"They ripped the heart out of this city when they replaced the picture house with that Primark"


Well, it goes without saying why I wanted to capture Peter here.

The first problem was getting to him, as I was quite far away and he was heading away from me. First time I've actually ran to catch a portrait :)

I caught up with him, out of breath, at a pedestrian crossing (thank God it was red!), and asked him for a picture. He was interested why initially and we actually had a lengthy chat before I had even taken one shot.

He was quite softly spoken and full of smiles, all in all a very nice and interesting character. My chat with him included a range of topics, from his hair (I asked him how he slept), to the state of the city and Loiners (people of Leeds) in general. It was surprising how much I actually agreed with what he had to say, including the comment he made above about the old picture house.

I can imagine a lot of people, including myself, have a preconception of someone based on the way they look. It's natural and almost impossible not to. However, this is one of the wonders of this project I think, breaking those stereotypes right down, and seeing the person as human.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend folks!


Humans of Leeds