Category Archives: Stranger

Jun 28 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Chinese girl on plane

Thursday 28th June 2012, 9.15pm (day 308)

Chinese girl on plane, 28/6/12

It’s a nice shot (if a little out-of-focus). Unfortunately, this encapsulates the day because there’s no way I should have been coming home late enough to catch the sunset streaming through onto the face of my single-serving model. British Airways stranded me in the sixth circle of Hell that is Heathrow Airport for 7 hours this afternoon because their first choice of plane needed fixing. OK, I don’t want to go up in a dodgy plane but why the hell was it left to me – a passenger – to inform the BA ticket desk in Terminal 1 that one of their planes had gone tits-up, a full hour after the pilot told me and the rest of the passengers that it wasn’t going to take off?!

I’ve been on the go since 3.30 am this morning UK time (6.30 Moscow). I’m going to bed.

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Jun 26 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Endorsing the declaration

Tuesday 26th June 2012, 7.15pm (day 306)

Tatiana, 26/6/12

Today was a salutary lesson in what Principal Skinner (The Simpsons) once said: “Children! Do you want to be like the real UN, or do you just want to squabble and waste time?!’

I am being unfair. It was a very interesting day today. But the experience of writing a document then, in effect, having to have it endorsed by 120 different people from 40 different countries was a new one on me.  I therefore distracted myself from the more repetitive parts of the process by taking photos of the delegates. As you can see, everyone seems quite interested. Rule one of taking photos of crowds: even if it’s meant to be a photo of a crowd, focus on someone. This is Tatiana, from Brazil. There are good reasons to pick her as a focus: what a face!

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Jun 25 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

The official (Russian) photographer

Monday 25th June 2012, 11.40am (day 305)

Photographer, 25/6/12

God, it feels so long since I have been doing this blog. Way back in September – though it feels much longer ago – I took a picture of ‘the official photographer’, on a day when he was taking photos of us, constantly, throughout a conference/seminar session. Today I got the chance to repeat the theme, quite exactly.

She is definitely cuter. And considerably more Russian. Whether she is a better photographer or not, I have no proof.

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Jun 20 2012
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Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Portrait, Stranger

Waiting for the train to Manchester

Wednesday 20th June 2012, 8.55am (day 300)

Commuter, 20/6/12

Which, of course, is something I do frequently: though not as often as some. Either the 0652, if I don’t have to take Joe to school, or the 0856, if I do. Today I did. It was a nice sunny morning, and though I got a couple of other decent pictures throughout the day, I’ll stick with this one: it’s nice to be on the way to work and still feel quite mellow about the day, and the shot captures that I think.

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Jun 14 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

The Committee, Albert Square

Thursday 14th June 2012, 3.35pm (day 294)

The committee, 14/6/12

Full-on day of work today, both in Manchester during the first part of the day and in Hebden Bridge on into the evening. Very few chances to snatch photos of anything, and they were all snatched in transit from one meeting to the next. These guys were taking life rather easier than me today, but I still like the juxtaposition of their gathering with the sign in the windows of the Town Hall behind them.

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Jun 11 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Ginger la Rouge

Sunday 10th June 2012, 10.45pm (day 290)

Ginger la Rouge, 10/6/12

Clare’s alter ego – whose identity, of course, I could not possibly reveal – was doing a burlesque show in Chester tonight, and I got to go along for a change. Here is another of the lovely performers (5 female, 1 male). I like taking pictures of people candidly – it helps you see what they really look like. I get the impression Ginger looks rather like this most of the time, in fact. (Even if her right leg does appear to be stood in a big glass. Perhaps I should have cropped that, but what the hell.)

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Jun 07 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Town beach, Kristiansand

Monday 4th June 2012, 5.30pm (day 284)

Kristiansand beach, 4/6/12_low-res

We transited down to Kristiansand today, in the southernmost part of Norway (though still as far north as Aberdeen in Scotland). Wouldn’t have chosen to come here normally, but was invited to give a keynote speech at a conference. It’s not as dramatic as the western fjords but it’s pleasant enough, and the sun was shining. This picture makes it look like it’s got wide, sweeping sands, but actually it’s a pretty scrubby bit of beach, probably artificial. Nevertheless, the kid’s having fun, and it was quite a sunny and pleasant evening.

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May 31 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Working on the Summer House

Thursday 31st May 2012, 4.10pm (day 280)

Summer house, 31/5/12

“Ere, mate. Dontcha think it’s ironic, like, that the day we put up this ‘summer house’ in the city centre, it’s the first rainy day in a fortnight?”

“Yeh, it’s all part of the comedy of life innit. Or maybe because it’s a Bank Holiday weekend. Anyway, sod that. I want to know why Jack ever thought that those shorts were a good idea.”

I’m off to Norway tomorrow – most likely there won’t be posts on here for a few days but you’ll get a big lump of them all at once when I get back. Including one of a fjord. If it kills me, there’ll be one of a fjord this time.

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May 23 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Student in sunny suburbia

Tuesday 22nd May 2012, 1.55pm (day 271)

Sleeping student, 22/5/12

Worked today at Rose Bruford college, a partner of the University of Manchester, located in Sidcup, near London – the epitome of suburbia. No hardship to be down there today, however: a glorious, sunny late spring day.

I should also point out that about 10 seconds after I had taken this picture, another student came and tipped a bottle of water over this girl’s back. Sweet.

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May 18 2012
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Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Queueing for ‘Brief Encounter’

Thursday 17th May 2012, 7.35pm (day 266)

Cinema queue, 17/5/12

This is officially Clare’s favourite movie and when the cinema ran a poll a while back to vote for which films the community would like to be shown at our excellent local movie house, she engaged in some serious lobbying on its behalf. Whether it made the final difference, who knows, but sure enough, we had the chance tonight to see Brief Encounter as all films are meant to be seen – at the cinema. So me, her, and what seemed like the entire middle-aged female population of Hebden Bridge were there tonight.

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