Random act of kindness #1 : a photograph for the future
It’s hard not to get more than a little disillusioned with this thing we call life from time to time. It feels like deadlines are always looming, transport is inevitably delayed and, perhaps worst of all, those days where everything goes wrong are increasingly becoming the yardstick by which we measure “normal”.
That’s why, when something truly good does happen, it’s hard not to stop and contemplate with mingling feelings of misunderstanding and disbelief. We perform that classic double take of, “Wait, what?”
However, when we do confirm the goodness — and the lack of ulterior motive — it’s pretty much impossible to do anything but smile as we carry on about our hectic lives, feeling warmed by the path of this altruistic ray we have stumbled across.
With this in mind, we wanted to start a series to celebrate the random acts of kindness that we happen upon, in an attempt to bring deserving recognition to those involved, and to brighten even the smallest corner of your day.
Random act of kindness #1 : a photograph for the future
Last month, Rebel Labs ran the inaugural UKGovHack — a community event for technologists and public sector enthusiasts to connect, learn and share. We were lucky enough to have wide and varied interest in the event from people in many different sectors, one of whom was photographer Nigel Bishop.
Nigel has a keen interest in civic tech, but isn’t a technologist himself, so was happy to come along, engage in interesting conversations and take a few photographs along the way. Pensive, emotive, funny and charming are just some of the ways to describe the finished album, which you can view here.
Upon looking for ourselves, we were delighted, and immediately contacted Nigel to see if we might purchase some of his photos for official use. We weren't at all prepared for Nigel’s response.
He explained that he finds himself in the fortunate position of being able to afford to give his time freely to share both his talent, and the experience of attending an event like UKGovHack. So, in lieu of payment, Nigel asked us to set aside some funding to give those without means the chance to attend our next event, ensuring others do not miss out on valuable opportunities to share knowledge or make positive connections with new people.
We were struck not simply by Nigel eschewing payment to support a fledgling social enterprise, but more so by his care for strangers, and his kindness in helping them out — whomever they may turn out to be.
Nigel, your gesture was a lovely one, and your tendency towards nurturing others struck a chord. Thank you for taking such lovely photographs, and for helping us to give others a chance to join our community in the future.
If you've perpetrated or experienced a random act of kindness, we’d love to hear from you. We dwell so much on what’s going wrong, let’s do just a little celebrating of what’s going right!
See more of Nigel’s work at www.wnbishop.co.uk, or connect with him on Twitter @ashroplad.
