A large woodland I regularly explored as a child, preserved by the local council and popular with the community all through the year, Cassiobury has so many hidden beauties I could not wait to capture.
As I bumbled around photographing and collecting litter I was approached by a lovely older gentleman, dressed in his white jacket and white Panama hat. He showed interest in what I was doing, wishing me luck with my work as he told me about his granddaughter studying fashion in London. This meeting triggered me into thinking what it must be like watching someone collecting rubbish off of the floor. I suddenly became very self-conscious about being seen. Did people think I was weird? That my behaviour was abnormal? Or was it an intriguing site, causing them the question what and why I was doing it? Why is it not the case for people that purposely drop little on the floor not to feel embarrassed or ashamed? I felt like I was the one doing something wrong, not the other way around. Society and behavioural fashions must have been the result of this. As a society, we fully accept seeing someone picking up litter as their job, but to see a lone person picking up litter is completely out of the norm and could be considered suspicious behaviour.
