We’re just back from a week up in the mountains of Slovenia. With people few and far between up in the snows and woods, I was very keen to find a stranger when we did dip into a town.

Škofja Loka was the town, with a super medieval core. A quick wander offered numerous alleyways of dusty, honey-toned blur.

Frenk was the kind chap willing to take part. I’d seen him from a distance, assessing the town’s main street with a penetrating stare. With a gently hand in pocket stance and lean briefcase he had a professorial, stridently intellectual air, not entirely unlike Arsene Wenger.

I’d noted his tie and suit would echo the tones of a previously scouted alleyway, and that is pale blue shirt would compliment it neatly.

Although he was talking with his brother Bertrand, who’d headed on to attend to other business, he kindly agreed to a handful of shots. In the others he shared a smile, but I went with this one for the project as the starker neutral gaze better matched my first impression of him.

Frenk is the first stranger to give me their business card. He works with the Slovenian Yellow Pages, scouting towns across a wide sweep of the country – checking for new businesses currently unlisted in their records. He explained the variety of towns in Slovenia, and the various opportunities and issues this creates. It sounded like an extremely interesting challenge to manage, and I can’t think of a more picturesque part of the world in which to work.

Thanks Frenk for taking a moment out of a busy day to take part; I hope you like your portrait and had a productive afternoon.

This is portrait #41 of my 100 Strangers Project – check out the group page and get involved.