On Friday the 18th of March I embarked on a mad mission to take 1000 street portraits in 1 day to raise money for
Red Nose Day 2011. My day began at 7.15AM at Grey's Monument in the heart of Newcastle. I was hoping to get a broad cross section of society reflecting the unique personality of the city. Here is a small selection of my favourites.
Because.........You were beautiful and full of energy and you insisted your colleagues take part.
Because..........You looked as hard as nails but were really friendly and liked that I was interested in your ink
Because...........You are innocent and have the whole world ahead of you
Because........You asked if it was OK to do this?
Because...........You are proud and yet humble and you wanted to help.
Because........... You are purple.......Well, just because.
Because........You are in the Futureheads and you Rock.
Because......... You wear it well.
Because........You are a little tough nut who is not afraid to act daft for charity.
Because........You are the next Tony Hawk.
Because.......You are the kindness of good people everywhere and great fun follows you.
Because.........You are not afraid to be part of something.
Because.........You are the life and soul of the party.
Because.........You are the music of the city and always there to entertain the locals.
All of 1000 photos in the collection are un-edited and straight out of the camera. Probably 90% of the images were a first take. Although all the people involved were asked to pose and told why - no guidance or direction was given.
The day turned out to be massively rewarding. There was a time fairly recently when I began to turn my back on people after witnessing so many bad parts of the human condition. This day of 1000 faces showed me just how interesting, diverse and inherently good most people actually are. I was lucky to meet some great people who helped and encouraged me when I was tired. Thanks to the strangers who bought me coffee or brought friends to come and pose for me. The thing that got to me the most was the two homeless guys who posed for me and gave me all the change in their pockets - God bless them.
Special thanks to
Amelia Read who is not only a very talented young photographer but also a brilliant person and I am glad to have become her friend, For the most part of the day she wrangled strangers for me, gave out information, collected money and kept my spirits high.
My target was £500 and with over £375 raised on line and the £150 in cash and still counting I am happy with the result . Thanks to everyone who donated, took part or spread the word about what I was doing.
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