Caught

One Street: Market Square, Shipley #9

I had no shortage of street photographs to choose from this lunchtime. This delightful young woman (working as a charity fundraiser) was patrolling the Square on the lookout for prey. It was absolutely fascinating to watch. She engaged in a kind of dance with the shoppers, attracting their attention from quite a distance away, and once eye contact had been obtained, simply reeled them in with an almost tangible line. I know how easy a victim I am to these predators of the street so I kept a very discreet distance and tried to grab what shots I could.

Her badge says "Team Leader" and I suspect she is a very successful fundraiser. To be fair, she was completely charming and polite. Once she engaged with someone she was not in any way pushy and let her prey go as easily as they were caught once it became clear they were not interested. After a little while she became aware of my presence and, despite being cognisant of the danger (having been netted quite a few times before), it felt right to say hello. I told her how good I thought she was at her job and wished her luck for the rest of the day. I also just checked that it was ok that I had taken some photos. She was fine with it. She seemed happy with the compliment. I was happy with this picture. I really hope she had a successful afternoon.

I have to admit that I do find these fundraisers a little intimidating on the street. They are generally so bubbly and enthusiastic that I find it virtually impossible to walk past them. I guess for the charities involved it's as much about raising awareness as securing donations. It's odd that she didn't try to pitch to me at all. If she had of done she'd probably have got me filling out the forms. I'm such a soft touch. It was almost as if she saw me as a fellow street worker! Perhaps I'm actually starting to become a feature of the Square myself!

It's worth going large to see the expressions on the faces of the couple in the background - and her very nifty little gloves!

Finally, thanks for all the fantastic feedback from yesterday's blip. That was a great way to start the year. I've got a crazy evening tonight before having a play day away tomorrow, so I'm going to struggle to catch up with anyone. I do treasure every single heart and star and comment. So thank you ... every one of you.