It's always a mixed bag of feelings when a project comes to completion. A little sadness, a little exhaustion but always a big dose of satisfaction and contentment.

I've been spending some time on the streets of Derby photographing 'street portraits' of the awesome people in and around Derby for an exhibition over at the INTU centre Derby. They are celebrating their 10 year anniversary and as well as the street portraits, I photographed a selection of their long service staff too.
There was Mike who 'smiles from within', Pete who was part of the team who rescued a cat from inside a wall in the INTU and of course Helen who LOVE CLEANING!!!

The Street portrait element was a special little project, both challenging and rewarding as stopping random people on the street isn't really something I'd normally do! It's also really interesting to wander around and just 'spend time' in the city rather than be in the city for a reason. No shopping, no meetings... just wandering and meeting people.

If you do have time to get over to the INTU to have a little look, feel free to get in touch with me to tell me what you think.
In this virtual world we live in, it's quite surreal to see these portraits displayed in all their glory, printed up huge on the walls!

You can also find out more about the street portrait project over here: www.streetportraits.co.uk
There are some seriously awesome people in and around Derby, fun loving, interesting and with a lot to say!

I thing one thing I'll take from this project is the street portrait bug. I'll carry on trying to interact with more people throughout my day, embracing chance encounters and making portraits with day to day interactions.

Exciting times!

Gina. Food court cleaner.