Industrial Sunset. 19th February.

Whilst driving home this evening the sunset caught my eye, absolutely beautiful! I'm not the kind of photographer who likes to take typical "chocolate-box" sunset/sunrise landscape images, but this view really caught my eye and I thought it was really striking. 

In other news, I have two fashion shoots in the next two days... quite exciting!

Emmaus Photo Documentary Update (and daily photo - fen turbines). 13th February.

I visited the Emmaus community and shop in Cambridge for the first time today, I talked to a few of the people there and had a look round the centre, I also started shooting. For those of you who do not know, Emmaus is an organisation which takes homeless people in and gives them accommodation and work if they comply by the rules of the community. The residents at Emmaus run a shop which sells refurbished furniture and donated goods. For more information about Emmaus visit: http://www.emmauscambridge.org/

On my way driving back from Cambridge, I saw this scene and just had to photograph it as I thought it would fit well into my Electric Landscapes project. So I pulled onto the verge and just captured the scene, it was wonderful!

New Project: Industrial Britain. 28th January.

Over the past couple of months I have been working on a documentary called "Electric Landscapes", I have decided to expand this and produce a documentary about how human's needs and the UK's consumerist society has impacted the landscape of Great Britain. This project is called "Industrial Britain", it is incorporating a number of photos from the electric landscapes, but expanding upon the theme. I'm going to be working on this project in future months, so I will keep this Blog updated with news.

This photograph is one which I took this morning whilst out shooting for the project, it was taken at Whittlesea Train station.

For the documentary so far visit: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151108361050046.785497.407058550045&type=1

Positive and Negative Electric Landscapes.

I have decided to spice up my electric landscape project by working on it in Photoshop to produce some experimental and interesting looking photographs. I have combined two images together as a positive and a negative layer. It's always good to try something a little different. 

Me. 21st December.

It is rare for me to produce a self-portrait, I'm a photographer and not a model... I'm so much more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it. This photograph may show that side of me, I'm about to start shooting a project with the Mamiya camera so I thought it would work well in a self portrait to show how I am as a photographer. I'll let you analyse it for yourselves.

I'm hoping to start shooting for my new project within the next two weeks, and I really want to start moving my electric landscape project forward tomorrow. I now have some ideas about using darkroom processes to make the electric landscape project really become unique and impacting, so watch this space!

The Candle. 12th December.

 I don't know why people seem to use candles more over Christmas. It might be because the days are a lot darker in England over Christmas, so candles bring a little bit more light into the world. It might be because Christmas it about Jesus's birth, which is also seen as the light of the world being born... so a candle signifies light. It might be because people just like candles! I don't know, it's just one of those funny little English traditions!

I spent some time with the Smith family today, they are a home educating family from Huntingdonshire. They are a great family and I am very happy with some of the photographs from today, this project is growing and getting stronger. Very exciting! I have a shoot with another family tomorrow, they approach Home Education in a different way to the Smith family, so it will be interesting to see what I get out of the time I spend with this family.

I also produced more photographs on my "Electric Landscapes" series today. I am going to start looking at another way to expand the project as I have now shot a series of landscapes with Pylons, I am now wanting to incorporate other forms of things relating to the subject.

Electric Landscape. 11th December.

So I shot a little bit more for my Electric Landscapes project today, it's going well and I am excited about what the finished piece of work is going to be like. I have a few more locations to shoot and I need to generate a few more ideas for the project, but it is great!

Tomorrow I am visiting another family for my Home Education / "Schools at Home" documentary. It's exciting to see this project forming as it is a subject that is really close to my heart. It is a short-term project at the moment, but I am looking into continuing it over the next year or so as I want to get a really wide range of people involved in it.

The Chippy. 10th December.

I was just walking to the local supermarket this evening to buy some chocolates for christmas presents... and I walked past the local chippy. Chip shops are so English, but I don't think I would miss them unless I went abroad. Everyone takes chip shops for granted, you get people just grabbing a snack on the way home, people who have decided to treat themselves for tea, people who going out for the evening..... all kinds of people who use these shops. This chip shop (friar tucks) has been open for as long as I can remember, I might go back and visit them again to use in my portrait documentary on local shops (the forgotten shops).

In other news, I have started shooting a little bit more for my "Electric Landscapes" project, I am really happy with where I am taking it by using a digital camera. I do love film and it's qualities, but I think that digital will work really well with the topic of this project. 

Kitchen Flowers. 8th December.

Every kitchen, at some time in its history, has had a bunch of flowers in it. I don't really know why flowers seem to be found in the kitchen, maybe it's because they are seen as refreshing and relaxing items which may relieve a little bit of the chore that cooking could be to some people, maybe it's just practical and the fact is that the flowers are near to the water tap so they can be easily refreshed, maybe it's just because they might be a nice table decoration when there is no food on the table... it's not a life changing question, but it's a little quirky way which we choose to live our life in the British culture.

In other news, I developed the film from my Electric Landscape project today, I was doing a test shoot with my Holga camera, I was not impressed with the results so I am currently working out what will be the best way to move this project forward. I might stay with 6x6 square landscapes and shoot with a Bronica, or I might go totally opposite and shoot Digitally as this would give a fine art twist to the project show how I as a photographer rely on the electricity which the pylons bring to fuel what I do. I have much deliberating and more research to do until I decide how to move the project forward.

Electric Landscapes. 6th December.

I started shooting for me "Electric Landscapes" project, I'm taking a series of photographs which are going to show how our need for electricity has now impacted our landscapes. We take pylons for granted and can now ignore them, but I want the project to highlight their presence. I'm shooting it with my trusty Holga, I love the photographs which a Holga can produce and I am really excited about this project!