On This Day – 9 February 2019

My ‘On This Day’ series is a blog series looking back at a photo shot on that exact date in the past, ideally images from my archives that have not been shared before.

It was cold Saturday morning in February in 2019 and I had been out and about around the West End in London. Then out of the flow of tourists, just off Leicester Square, came a man carrying what looked less like a bag and more like some huge cloud.

A huge white sack ballooned behind him, caught mid-stride as if it had its own opinions about where it wanted to go. For a split second he stopped being a pedestrian and became a character, somewhere between a cartoon burglar, a reluctant Santa Claus, and a man wrestling a stubborn duvet through the streets of central London.

The surrealism was further enhanced by his yellow clothing. It was almost as if the fabric of the city itself was surprised by him, the road itself imploring everyone to “look” as he passed.

I’ve no idea what was in the bag. I prefer to prompt questions rather than give answers with my street photography. Whatever was going on is if for the viewer now to interpret: to give it their meaning.