bus stop cinderella, revisited

I was at the bus stop near the Ritz in Picadilly (so virtuous of me, using public transport: besides, I love those iconic red double decker buses, it's like a Disneyland ride) when I saw this girl get on the number 19 bus before I had a chance to ask to shoot her, or even her name. This is the second time this has happened: you gotta be quick to get a good shot in this town.

kinga

On a street where everyone is vying to get discovered for their street style savvy, Kinga, from Hungary, stood out because she clearly wasn't trying. I met her at Pret a Manger near St. Martins College of Art. She's an absolutely delightful girl. I shoot in film & usually just do one or two shots & hope for the best. I took three, and then truly couldn't decide. Perhaps the one I left out was the best. I have no idea what she was wearing. It seemed immaterial to her, too: the essence of good style is just putting on whatever feels right, and then not giving it another thought.

post punk pink

Chloe, ex art student, St. Martins College of Art, Tottenham Court Road.

I was doing errands near St. Martins, which has now become so much of a destination spot for international streetstyle photography, that the students are literally poised, like celebs, at the entrance, waiting to be papp'd. As I've said from the start, what I look for in my subjects is something more subtle than simply weird or attention seeking. If I ask to take your photo, it is only ever a compliment: I like your style.

And I like Chloe's. Every bit of it, down to and including the ballet pink fishnet stockings with the big hole under her black above the knee socks. It's been pretty bleak and blustery here recently, and I didn't realise til I got the shot back that the wind revealed, in this one fleeting moment that the shutter snapped, a polka dot silver lining on a cloudy day.



Oh my! They're not polka dots, they're tiny pink hearts. Even better. Kind of a variation of wearing your heart on your sleeve, I guess.