‘Fallen, But Rising’ Police Encounter- The full story

“Un-winged and naked, sorrow surrenders its crown to a throne called grace.”
― Aberjhani, The River of Winged Dreams 

 So this is the photo I got out of freezing my bum off, whilst having an innocent passer-by call the police with concern of a “barefoot angel in the woods” but TOTALLY worth it!…

So yes… Everything you just read is 100% true. This story is one that has spiralled around my friends, family colleagues and just about everyone else. After taking self portraits in the same spot for 6 years now, you would of thought that it was pretty safe to take one more! So when the ‘beast from the east’ hit us, causing a chaotic blanket of snow, I was prepared to whip my wings out and selfie away! I had began by shooting by this beautiful rooted tree, one that I had shot by a few years ago, putting wings on myself as a symbol of fight vs flight (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomoscarmiles/12975085853/in/photolist-Xh4Yh1-WAGCRw-Sxg6MY-PeQLhN-kLyGYM-kuVk4t-kmCThi-jT2ibg-jd1v5S) I had set up and de-warm-clothed to begin shooting. My feet were freezing and I was held back by massive wings attached to me, but in the zone to tell my story. Whilst finishing up this first shot, I noticed a women behind watching me, most likely dazed with a winged boy wandering through the woods! She was quite far away, walking up the hill this patch of woods I was o the edge of,  my natural instinct in situations like this is to smile and wave and justify my crazy life choices, but because of how far away she was, I had no choice but to carry on and not give off any false panic or concern, she begin to continue walking off, but would turn around to keep watching, luckily I had finished and decided to carry on further and see where else I could shoot. That is when I found a beautiful patch, hidden away where loads of branches and trees had fallen, been cut down and just left! I had so many angles I could play around with but ended up shooting with me standing right amongst the branches. 

I had then set up my camera, de-warmed-up again! And stood myself perfectly on a stump that helped elevate me out of the branches. I was roughly 10 shots into my shoot, when I hear a voice from behind me- A police officer! (One that I have known for quite a while from a mutual friend!) He exclaimed how he should of thought it was me- calling it into his walkie talkie as a “college photography project” as I used to do! We had a chat, WHILST I WAS IN WINGS, STANDING ON BRANCHES IN THE SNOW! I then hear a voice from the distance of what must of been the lady who was watching my before, who called the police- because she said she was “concerned I was cold…” YEP! I deep down just want to shout “I AM FREEZING THANK YOU VERY MUCH NOW PLEASE LET THESE POLICE MEN GET BACK TO REALLY CRIMES AND ME GET BACK TO TAKING PHOTOS OF ME SHIVERING!” Oh yeah, there were two police, not just one, but two! And I couldn’t help but feel a clash between feeling annoyed at how this lady wasted police time over nothing, when real crimes are happening, and I sense of sympathy and giddiness that someone cared enough about me. But mostly the feeling of wandering why she couldn’t of just come up and asked me what I was doing and if I was okay. Saving everyone so much time and worry! 

All I can really say though is that it was a definite experience that I will never forget and will forever make me chuckle if I need a little pick-me-up. I can simply say to myself “remember that time you were in the snow with body sized angel wings and a lady called two police men out of you?” 

Photo from the first set up, where the busting, began! Exclusively shared on my blog.