Tom Pearsall, Cross the Street (Portrait 2020)

Many of us have seen a character of a certain appearance or demeanour that has had us crossing the street to avoid walking past them or having any chance of interacting with them. We go out of our way to ignore their existence as we fear it may lead to an awkward or unpleasant experience for us. I went out of my way to approach the characters who were being swiftly passed by, and asked to take their photo. Whilst taking the photo we talked, and all my preconceived ideas of who this person might be were dashed. They all had a unique story and had done the best with what cards had been dealt them. Though their stories where dramatic, they were often more normal than the "normal" people in society.

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