100 Strangers Project - 24/100 /  by Michael Pung

Clara was spotted sitting on a street bench, reading George Orwell's Books v. Cigarettes around Warren Street here in London.  She has made a move to London over the past year after living most of her life in Barcelona.  She currently works as a freelance in fashion and one day hopes to work as a fashion curator. 

In your 20 odd years of life in Barcelona, could you tell me about one of your happiest moments? 

"Oh! I hate these kind of questions!  For me it's really difficult to choose your favourite thing.  I like feelings, so when spring comes, I love the feeling.  Barcelona smells different, I love the smells of the neighborhood and that makes me feel very happy.  The life and it's like you start meeting friends almost every day."

Clara's immediate family reside in Barcelona.  They aren't a big family, just her parents and her older brother who is completing a PHD in computer science.  She really misses her brother and parents.  They skype a lot.  

Like myself, Clara has only moved to London fairly recently, so I asked her what she found challenging with her move here:

"I came here alone. My boyfriend had a job with a company in Barcelona and I was working as a freelance in fashion.  So I was the one who said okay, I'm moving because I'm freelance and I'm not earning much money.  When I came here, that was pretty tough.  I knew a couple of people, but all of my friends who were living here were in Barcelona at the time.  I was alone a lot. I learned to do things on my own a lot.  (And) I'm proud of that as well."

 

Thank you Clara for taking part of the project and I wish you the best with your ambitions.

Dublin Travels & on the Wildling Trail /  by Michael Pung

 

A few weeks ago my friend Kerzia extended an invitation for us to travel to Dublin and check out the Game of Thrones Winterfell tour! As a fan of the series, I happily obliged.

We landed in Dublin on a Saturday morning and were immediately greeted by conditions that were significantly colder than what we experienced before we hopped on our one hour flight.  After all, Ireland is known as the land of the eternal winter.

Soon after we dropped our bags at the hostel we embarked on a walk around the city centre.  We caught a glimpse of life over here, some old castles, monuments and plenty of pubs.  I was amazed at the number of souvenir stores around town, and I must say when it comes to the souvenir game, Dublin is a hard act to follow!

The next day, we woke up early on a Sunday morning for the Winterfell tour.  It was, in short... sublime.  After we arrived via coach, we were off to the various filming locations for the series with our tour guide. Decked out in our cloaks, we took an excursion into the woods much in the same fashion as the wildlings did in the TV show.  Fantasy.

It was a fun trip, we got to see some of the beautiful, green scenery of Northern Ireland, the rustic and historic buildings of central Dublin and met some wonderful people along the way. 






100 Strangers Project - 23/100 /  by Michael Pung

So I met this lovely lady over a week ago, down the road from the British Museum.  Now, I'm kicking myself that I've left it this long to make this post because to be frank... I've forgotten her name!  But she comes from the Shire- which is an area of Australia south of Sydney.  She's currently working in media as a production assistant and is currently enjoying her time here and her career.  Here is a snippet of our conversation:

What are you proudest of?

My relationship with my close family, where I've gotten in my career and the chances I've taken so far.  I don't know, I'm not a very confronting person, so moving countries and doing crazy things have taken me out of my comfort zone.

Do you have any regrets?

No.

Everything that I've decided to do I've kind of thought, I'm thankful that I've got there.  All of the things that have happened in the last two and a half years, a lot of them were huge decisions- staying over here (in London) and at one point I was choosing between going to Spain and taking a chance on a two week internship and that's landed me a really great job.

It was a huge step because I was going to go home and all of my plans were to... spend a few months travelling, do just bar-tending work or au pairing or something, get a bit of cash and go home. And instead someone was like, "Oh yeah, do you want to be a temp here? Can't promise you a job at the end of it," and that, ended up being a year an a half job, which landed me the production job that now is the beginning of my career.

Thank you very much for taking part in the project and keep taking those chances!

100 Strangers Project - 21 and 22 of 100 /  by Michael Pung

I came across Amy and Marcos as they were walking down Brick Lane enjoying their frozen yogurts. About the yogurts, I asked them if they would recommend them and they said they were alright, though nothing really to write home about.  Good to know!

Amy is an apprentice tattoo artist and has been one for 15 months.  Before this, she was working at job in marketing but decided to change career paths on suggestion from her boyfriend.  She has not looked back.  She enjoys being social and would like to one day live abroad, perhaps somewhere in the United States or Australia.

Marcos on the other hand, hails from Portugal and is employed as a waiter at a restaurant in Brick Lane. He is content with his job, but has aspirations to travel the world.  He too wants to go to Australia and harbours an ambition to experience new and different cultural pursuits such as having a BBQ on the beach on Christmas.

What is some life advice you would give to your future children?

Amy - "Be yourself."

Marcos - "If you never make any mistakes, you'll never learn."

Thanks for taking part in the project guys and good luck with your ambitions!

Guild London Photo Walk /  by Michael Pung

Just a quick post on what I did on Saturday 18th of April.  I was invited to take part in a photo walk around central London, with people from a variety of photography groups. It was brilliant meeting up with like-minded people and gave me a chance to get into discussions about photography, gear and other random things. 


The plan was to meet at the London Eye and then via Westminster tube, make our way to Soho, Chinatown, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Embankment and Southbank.  Somewhere along the way, myself and Katherine (a friend I made from a previous walk) lost the group and ended up in Oxford Circus.  But it did give us a chance to catch some great opportunities:

The Thirst - A band from Brixton. They play funk-inspired tunes.

Probably the widest grin I've ever seen.

Member of the Thirst

 

Central London was buzzing all over, with opportunities almost everywhere on the street to take photos.  There's something very vibrant about London especially heading into the warmer months, which makes me quite excited about spending time here in the summer.

For anyone into photography, no matter the level, going on a photo-walk is something I highly recommend that you do.  It's fun, you meet great people and it inspires you to take photos!

100 Strangers Project 20/100 /  by Michael Pung

On the hottest day of the season so far (it was 25 degrees!), I came across Yaz. She was on her way to work and she had her earphones plugged into her ears.  She was in a bit of a rush so we didn't have much time to chat, but I complemented her on her outfit and she was flattered.  She remarked that she was told by one of her friends on Snapchat that her outfit was hideous, but I think she has a great sense of style.

What are your strengths?

"I can talk."

And what is your weakness?

(laughs) "I can talk."

When pressed, she claimed she has a weakness for cigarettes, but she is looking at quitting someday.

Thank you Yaz for taking part in the project and hope you enjoy the images.

100 Strangers Project - 19/100 /  by Michael Pung

I was strolling around Belgrade's bohemian quarter when I discovered Jana sitting with her puppy Quince.  As it turns out, she was waiting for a friend who she was helping out with his radio show... and he was running late.  

Being a fan of Humans of New York, she was absolutely delighted to take part.  I found out that in terms of her fashion, Jana 'discovered' colours fairly recently and has incorporated them into her sense of style.  In the past, she tended to wear more muted, neutral colours- similar to my style at this very moment!  In addition to this, she is currently studying a PHD in the arts and is going to take part in a female art exhibition in London later in the year.

About a year ago, Jana wanted to get a new puppy as she missed her old dog.  So when she was on the lookout for a new companion, she visited her friend who had a couple of puppies.  Once she was there, Quince came up to her and climbed into her bag!  It was destiny... and perhaps even love at first sight.

 

Thank you Jana and Quince for taking part in the project and have the best time in London!

100 Strangers Project - 17 and 18/100 /  by Michael Pung

I was on my way back home from work at Camden Town when  I noticed Julia's bright blue hair from a mile away.  I absolutely knew that I needed to approach these two for my project.  And when I did, they seemed to be quite receptive to the idea and we got talking... for quite a while!

Julia is a tattoo artist who is currently at school.  Her biggest inspiration when it comes to the artform is an artist named Kat Von D. In addition to this, she stated that her mother was an influence for pursuing the art.

Chris on the other hand, is a photographer specialising in music photography.  He told me that his father wanted him to get into engineering, but he decided to study photography instead.  He remarked that his mother was the one who helped him get into it and in fact, he was carrying three cameras that day!

Asking about how they met, I found out that they started chatting to each other through Facebook after Chris sent her a message regarding her hair colour.  Additionally, they share a love for anime and manga and have been friends since.  Chris said it was her birthday that day and he bought her a carpet.  

We were located under a bridge near the markets and we moved to find some better light for the photoshoot.  During an intermission, Chris casually rolled up his cigarette.  He politely asked if it was okay that he smoked and I told him it was fine.  Seeing the opportunity, Julia proposed the idea of taking photos of him blowing smoke. These are the resulting photos:


Thanks for taking part in the project guys and I wish you well on your passions and who knows, we may meet again.