DO YOU FEEL LIKE A GUINNESS?

DO YOU FEEL LIKE A GUINNESS?

........... Friday afternoon in Borough Market, London in July and the last thing I need is another drink. It had just finished raining and I was having a hard time recovering after a night mixing Grappa and Johnny Walker Black, which is like riding a Ducati in a kilt. It was one of those times where the camera just does the talking. In this case it was an early '80s Yashicamat twins-lens reflex job - still covered in mud from the mud-wrestling tournament I had photographed in San Francisco a year before. The lid does not open correctly because I dropped it on the floor at a bar after declaring how great it was to have a camera that isn't too dainty so that you have to worry about it all the time (a serious problem when it comes to the logistics of walking around with $5000 digital cameras.) I had heard about this place that serves oysters and beer in Borough market and from the looks of things I had stumbled on it. I slung the camera round my neck and ambled around looking conspicuous. The two lads, pictured above (drinking Guinness) started admiring my camera and we started talking. It turned out that they were retired police officers who had an appetite for fine wine and food. Three pints later we were all friends. They told me that they were glad they never had to carry guns to work.

- HD