My husband, Ray, and I were returning from a walk in the park with our Cairn terrier, Jinks, when Ray suddenly said, 'There's a good portrait for you.'

I looked and there he was, coming across the road, oh so smart and resplendent wearing all his medals, a WW2 veteran with poppies and a collection box, on his way to a spot to collect for the Poppy Appeal.

I tried not to rush straight across as he neared our side of the road but I think he had already spotted me with my camera indiscreetly visible. After saying hello, I introduced myself and found that this was Joe. I explained my strangers' project and he was only too willing to let me take a portrait and told me that lots of people had taken shots of him.

Luckily Joe was very patient and I took several shots as the background was a bit tricky: straight across the road, a rubbish bin and a large white notice strung across the front of the church; in the road, vehicles passing constantly and a traffic-light controlled pedestrian crossing; and on our side of the road, all the forecourt paraphernalia of Tesco Express.

In addition, I wanted to include not only the bright red knitted poppy atop Joe's cap but also the French Légion d'Honneur (in the centre of all his medals and on his jumper). Joe told me this was awarded to him by Francois Hollande last year and presented at a ceremony at the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth.

I had no pen or paper with me as I hadn't expected to take any strangers' photos but Joe produced a pen from his inside jacket pocket and resourcefully used the reverse of a small strip of stick-on poppies to write me his email address so I could send him a photo.

Although Joe had an eventful time in the war, luckily he was not wounded. He was in the D-Day forces who landed on Gold Beach. He directed me to his Facebook page for further information which was good as Ray and Jinks were patiently waiting to go home. (Ray is always patient and Jinks does not like the 'pack' to split up.)

In 2014, Joe was, by chance, reunited with his wartime comrade Denys for the first time in 70 years when they took the ferry to France for the D-Day 70th anniversary celebrations.

They were both in the 86th Hertfordshire Yeomanry Field Regiment, which was part of the British advance through Europe and which helped free Eindhoven from Nazi occupation, and had not seen each other since then.

I read online that the battle of the Reichswald Forest, Feb 1945, was one of the Second World War’s lesser-known battles and also one of its toughest. Joe was an ammunition truck driver

I asked Joe if he minded me enquiring about his age and found that is 93.

One headline in an article I found in the Daily Telegraph referred to Joe as:
'the face of the D-Day commemorations'

I had no idea that Joe was living in the same neighbourhood as us and was really happy to meet him.

Having omitted to ask Joe what he did on his return from the war, I emailed him to ask and received this reply, ' I returned to my local council job to finish my apprenticeship as an electrician.' I think that it must have been strange after the horrors of war to return to 'normal' life.

I realised after taking Joe's portrait that a wider aperture would have blurred the background, also in my determination to include his Légion d'Honneur in the portrait I cut off a portion of the splendid knitted red poppy he was wearing on his cap.

At the time of taking this portrait (around Remembrance Day) Joe told me that his beard was rather bushy because he was growing it at the request of a family member for a special role nearer Christmas.

I have been pursuing a strangers' portrait project elsewhere and I hope, by joining this group, to gain inspiration from other members to improve my own skills.

This is my #1 submission to the Human Family Group. To view more street portraits and stories visit:
www.flickr.com/groups/thehumanfamily/

Tags:   ww2 joe legion d'honneur #1 The Human Family veteran

© All Rights Reserved

We stayed for a long weekend in Guernsey to celebrate my birthday a week before Christmas. We met Andi waiting at table and he told us he was a trainee and had been at the hotel for 2 months.

Seeing my 'go-everywhere' little camera on the table, he offered to take our photo. Afterwards I explained my strangers' project and asked Andi if he would be in it.

He was very happy to agree and when I told him I would be posting the portrait online, he said, with a big smile, "I wanna be famous." So it was back to the room to collect my Sony a6000 plus portrait lens.

I commented that the wall lights would be a bit intrusive in the photo and Andi promptly turned them off. It was good to have the time to take a few shots.

Andi used to work in the hospitality industry at Sharm-el-Sheikh. There he learnt some Russian because many of the visitors were of that nationality. He also learnt a bit of Arabic, Italian and German.

I asked Andi if he learnt English at school in his native Romania and he said there were a few English courses but that he is mostly self-taught.

He came to Guernsey because his brother was already working there.

Andi likes drawing and painting and has drawn cartoons, and sketches for interior design as a hobby. He used to paint in oils but found he was too much of a perfectionist, sometimes taking 5 or 6 hours to finish a painting.

He told me that when in Egypt, in addition to working in a hotel, he had various other jobs, including one as a snorkelling guide. He's a big sports fan.

There is a very international mix of staff at Best Western de Havelet Hotel, all with a ready smile and so efficient.

It's great when the subject is really as enthusiastic to sit for the portrait as I am to take it!

This is my #2 submission to the Human Family Group. To view more street portraits and stories visit:
www.flickr.com/groups/thehumanfamily/

Tags:   #2 Andi hotel waiter dof Guernsey The Human Family

© All Rights Reserved

Out and about in Winchester the day before Christmas Eve, I heard beautiful, soulful music but could not find its source. As I turned the corner, it seemed to be flowing from a public telephone box. Definitely puzzling.

And then I thought I saw somebody with a guitar IN the phone box. I walked over and saw a young guy playing and singing. As I usually do in such situations, I pointed to my camera and gave a questioning look. He nodded so I took a few very poor shots through the dirty glass.

Then I realised I would at least need a name if I had any hope of using this portrait in a strangers' project. So I loudly asked, "What's your name?" whereupon the young man opened the door of the phone box and told me he was Sam Brothers.

I described my project and asked if he would mind participating and if so, would he step just a bit further out of the box so I could get a better shot. Sam was happy to do this.

It may look, in my photo, as if Sam is about to pay me for the photography but in reality he was searching for his card to give me his details so I could send him a photo.

Sam told me that he is actually a serious musician but when he arrived to start his Christmas busking in the morning it was raining so he decided to have a bit of shelter.

He plays folk and blues and does gigs, playing in pubs and clubs, and plans to release a CD next year. He busks in Winchester and in Canterbury where he lives.

A rather unusual experience!

This is my #3 submission to the Human Family Group. To view more street portraits and stories visit:

www.flickr.com/groups/thehumanfamily/

This photo is also in The Portrait Group and STRANGERS!

Tags:   sam #3 buttercross winchester musician phone-box guitar The Human Family

© All Rights Reserved

© All Rights Reserved

A bright and sunny day so we decided on a trip to Salisbury, most of the attraction for me being William Pye's beautiful font in the cathedral and the reflection shots I find there.

As we entered the cathedral I found more than just reflection shots as it was beautifully decorated with bright floral arrangements in red, orange, yellow... I took a couple of shots of the first arrangement just inside the door and then noticed a figure reflected in the font.

As I approached, the figure moved left so I motioned with my right hand (not too imperiously, I hope) for it to move right again and back into the frame, which it did. I took just one shot and then moved forward to show what I had taken and found that the figure was Hugh, a licensed lay preacher.

He told me that he was part of the visitors' chaplaincy and that the people who do this work are drawn from all over the diocese and are not ordained.

I then mentioned my project and asked if he would be willing for me to take a portrait. He readily agreed and I checked whether he was OK for time to which he replied that he had to take prayers in the cathedral at 2 o'clock. I asked the time then which was 7 minutes to two. So I speedily changed to my portrait lens and took 2 or 3 shots which looked fine on the camera screen.

Then I knew there was not much time to glean some information to go in the story to accompany the portrait.

Hugh told me that most of his working life had been spent in the army and, in answer to my question, that he left with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

He works in the cathedral twice per month and leads prayers on the hour. As a lay preacher he also assists the vicar in his local parish on the outskirts of Salisbury.

He was not interested in having his photo sent to him, saying, jokingly, that they already have many photos in the house and his wife would divorce him if he introduced another one.

Good to find an encounter in such an unexpected way.

This is my #4 submission to the Human Family Group. To view more street portraits and stories visit:

www.flickr.com/groups/thehumanfamily/

This photo is also in The Portrait Group and STRANGERS!

Tags:   hugh #4 salisbury cathedral lay preacher

© All Rights Reserved