065

Aussie



I didn't get her name, but I waved my camera at her and she nodded as she looked past me, scouring the member's stand for signs of celebrity.

Greasepaint and 35°C, humidity 85%.

"Green and Gold Malaria", Rupert McCall called it in his poem of the same name.

064

Murray



Murray is no stranger, we are both creatures of habit.

For half a dozen years or so we have met at the Gabba on the first day of the first Cricket Test of the new summer.

This year, he drove me to the match, and armed with such familiarity, I didn't ask him if it was OK to take his photo.

063

Didier



For four months I wondered why I couldn't summon the energy to photograph people. It wasn't because there was a lack of opportunity, more I think that every time we met someone they became lifelong friends and the question never arose!

Didier was one of them, although neither of us spoke a word of each other's language at the time. We chatted for twenty minutes or so after he caught me photographing his corn stash. He lives in the little village of Choisey, in the manner of his forebears, with neither heating or ill humour.

I should have concentrated more on this photo, I wanted to reflect the animation of our conversation, and the nature of it, but I tried to hard at a shutter speed that was too ambitious. He told us of the centuries it took to build the church in the village, and of how many generations had lived in his house before him, but we didn't understand enough to make sense of the conversation, any more than he will make sense of the Christmas Card from Australia when it arrives.

062

Tom and Lou



The amazing Tom and Lou are a British pair, who have spent much of the past decade sailing the world in their small yacht, before taking up residence on the 23 metre, 100 year old dutch barge "Herkelina" which they now call home as they trundle slowly round the French waterways.

I know Lou would have been rather a lot happier if I'd allowed her to put on her "pretty" face, but I'm afraid I rather like the one she had on at the time!

Despite appearances here, Tom was not trying to solve the problems of the world, he was actually codgetating on the fact that the English Cricket team were losing to Australia by a stupendously large margin.

Sadly for those of us who do not profess to be fans of English cricket, the 2009 Ashes Series did not go to plan!