Sheffield city of contrasts

In August, as I mentioned earlier, Sheffield went a bit wacky for a few days and plonked sand in the middle of the city centre. Bizarrely, there were donkey rides, all sorts of sideshows, even an automated surfboard, and all sorts of seaside stuff.

I was struck by the mix of people and felt mesmerised by the way complete strangers all mixed together and joined in with the fun. It is strange how we learn to immerse ourselves in parallel play at such times; doing the same thing as others but somehow pretending they are not all there. We avert our gaze - very cleverly as we also acknowledge each other in respectful ways.

One of my shots captures the medley of people in all their contrasting glory. It tends to be only the young, who break cultural rules and sometimes stare.



Of course photographers stare too, hiding behind their cameras and somehow get away with it. For the first time, some people ASKED me to take their photo!!

I have photoshopped this image to look like a painting as the scene reminded me of a children's jigsaw puzzle.