Ryan, Xie, Me – 11 October 2002

11 October  2002, London or Leicester, UK

This photo strip was probably taken at a tube station in London, but could also have been taken in Leicester. Both my cousins from New Zealand were living in the UK at the same time as I lived in Leicestershire.

My cousin Krissie had her son Ryan in London. I like to spell her name Xie for fun, but also as her personality is as bright and enticing as a gift laden Xmas tree. As you can imagine baby Ryan is a strapping lad now. You can see more photos of Xie in this post from 2011, Xie Time Machine.

In my adult life, I think this is the shortest I have ever had my hair. As I was trying to improve my health by ceasing my exposure to the chemicals in hair dye, I asked Xie to cut it for me. This she did one day in a park opposite her flat. This was the second cut done by a hairdresser. Yuk. I like it much better when it is longer and madder.

Many of the photos in this long series are unremarkable. They make up a photographic album of my adult life, which gives me a lot of pleasure as I add each new photo to the collection. I also love the memories they bring back, when I write about them for this blog.

This strip of photos comes from my series Photobooth 41 Year Project. You can see all the posts that document the series by clicking here. I am still adding to this project using mostly digital booths to create the images. The project is now close to entering its 44th year.