Bradford .....

..... busker.

This afternoon I had a trip in to Bradford for a day out. Despite being closer to home than Leeds city center I don't get in to Bradford that often and it took me a while to feel comfortable enough walking around to take photos today.

The first photo I took was of this busker ( who didn't want me to put his name on blip ). He was playing an acoustic guitar and singing Bob Marley songs. The chords he was playing were all wrong, but it didn't really matter as he put his heart and soul in to it. I showed him the photos I'd taken of him and he asked " Why does my tounge always look so f*cking big in photos ? ". I suggested maybe it gave him his unique singing voice, he smiled and said " Yeah man ! "

I had a look in the Impressions gallery where there is currently an exhibition of Shrigley drawings and also a re-showing of a photography exhibition they first showed in 1984 of the changing face of the north of England at the time. Russel Boyce's intimate photos of one womans life were particulary striking.

After taking a few snaps around the relatively plush City Park I had a walk up to the market for a cuppa and custard tart in the cafe there. I had a bit of a wander around the market and as I left, spotted Barry about to start his daily ( exept Sundays ) pigeon feeding. I went over and said hello and showed him the blip but I dont think he rememberd me. We chatted for about 10 minutes as he fed the pigeons.

Barry really cares about animals, someone further down the street shouted out " They're vermin ", Barry just shook his head and said they saved a lot of lives during the war. He said he would love to raise a lion from a cub to show people how gentle and friendly animals are. I asked Barry if he had heard of Siegfried and Roy, he hadn't so I left that conversation there. The world could do with a few more Barrys.

On my way back to the station a few hours later I passed the busker I'd seen earlier in the day and he looked over and gave me a thumbs up, I think I'll be visiting Bradford City center a bit more often. So today's blip is a .....


..... Bradford busker.


I've put a few more photos from today here.