Meet Anne from Menlo.

At the age of 12 Anne got her first camera, her first photo was a macro style photo of a flower. Her father, who died when she was ten, and her maternal grandmother both had a love of art. Anne found school hard due to dyslexia but found a passion in reading books, her favourite being Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Like Jane, Anne escaped into a world of imagination, first through books and now through her favourite style of photography, fantasy. When she is editing her images, like Jane, she can lose herself for hours as she explores the landscapes which she is creating for her images. 

Anne is drawn to storytelling, whether fantasy or real, and unwittingly has become the reason this project has existed. Straight from school Anne got a job as a personal assistant for a quantity surveyor in Galway. Twenty years later and she still works there. Anne spent her lunch hour going for a walk around town and always found that there were so many people she was drawn to and would wonder about their story. Lacking in confidence, she never had the courage to approach them. The recession resulted in her job becoming part time but she used it as an opportunity to start enjoying her photography more. She loved the Humans of New York series and really wanted to be able to photograph strangers. She started following a Flickr group; 100 Strangers. Having been a member of the Galway Camera Club for around ten years she decided to reach out for help to create Galway's own 100 Strangers Galway.  

While walking along the river path in Dangan Anne saw a man and decided she wanted him to be her first stranger. His name was Jack and as fate would have it he was one of the first members of the Galway Camera Club. Anne saw this as a sign and  every Saturday her confidence grew as she and other members of the club met and approached strangers to create a collection of stories and portraits. It was through one of these meetings that this project started. It only took it's own legs once I realised I indirectly knew one of my 'strangers' and instead of losing a good photo and story I decided to create the Faces of Galway project. So I would like to personally thank Anne for having the courage to follow her dream and providing inspiration for many aspiring photographers like me. 

Make sure you check out Anne's Facebook page here and give her a like!