#153 Smirk Man

It was a photo encounter of unspoken permission exchanged through the eye contact. 

I simply smiled and pointed my camera at him while he kept swiveling on his chair. Every time I tried to shoot him, people came into the shot and blocked my view. Portobello Market is a busy place after all. You can't give up easily. His smirk, however, just kept on getting bigger. Then he started humming 'People don't want you to make my photo.' I got the shot and responded 'Oh but they do!' and walked away grinning.

#144 Nikon Man

There he was sitting on a box watching the world or Brick Lane to be exact and smoking. Friendly smile and I got the shot. He was happy to oblige smoking as required. Only just as I was leaving him, I noticed he was carrying a camera. Nikon to be exact. Am I allowed to shoot boys of a different brand? 

#127 Another smoker

I spotted this chap taking a break from his work getting ready to smoke his pipe. He was quite happy to pose for me only inquiring if I myself was a local on the street full of tourists.

#124 Would you like a cup of coffee?

A lovely coffee stand owner by Portobello Road always ready to serve you a delicious cup of coffee.

#120 Movember Man

Hello! It's been a while since I hit the streets and to be honest, even when I have been out and about I was struggling to find characters of any interest to me. Maybe it was just the winter's blues or something like that!

Anyhoo, meet this lovely chap who managed to raise over one thousand pounds for charity with his super neat mustache! I saw him while wandering around the Borough Market. He is visiting London to show off his tashe to his friends in London before he gets a shave. Excellent look, sir!

#114 Viktor Breki Óskarsson

Meet Viktor Breki Óskarsson. He is another super friendly Icelander. He was the first Icelander I stopped as I liked his style. It turned out he was walking to meet a friend to discuss his visit to London. Talk about coincidence!

 

#109 The Londoners On Tour in Hitchin 2

Another one from yesterday. We walked past a barber shop and I spotted this bloke getting ready to leave. He looked me directly in the eye and seemed quite friendly but we walked on. Something made me do a u-turn and go back to ask him for a portrait. He was very kind and obliging even though he was just about to finish a whole day's work and go home. Thank you!

Need a barber, anyone?

#101 Oyster Man

Thank you to everyone who has supported, looked at and commented on the blog over the last 100 entries. Thank you to Londonist for featuring my blog on their website. I am truly honoured.

Now, back to business. A new oyster place opened up in Columbia Road so what else could I do but to photograph one of the guys working there. He was happy to pose for me and I appreciate his patience as I battled the crowds to get the shot I was happy with.

#98 Hat Man

Have you noticed the theme for last Sunday outing? We didn't talk. I saw him and smiled. He was munching on his wrap and nodded. I raised my camera and he struck a pose. Click! I nodded to say thank you and walked away.

#91 The Travelling Man

First I saw the little guitar so I asked what it was called. I thought it was a ukulele but he called it something else. 

He was a joyful character making plenty of jokes. We seemed to invade the space of local trader who kept moaning at us for taking his space even though all we were doing was standing on a pavement next to his stand. We laughed it off. 'See you in the wind', he said as he walked off.

#87 Jean Louis

The usual Sunday afternoon at Columbia Road followed by a walk down Brick Lane led us to a beautiful shop with old fashioned stock called Le Grenier. 

The owner, Jean Louis, was busy fixing a lamp and didn't even notice me watching him. I found his focus captivating. It has been a while since I saw anyone fix something. We are so used to throwing things away and buying new ones. Anyway, he agreed kindly to pose for me and we chatted about today's world, recession and how people don't visit their local stores anymore. Truly enjoyed this encounter.

#83 A Man With A Beard

I spotted his beard and cap from afar and was thrilled when he agreed to pose for me. His friend was a little upset that I did not want to shoot both of them but sometimes you need to upset others to get the shot you want. I detected a slight French accent but that's me being rubbish with accents. It turns out he is German. My apologies! That's all folks.

#73 Andy Seize

On that lovely Saturday afternoon with a bunch of out-of-London friends, we bumped into Andy Seize, a graffiti artist who gives graffiti lessons around Leake Street.  We joked how the times have changed. Not so long ago graffiti was an underground kind of art whereas these days it was regularly displayed in galleries and you could take lessons in it. Excellent!

#71 Street Artist

This gent has travelled from Sidney, Australia across Asia and Europe making his mark on the world with his street art. He took part in Leake Street Street Art competition and is planning to travel around the world before returning home.

#70 Daniel

Daniel was rushing home after shopping for a birthday present for his best friend. Since the birthday party is long over, we can reveal that the friend got a poster from Design Museum and an entry tickets to a selection of Open House venues. How thoughtful! Loved his present ideas.

#66 Fashion student

This lovely chap was sitting on the shop window sill with a couple of friends chatting and laughing. I loved his bright colours and asked him for a photo. It turned out he was a fashion photography student so we exchanged a few tips. He had the most wonderful smile.

#64 Banana Tree Man

I saw him carrying a red banana tree through the crowd last Sunday flower market and loved his bobby hat. His geeky school kid look really appealed for me. He was in a harry but was kind enough to stop for one shot. Thank you.

#63 Adrian Wood

Meet Adrian Wood. He is a photography tutor and was out with his students on a street photography session when I spotted him and since his students were doing street photography, he simply could not refuse my street portrait request so I dragged him to the wonderful pink wall my flickr contact told me about to take his photo. Thank you for your patience.

#58 Museum of Broken Relationships

While people hunting on the streets of Covent Garden, we walked past the Museum of Broken Relationships. I was so fascinated by the name that I just had to go in. I had a quick peak around the exhibition and was really fascinated by the concept of possessions that reminds us of our past relationships. Maybe it's the soppy old me but I am most certainly going back for a second look. You can read more about the idea behind the museum here.

While there, I asked one of the volunteers working in the museum to pose for me. He is a student of psychology from France, who came to London for a couple of weeks to improve his English. He was the most patient guys ever happily chatting to us while I sought Emil's advice on the lighting. Thank you.

 

#56 University Graduate

Emil and I walked for a long time that morning before I stopped this chap on Drury Lane on his way to work. He's a lovely MA graduate looking for work in charity sector. Sadly, due to recession charities are struggling and not hiring so for now he is working in the retail sector. Thank you for stopping.

On another note it turns out that Monday morning is the perfect time to snap all those quirky shopkeepers. Things are quiet then and they are happy and relaxed.