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).
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”.
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.
It’s often said that the internet is fragile, increasingly scary as a modern connection is fast becoming essential for everyday living. The birds-nest of cables and fibres at the top of this pole represents a single point of failure of the internet connections of nearly fifty households; it’s a difficult and hazardous place to work as well as being exposed to wind, rain and storms. The result is a modern connection but with reliability rather less than the previous infrastructure. There must be a better way than these poles in the Fiveways area of Brighton.
Photography note: the resizing of the image for the web page causes some of the wires to appear to have kinks.
Big waves crashing on to the pebble beach at Seaford, Sussex. Newhaven harbour wall and lighthouse are in the distance.
