I was throffing this morning on my way to work. What a Tuesday morning. Couldn't get much better than that. As the fog and mist rose, the pastel colours creeped its way through. The Thames put on a true show. Who ever said London is dreadful in the Winter?

Now this guy was rad! Just look at him. Red-rimmed frames, hat, cigar, striped scarf, jewelry, leather jacket, need I say more? What charisma! I spotted Stranger number 4 while overlooking the fountain and lion sculpture at Trafalgar Square. Brendan was to the left of me, smoking his cigar and drinking his coffee in complete zen. Without hesitation I went to talk with him. “I’ve been asked this before you know, I don’t know what it is with me!?” This made me laugh. “My family never believe me when I tell them!” I decided to photograph Brendan as I saw him as a Stranger, looking away into the crowd of people. We talked easily about Ireland where he grew up, Sweden where he spent 34 years of his life, and the city of London. He asked how I was enjoying it here and went onto describe London as “a beautiful lady with a cold heart.” Gorgeous. I said I’d email a copy of the images to him however “he doesn’t do computers” so he wrote down his address for me instead. Your portraits wont be far away. 

Thanks again Brendan, you’re a treasure!

Today was an absolute gorgeous autumn Sunday in London. The sun was shining and I was feeling fresh, so I decided to drag Matt out east to the Flower Markets. As soon as I stepped onto Columbia Road I saw my Stranger, her haircut, scarf and necklace caught my eye. However it wasn’t then that I approached her. The smell of flowers and screeches of “£5 orchids, only £5” was calling. Eager to get into the crowd I let her be. After inching our way through the congested stalls a couple of times I saw my stranger again, I had to ask her this time round. I approached her and her friend and after some hesitation she accepted! Yay! When I returned to Matt he asked, “So what was her name?” “Oh sh*t!” That will teach me for having a few weeks off the project. Out of practice. So stranger #3 if you see this please let me know your name and thank you so much again.

When my friend Katie told me she wanted to spend her second to last Saturday at Portobello Market, (one of my favourite markets in London) I decided to grab my camera and come along. While the girls gushed over teapots and jewelry I went ahead to find my next stranger. The crowded Portobello Road was full of them, a stranger’s paradise. I had nearly walked the entire street without approaching anyone; I was working myself up something ridiculous. There were so many strangers I wanted to ask but at the last minute I would chicken out. Then I saw Eve, slightly to the side of the foot traffic on his phone. I had to be brave and ask, I had nothing to lose right? Shakily I approached him and explained the project, he accepted. Relief! Turns out he is a Fashion Designer from Brazil and choose to spend his last day in London at these markets. To the side of us was this great bright blue door, perfect to photograph against and mostly out of everyone’s way. After I took his portrait and showed him the winning shot he grabbed his Iphone and took a snap of himself displayed on the LCD screen, expressing his admiration. A few moments later his colleague joined us for a quick conversation. I walked away feeling chuffed and celebrated with a delicious brownie and banana walnut slice. Yum!

Many thanks again Eve for being the perfect stranger.

This week I got to do a creative still life social media shoot for THE OUTNET.COM. Was fairly tricky to balance the lighting with the beautiful metallic Louboutin shoes plus the mirrors that were surrounding them but we got there, and it looks great.