Street portraits
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And that's me signing of on the 2017 project. Phew! I made it by the skin of my teeth! ;-)
Week 52. Ron, Tray & Columbo out for a final walk of the year and some geocaching. Happy New Year!
Week 50. Krista from Austria
"I first met my British husband in Germany at a conference where he was working for a big pharmaceutical company. I worked for the same company, but in Austria. Soon after our relationship started he was asked to return to the UK, and for one year we flew backwards and forwards between London and Vienna at weekends. This of cause was not a sustainable lifestyle and after a while I had a decision to make. It wasn’t an easy decision. I had a well-established career, friends and family in Austria and everybody thought I was mad to start all over in a new country. I could not transfer my job to the UK and my spoken English then was good enough for a casual conversation, but not at a level at which I felt comfortable enough to work in a customer facing job. Also what would I do if it all went wrong? Going back would not have been easy and the social provisions in the UK are not as good as in my own country. So for the first six months after moving to the UK I used the time to settle in, improve my English, see practice in the UK and look for jobs. That was thirteen years ago.
My husband had been overseas from the UK for 10 years but, because of his work location, was now moving to an area of the UK where he had no family or friends; so we had to start from scratch. I am a veterinarian, but I found it quite hard to find a job. In those days there were still a lot of Australian and South-African vets coming to work in the UK and an employer is generally going to choose an employee who’s a native English speaker. But I have worked hard and now I have my own company with plenty of work, am heavily engaged with such organisations as BSAVA and FECAVA and feel my contribution to the UK veterinary community is genuinely valued.
My husband and I have always felt ourselves to be part of Europe and after a while I felt well integrated in the UK, I had a good job, we had a nice circle of friends and life was good.
Initially, I experienced no hostility from the general public. Most people have a positive perception of Austria, if they recognise it at all. Then, 1-2 years before the referendum, I noticed a change in the mood of people towards Europe and Europeans. At work, I noticed more and more people were interested where I came from. My English is not accent free, but I did not feel in anyway offended when people asked “May I ask where do you come from?” This however changed the closer the date of the referendum came and the more heated the discussion around Brexit became in the news. There were occasions where the question was a blunt “Are you Polish?” This changed again after the vote. For the first 6 months after the referendum, nobody at work made any comment to me about Brexit or asked where I was from.
When the Brexit result came out, both my husband and I were angry, shocked and saddened. Our future had suddenly become a lot more uncertain. I have taken steps to safeguard my right to stay as much as possible and applied successful for permanent residency. I don’t know what will happen long term. I don’t really want to start all over again in yet another country at this stage in my life but if it becomes bad… at least I’m in a more secure position jobwise than other European veterinary surgeons who work for government departments. Once Britain leaves the EU, those jobs will no longer be open to members from the European Union. The problem for us as a married couple is that moving back to Europe would just reverse the situation as my husband has only British citizenship."
Weel 49. Ioana from Romania
"I came to the UK 6 months ago from Bucharest. I requested to be transferred from my company because I travelled quite a bit for work and it made me think I would quite like to experience living in a different country. London is great! If it weren’t for the weather, it would be the ideal place to live as it’s so cosmopolitan and there’s so much going on.
I don’t know if I will stay after Brexit as there is a great deal of uncertainty now. My company has a considerable amount of European people working for it and there is a department that helps us with all the paperwork so hopefully all will be fine. I am single so, although I would like to stay for the foreseeable future, if I can’t, I will move on somewhere else.
London is an expensive place to live and I actually took a pay cut and lower standard of services when I moved here. In Bucharest I had my own apartment, here I share a house with people I did not know before I arrived. I have been very lucky though. They are very nice.
I do experience racism. Not at work but some people in the street will tell me to ‘go home’ when they hear my accent. I’ve also had someone express surprise at the paleness of my skin, presumably because she thought all Romanians are Roma gypsies. I’ve tried engaging people with prejudice in conversation, but they are not interested. Now I just let it go. They have their opinion an I have mine. I know the racism is not directed at me personally.
It’s a shame what’s happening in Britain, but I do understand what lead to the referendum result."
Week 48. Sandra from Portugal
"My husband got a job in England 2 years ago so that’s when we moved our family to Birmingham. My son was ten years old at the time. He was very worried about the language and school but he settled in quickly, made friends and now speaks English without an accent and even corrects me when I make a mistake. The school provided a Portuguese teaching assistant to help him settle in the first year which was a great help. He wasn’t very happy when we moved again to the South of England and he had to make new friends at yet another school, but he is happy now and doing very well. I am very proud of him.
We came here because the work prospects are better than in Portugal. I don’t know what will happen after Brexit but I don’t worry about it. I am a very positive person. What will be will be. I understand that people are worried about immigrants. It’s the same in Portugal. I’m not planning on becoming British. Someday I hope to return to my Country. I work as a beautician, but I also go to college. On the whole people are very helpful and friendly but there are always some people that don’t like you much because you are foreigner. It doesn’t matter. Unlike refugees, I am lucky that I have other options if need be. I carry on as normal. I like to talk as you can see. I talk a lot: I’m Portuguese!"
Week 47. Wieteke from the Netherlands
"I came to the UK seven years ago. I am Dutch, my husband German and we met at a motorbike meet in Belgium. He was already living in the UK. At first, we commuted back and forth to see each other every third weekend; then I came to stay for a bit longer and finally we decided we wanted to be together all the time so I moved to England.
I love it here, especially the fact that, compared to the Netherlands, life is slower, more relaxed. It is a very beautiful country too. The British are a little more reserved but generally, they are very nice. I care for the elderly in a residential home and the residents are always saying how friendly the carers are, regardless of their nationality. The care home I work in has Spanish, Portuguese, Latvian, Polish and Philippine carers as well as British. England is my home now. I have a little boy who was born here. We have a house and a mortgage, I am studying at the Open University as well as doing a part-time job…
When the referendum results came out, I was angry and confused. I don’t know what to think or feel anymore. We do everything possible to integrate, I work in a caring profession; it appears to be not enough. It feels different now. I considered whether I should still be speaking Dutch to my son in public but, to be honest, I don’t care. We talked about moving abroad but where to go? We don’t want to go to the Netherlands or Germany. We considered moving to Madrid but for now, we’re staying put. We talked through the night about whether we should apply for permanent residency and then citizenship but it’s so expensive. It’s something we can ill afford. But we did get a British passport for our son as well as a Dutch one. Ultimately, we’ve decided to just wait and see what happens. The economy may go down the pan or not. This may not turn out to be country we want our boy to grow up in. Time will tell."
Week 46. David
"I've been a professional clock smith for 36 years. It was a hobby that got out of hand. I make and look after the clocks of churches, shopping centres, manor houses etc. This is the Aldermaston church dial that I made."
Week 43. Halloween is coming!
Week 42. A day off from the traveling circus
Week 41. Martin
Martin from London visiting his lady in Windermere
Week 38. The grass is just as green on this side of the fence
I have been struggling somewhat with my project the last couple of weeks but I enthusiastically went out in search of a portrait. I met a man walking his dog. "I'm gonna have to take her back to the vet", he said. "She's not right. They checked her over and don't know what's wrong. Mind you, they're only in it for the money, aren't they? Everybody is. It's like when you go on holiday...they want your money but don't want to provide a service." I asked him what he did for a living. "Oh, I'm unemployed", he said. I decided I would take a portrait of an Alpaca instead this week. I asked her what she thought of the state of the world. "The grass is just as green on this side of the fence as on the other side", she replied.
Week 37. Selfie trouble in Camden High Street, London
Week 36. Father of the Groom
I'm having a great day! I love it when things go wrong and I can fix them
Week 34. French Peasant soldiers
"We're supposed to be Huzzars (soldiers of the light cavalry) but we don't have enough people who ride horses so we do skirmishes instead. Today we're on the French side, fighting the English. We know it's confusing because we just helped English soldiers fire a canon but in half an hour we'll attack each other."
Week 31. Ronald. Having a rest on the Kouter, Ghent, Belgium
I don't really have a problem with the mobility plan ( which prevents transit traffic from entering the city centre) It's perhaps a little severe but it does make the town more pleasant and there are far more cyclists now. Before, this square would have been full of queueing cars; now it's just trams and busses, pedestrians and bicycles that pass. I walk here every day, sit for a bit and then walk back home.
Week 29. Ellie
"I've been dyeing my hair since I was 11. It was green before I dyed it this colour. It's a bit messy cause it goes everywhere. My pillow is all kinds of colour in the morning.
Week 28. Nicki, stage manager at the Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke,UK
Nicki: "I made Eddy (the yellow crocheted dragon) and he's been looking after the theatre ever since."
Me: "Is that by scaring away the ghosts?"
Nicki: "Oh no! there are three or four ghosts in the theatre but they're friendly."
Week 27. Jackie & Dan from Denver, Colorado, USA watching the sunset in Oia, Santorini, Greece
Me: "I hope you're not offended but I was looking through my viewfinder taking photographs of the sunset and I could hear you talk but not see you. I thought you sounded just like Adam Sandler."
Dan: "That's so cool! I like Adam Sandler. In fact, my college roommate's cousin married Adam Sandler. She said it was the weirdest wedding she'd ever been to."
Jackie: "His wife is also called Jackie."
Week 26. Rosie sitting in the pool, reading a book about drowning in a pool. Brave or reckless?
Week 25. Paulina with Oddie the dog in Athens
I worked as a translator. I speak English, Greek, Polish, Dutch and a bit of German and French. I lived in the Netherlands for 3 or 4 years but I missed the nice weather so I came back. My mother is Polish and my father Greek. They spend half the year in Poland cause my father doesn't like the sun. It's crazy! He's Greek!
Week 24. Father's day.
John and Oliver enjoying a relaxing time in the pub garden on the most glorious of days.
Week 22. Roger
I went dragonfly hunting for the first time. Someone at the camera club told me about a local pond that is good for photographing dragonflies and damselflies. I did not capture any insect pictures as they wouldn't settle but I did get a 'pic of the week' from Roger who is a photographer over from Ireland, passionate about insect photography and also out looking for a few critters to snap.
Week 21. Lan enjoying the glorious weather in the park during her lunch break
I came to Britain in 1997 when I married a Brit. I was very young. It was hard at first. I missed my mum's cooking. She had looked after me very well and I didn't really know how to cook but I've learnt and I can cook Vietnamese food now and I eat it every day.
Week 18. Tommy Banner
The Wurzels at a private party, a can of cider at the ready!
Week 15. National Trust Volunteer
I started volunteering at the Vyne when I retired from teaching about 6 months ago. It is something I have always wanted to do. The Vyne is special to me as it's where my daughter got married. I love it here on the rooftop walkway! It's exciting to watch the progress of the roof repairs. The work on the chapel roof won't start till autumn because several species of bats have maternity roosts there. Flaps have been made in the tarpauling that are left open at night so the bats can fly in and out. The roof will be repaired with access holes so they can return next year. I've been given a booklet that hopefully will help me answer all your questions.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/the-vyne
Week 12. Mother's Day by the Thames
Feeding (reluctant) ducks and swans
Week 11. Lazy Teddy & Boss
"She's happy because she knows we're on our way home now. She lives for lying on her back and having her tummy rubbed."
Week 10. Terina
"I'm one of 7 kids. I asked my mum who had chosen my name. She said it was dad. So I asked him where he got my name from. He said: "Oh, I can't remember. It was the name of either a horse of a boat". I tell everyone I'm named after a boat."
Week 9. United!
"We're on holiday from Hungary. We've been before but it's the first time for the children. We've been on the London eye and now we're off to Buckingham Palace"
Week 8. Paulo, Herculaneum, Italy
"My professor still calls me up sometimes to do some excavation but I have to do it for free as there is not enough money in archeology. I taught myself English from CDs and books and I am now working as an independent guide in Ercolano."
Week 7. Kiara, Pompeii, Italy
"I have a master's degree in archaeology. I specialised in the Greek period. I wanted to do a PhD but it is very difficult. I now work as a guide in Pompeii since 2012. It's ok. It's a steady job in a field I love."
Week 6. The Gardener
We spent the afternoon at the Vyne (National Trust property in Hampshire) and met the gardener who was shoveling steaming compost while it was snowing (It was VERY cold!). He also told us about the nearly 700 year old gorgeous oak tree in the grounds. The Vyne is currently getting a new roof and in a few weeks the public will be able to survey the progress from a rooftop walkway. I'll go back to check it out be people suffering from vertigo better give this one a miss...
