Punk .....

..... survivor.

This afternoon I've had a trip in to Leeds With Mrs P and Mini P. Our first stop was Leeds Market so that I could drop off a couple of prints for Mr Mir and Mr Saddique who I photographed last week. We had a wander around the market and I took a few portraits and street shots.

Just as we were about to leave the market Paul here walked past and sat down in front of us so I got chatting to him. Despite his rough exterior Paul seems like a gentle soul who maybe hasn't always made the best decisions in life. As an alcoholic he spends a lot of his time just 'wandering around waiting for his next drink'.

At first I felt unsure about asking Paul for a photo but as we chatted he asked about my camera and if I knew John Bolleten, a Bradford based photographer who has taken a series of photos called 'Punk Survivors' of Punk artists from the mid 70's to the mid 80's. I have to admit that I hadn't heard of him but now I've seen his work online I'm glad Paul pointed me in his direction.

After I explained about my market photos and Blip, Paul was happy for me to take his photo whilst he explained about his tattoos ( a lot of them he had done in his early teens ) and how he had been beaten up in Nottingham the other week because a couple of blokes objected to them. Paul said he was booked to go in to rehab for his drink problem in January and hopefully he would last the three months it would take. Paul hadn't asked for anything but I offered him a few quid so that he could get himself something to eat or another drink.

Today's blip is hopefully a .....


..... Punk survivor.


A few more of Paul here.