This was taken at Manchester's Pride parade - a fabulous annual event. I had no idea who the guy was, but the enigmatic look along with the feathers and body paint, which made me think ‘Gladiator’, just SO resonated for me.

The picture was printed and framed for an exhibition the following year and while everybody liked it, nobody bought it. It stayed on my studio wall until (UPDATE!) seven years later, a his friend of his saw it - I took it off the wall and gave it to him to pass on to the gladiator, with my thanks :-)