Quick Shot - Cambridge Punter

I always carry a camera when I walk through downtown Cambridge - the college environment with lots of young folks milling about naturally lends itself to a place of unexpected photo opportunities.

Ironically, I had just been talking to my husband as we walked about another photograph I'd seen where the photographer imaged straight down on some Cuban men playing dominos. It was a creative and fun use of a different angle in the photograph. No sooner do I finish telling him this then we come across one of many bridges crossing the River Cam. I looked down and saw this scene of two punters lounging on break.

I immediately knew I was going to take the photograph, but I was a little nervous of being "caught"..... I don't want to steal a photograph of someone, but looking straight down on a subject would lead to an awkward look if he saw me. There's no way to pretend you aren't photographing someone when looking straight down on them!

Thankfully, the punters were both deep in conversation and didn't notice as I composed and shot this image. I think it tells a wonderful story and am glad the photograph of the Cuban men playing dominos inspired me to try my own top-down shot.

Shot on Leica MP with Adox Silvermax 35mm film. Developed in my home studio and scanned on an Epson V700.