Projects: Writing with Photography
Going beyond the camera, these extended writing projects
explore different aspects of my life through photography.
LATEST PROJECT
Gledhow and Me
My most recent project – Gledhow and Me – is different from all the others on this website in two ways. Firstly, it’s an ‘active’ project – ‘active’ in the sense that I'll upload each chapter as soon as it feels finished – unlike previous projects that were always ‘inactive’ i.e. uploaded as the concluding task (along with tidying my desk and collecting all the coffee cups!!) And secondly, it’s different because it’s chiefly a research and curiosity project that uses my photography illustratively, rather than primarily being a photographic or artistic project with writing added to provide contextual information.
Chapter 1: In which we are introduced …
So come with me as I introduce you to Gledhow – the place where we live – and take you
on a tour around this suburb of contrasts and contradictions MORE …
Chapter 2: The Lie of the Land
Exploring the geology and topography of the neighbourhood – the hills, valleys,
lakes and
becks – with a ‘feet-on’ approach MORE …
Smile-Worthy: A Story about Storytelling
Exploring a style of photography with a ‘sense of wholeness’ which is mindful, meditative, soothing, contemplative, beautiful and which fills me with pleasure when I wake in the mornings, and stays with me throughout the day.
The Other Side
A project that’s childlike and messy at the start – entertaining for my 4‑year-old self – then incorporates my great-grandma, and finally broadens so that it ends in a more thoughtful, compassionate manner.
An Art Therapy Project
A project which took on a life of its own – creative, expressive, cathartic, emotional, restorative, and the source of enough ideas to keep me busy for the rest of this decade.
Looking Back
A nostalgic look through the elephants' graveyard of my writing – and asking whether much has changed in the last decade?
Churches and Cathedrals
An ecclesiastical photography project which (spoiler alert) goes in an unexpected direction.
Finding More Than My Focus
Late in 2020 I took an online course on 'Finding your Focus' with Rachel Wright, aimed at giving me opportunities ‘to explore different genres of photography, to discover more about the different types of photography which excite me and to develop my own individual style’.
Well, it certainly achieved that. I found my focus and far, far more.
Just One Short Month
In October 2020 – in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and the personal and national anguish over Brexit – I took a 4-week online course run by Ruth Davey called ‘Reframe Your Now: Mindfulness Photography for Mental Health and Resilience’.
And now, as this project explains, I'm looking to the future again.
What Has Photography Ever Done For Me?
… is a question I'm exploring during lockdown.
The answers may have long-term benefits; the project may just help me stay stimulated and (reasonably) at ease in these uncertain times. Either way it doesn’t matter.
It’s piqued my interest, I’m excited and I’m good to go.
Engineer to Artist: The Journey
From the age of about 15, my school, university and professional life was focussed on the sciences whilst photography was, at most, just a hobby; and art wasn't even on the horizon – not for the likes of us, was the message from childhood.
But cancer and aggressive chemotherapy knocked me off this very singular track and what followed is described by my friends as a 'journey'; they've supported, helped and encouraged me as photography took the place of engineering.