Photography

My photography

I use photography to show something about where I’ve been or people whom I’ve met. As well as trying to see the beauty in a scene or situation, I’m also trying to convey ideas and feelings. My photography is about me and what I do, who I meet and where I go. All my photography tries to be contemporary and creative. I’m resistant to being fitted in to a taxonomy by categorisation such as “travel” or  “conceptual” or “nature”. All image-making is political simply by the act of selection and hence exclusion but I am not campaigning for any particular point of view, except to try to see the positives and to live life to the full.

I use 645, 35mm and DX formats plus a handy little digital compact that shoots RAW files. I’ve experimented with non-lens photography - do ask!

I first worked in a monochrome/silver wet darkroom at age 7, helping my Father with scientific prints; I’ve used colour negative materials since age 21 and digital since 2005. I use Photoshop (Adobe) and Photopaint (Corel).

Wimbledon Windmill

The windmill on Wimbledon Common was constructed in 1817: originally a corn mill, it is now a museum and much-loved landmark for the many Londoners who walk, run and play sport on the common.
Note the visual comparison of Nature vs Nurture: geometry and bold colours vs texture and fractal branching.

Scillas in Hammersmith Cemetery

Spring carpet of Crocus flowers in Hammersmith Cemetery today. A fine sight nearly at the end of my run back along the Thames Path with the bread fresh from the bakery in Barnes.
I’ve seen daffodils and of course snowdrops in flower elsewhere in the borough this weekend.

Balcombe Viaduct, Sussex

Balcombe Viaduct and the valley of the River Ouse in Sussex, seen from the train to Brighton. Lots of green as there has been a lot of rain.

Tags and graffitos in Marseille 5th and 6th arondissments

Tags and graffitos in Marseille 5th and 6th arondissments

Marseille’s many tags and graffitos give some indication of the mood of the neighbourhood: tags are everywhere and they’re lively and full-on. Many tags don’t last long, being either overwritten or erased by the city’s cleansing efforts. But those which survive tell a story of the political and social undercurrents. This photo walk around my neighbourhood on the border between the 5th and 6th arondissments was exploring a question which came up at the bike club “Galette des Rois” meeting last weekend: why does Marseille, as France’s second city, have so little obvious LGBTQ+ activity. No particular answers to the question from this essay: it seems Marseille is still in the world of “Don’t ask, don’t tell”.

More photos: Tag talk

Grizedale Pike (791 m.)

Skiddaw (931 m.)

Snow and frost just after dawn on Grizedale Pike (791 m.), also Skiddaw (931 m.) and Little Man Skiddaw (865 m.) in the Lake District.
Air reading -6.2°C in my garden at the time of these photos, it’ll be much colder higher up.

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