Best Buddies

My lunchtime amble took me down Hockley today. It's a good area for shopping, people watching and events.

Unfortunately none of those things happened whilst I was there, but I did notice this photograph on the pavement that had been thrown away for some reason.

I casually picked it up to see if there was any names on the back. There wasn't. Only the word 'Agfa', just to prove that it was a real photo.

So I wonder who these two girls are, when it was taken, and how their picture ended up on  the pavement of a Nottingham Street?

They are probably school or college friends. Possibly taken several years ago, when thin eyebrows were popular. Now girls have brows that look like they were painted on with a bingo dobber. Thick lines. I don't think it's a good look at all, but women keep doing it. Why?

Wherever I Lay My Hat, That's My Home

No, this isn't somebody's sitting room or lounge, but the window display of a charity shop situated down in Hockley.

Although the shop describes the stuff that it sells as vintage, rather than second hand or used, it's still at heart a charity shop. But the prices certainly aren't those of a usual charity shop.

It's strange how these sorts of shops have recently rebranded themselves. Something to do with the fascination these days with the 1950s and 60s.

The old is the new, new.

The Spirit Of America

Wandering around Hockey yesterday with a pal from work, who also like photography, we came across this rather unusual motorbike.  Unusual, not in the sense of what it looks like, but the fact that it is red, as I tend to see most two wheelers painted black or silver.

Not being very interested in motorbikes, I didn't recognise the native American emblem, but looking it up on Google, it has been made by the Indian Motorcycle Company. I worked out from the UK numberplate that it was registered in the early 1990s, although it looks like a vintage model. So perhaps it's a reproduction.

We never saw the owner. So perhaps he was sitting in one of the nearby cafe's having his lunch. I just wonder how he was dressed. Black leathers perhaps?

Meals On Wheels

On my travels down in Hockley and the Lace Market yesterday with my fellow photographer, we came across this handcart that was being used to grow food. It was there to prove that no matter how small your garden, you could still grown your own, and hopefully organic food.

It had be created by the shop you can see in the background called Ice Nine. They sell all sorts of weird and wonderful things, like clothing, jewellery and gifts.

I don't know if the shop sells this bee wind chime, but he was a cute bit of decoration for the barrow. Just a shame that he was hanging upsidedown.

It's A Winner

The organisation that I work for publishes an in-house magazine every month, and besides the usual work related articles, they run a photo competition. I have never gone in for it before, partly due to either forgetting, or not liking the themes.

But this changed last month, as I read that the theme for March was going to be 'retro', and I know exactly which photo I would enter with.

I took this photo last year during the Pride celebrations in the city centre. These two were standing outside a vintage store in Hockley. Obviously the owners, and they were outside the shop and enjoying the summer sunshine.

Some tweaking in my digital darkroom, to give it an aged look. The only giveaway that it wasn't taken in the 1960s is the fact that the blonde on the bike is holding an iPad.

Anyway I found out today that my photo had been picked out as the winner, and I have won a £20 shopping voucher and a mug. Not a huge prize, but it's the first one that I've ever won with one of my pictures.

Acting Up

The Arts Theatre on George Street in Hockley is threatened with closure, due to funding problems. It has been going many years, and used to be known as the Co-op Arts Theatre. It is a stage for amateur actors, with one or two having turned professional. No one knows yet what its going to happen to it.