Behind The shot With Phil Anker

One photographer. One image. The story behind the shot.

This is one of my favorite images that I have taken and apologies to Mr Rodin for borrowing his title.

As part of my photo walk in town after sitting outside at a local cafe drinking a coffee and doing a bit of people watching I often follow the same route around town with my camera at the ready. Street photography for me is so interesting as I never know what will appear in front of me. As the famous American philosopher Forrest Gump said "My momma always said, 'Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get,'".

As part of my route I always take in Salisbury Cathedral for two reasons, one being the amount of tourists it attracts. But the main reason is the light in the cloisters. The cloisters are a square formation so at different parts of the day the light shines at different angles. When it falls there is always a mixture of light and shadow created by the ancient stone pillars.

This day was no exception and I saw this guy sat on the corner with some beautiful light falling on him, I sat down on the low wall facing him and opened the flip screen on my camera. I had to wait what seemed an eternity for the tourists walking between us and behind him to clear, all the while hoping he would not change position. Then, there it was time to capture the moment. I think I took 3 or 4 shots at the time to make sure I got one that worked. Shortly after that he stood up and the moment was gone.

You can follow Phils work on foto @headphonesguyor on Flickr here.