PHOTOS: the best of Fionnuala Bradley

We sent out our spring photography intern, Fionnuala Bradley, on a variety of assignments throughout the city. Not only did she provide us with spectacular photographs, but she was a great addition to our team. Fionnuala is graduating VCU later this month. We are sorry we have to say goodbye.

To celebrate her work, we asked Fionnuala to pick her favorite photos from among the hundreds that she snapped. Enjoy.

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My trip to the SPCA left me with a million new additions to my wish list. Lois was a natural with having his photo taken. Although he wasn’t afraid of strangers, the SPCA volunteer had to pick him up and hold him to get him on and off the elevator.

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At the game, I sat in front of some enthusiastic courtside Ram fans with mullet wigs and Elvis glasses. Any time I turned around, I’d find a wiggling butt or a screaming mouth in my face. Even a wider lens wouldn’t have been able to handle it.

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I approached many people during my Brookland Park Boulevard visits, but a strange white girl with a camera usually made them uncomfortable. Joseph, on the other hand, approached me. After we talked about the recent burglaries on Brookland Park and the racial divides that are ever-so-apparent in Richmond, he told me that interactions like ours was the only hope for change. I held out my hand and instead I got a hug.

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I tried to be as nonintrusive and quiet during the Bingo Hall games because I didn’t want to interrupt any player’s focus. However, these regulars managed to chat away as their markers kept moving. This woman had two elephant trinkets that she insisted gave her luck (but needed to give her more).

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Making the “Elvis Kiss” look natural was more difficult than finding people to kiss on camera. Couples who had been dating for years suddenly looked like they were on a first date. There was a lot of “Stick your tongue out farther” and “Uhh, no. Not that much.”

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