly conscious that time was marching on so I called it quits on the photograph. As I obviously wasn’t going to get a chance to ask him many questions I popped my "maddest thing" question hoping for a good one liner …
… the maddest thing that Alan has ever done is swim in some underground caves in Mexico. I decided not to push it by asking how that came about so simply thanked him for his time and said goodbye.
Alan, I guess you will never see this but thank you very much for your time anyway.
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Please feel free to provide constructive critique on the technical aspects of this photograph.
This picture is #89 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page
