i don't photograph people that much, save for pictures of family and friends. speaker's corner at hyde park, on a sunday afternoon, is an electric place where you cannot help but want to capture some of the excitement on camera.

the speakers, whether on ground or on ladder, set up and begin speaking. slowly, a crowd assembles around the speaker. after a bit, if the speaker is provocative enough, someone in the audience opens up dialogue.

sometimes the audience starts arguing amonst itself, and this is where you begin to worry that things might turn ugly. especially when the conversation has to do with religion, as it often does.

sometimes, however, the debate over religion takes the form of a dialogue between two of the speakers. while it is strange seeing a cowboy hat wearing christian and a muslim verbally joust, it is even stranger seeing them defend each other to the audience. they were so determined to have polite and meaningful discussion that one would often yell at the audience to allow the other to finish his point.

or you might see two english girls politely listening to a muslim man explaining the concepts of islam.

in the photo below i was trying to take a few shots of the conversation. before i knew it i had the old man on the left wagging his finger menacingly and uttering "you best not have taken my fucking picture!" exit your mate japh quickly, stage left, after pointing and muttering something about the people behind him. one of my favourite photos of the whole trip. and the only time during the trip that i seriously thought i might get my head knocked off.