Latest Blog Posts
October 13, 2026Back in October 2016 I started a documentary project which involved photographing the view from my kitchen window. The urban and almost industrial view looked towards Kentish Town and beyond. On a clear day the cityscape on the horizon was impressive, dotted with iconic architectural structures such as The London Eye and BT Tower. On other days it would be obscured by haze or fog. The series captures seasons and fleeting transient moments – below an example a of pink-hued, spring view:
Pink view, 6 April 2026
A year into the project, Stephen Emms of the North London cultural guide Kentishtowner featured Changing Views on the cover of the newspaper.
Me and the the local newspaper at the local pub, photographed by my son Raf, November 2017
I’ve photographed the view at different times of day and whenever something has caught my eye – the changing light, a sudden snow flurry, a passing overground train or container on the bridge that boldly displays the graffitied word HOPE.
Jolly View, September 2025
A bit snowy, November 2025
Sunset and Passing Overground Train 30/12/25
Today, ten years into the project, the sound of the wind and rain alerted me. I opened to the window to shoot this soft, smoky landscape, evoking the Renaissance Italian painterly concept of sfumatura, albeit with a passing Tesco container to place the image firmly in the 21st Century!
View through the sudden rain, 13 October 2026
Click HERE to see the Changing Views 10 Year Anniversary Gallery Grid.
Related posts:
Changing Views Featured in December issue of Kentishtowner
5 Years of Changing Views
A Year of Changing Views
7 Year Anniversary of Changing Views [...]
Read more...
August 24, 2026Here are a few images I took during the solar eclipse which peaked in London shortly after 7pm on August 12, 2026. The heatwave was in full force and alongside hundreds of others, me and my husband Stephen walked up Parliament Hill in Hampstead Heath. I was merely armed with a camera but lots of people had prepared picnic gear and were encamped on towels and blankets on the parched, drought-affected grass:
There was also a homely feel reminiscent of the DIY creative projects on the long-running BBC TV children’s show Blue Peter, with people repurposing old cereal boxes and using household items like colanders:
DIY Eclipse-viewing on Parliament Hill
We had brought along a green plastic colander and sheet of white paper. Next a few photographs featuring the aforementioned colander!
Abstract view through a colander
Below, profile shot of my husband Stephen and the colander, followed by an an image of his outstretched arm holding the paper with multiple crescent shadows caused by the eclipse:
Despite the shortage described by the media many people seemed to have obtained special eclipse glasses:
The atmosphere was friendly and festival-like, with a sense of community and joint purpose:
The couple below must have kept their glasses for the 27 years since the August 1999 eclipse. Hope their eyes are still ok!
Couple with vintage Eclipse glasses dated August 11, 1999
Above, me and Stephen during the eclipse peak, shot by Stephen on his iPhone. Examining the photo now I can see there’s a luminous crescent reflection on his shoulder blade.
Related posts:
Snow, Play and Creativity in the Age of Immersive Experiences
Photographic Encounters with Surgical Masks
Signs of the Times
On Scooters [...]
Read more...
July 22, 2026Mural in Perugia, 2026
Walking around the the historic centre of the Medieval city of Perugia in July 2026, I looked up to see a faded, textured mural depicting a surreal fusion; a fragmented, elegant black figure in profile and the iconic Bialetti Moka coffee with what appears to be a stove-top flame beneath it. The coffee pot handle is replaced with a human arm.
We were in Perugia specifically for the Umbria Jazz Festival, a city I’d never visited before despite numerous visits to Italy and spending a year here as a university student. The Italian coffee pot resonated with me on a number of levels – I’ll try and explain why.
Firstly I have been noticing imagery related to coffee. Recently in London I’d been shopping for a dress but instead ended up photographing the store sales assistant as she had a coffee pot tattooed on her arm:
Moka Pot Tattoo, 2026
And earlier this year I had been documenting Catholic religious iconography in Palermo, Sicily. One of the sightings that had struck me was the juxtaposition of the Bialetti coffee pot with the Jesus figurine alongside it:
Coffee and Religion: Palermo coffee shop detail shelf
Whilst in Palermo I visited a wall called Il Muro della legalita comprised of street art honouring individuals who had fought against the Mafia. The photograph below depicts on of my favourite authors, Andrea Camilleri who died at the age of 93 in 2019. Selfishly I was sad when he died as I had read all his novels and had to accept there would be no more to look forward to.
Andrea Camilleri portrayed on Il Muro della Legalità, Palermo
Besides making me laugh out loud Camilleri also inspired me to try cooking some new dishes as his crime novels were interspersed with descriptions of delicious food. The television series dramatising the Inspector Montalbano novels also highlighted the protagonist’s prioritisation of food and particularly coffee in times of crisis:
Screenshot from the Inspector Montalbano TV series
My curiosity regarding Umbria Jazz had been piqued by musician Ray Gelato who plays regularly at the festival with his band The Giants. We had been chatting over coffee outside our mutual regular London haunt, Bar Italia in London’s Frith Street several months earlier. Ray’s love of Bar Italia has been immortalised into a song which is part of his repertoire.
Portrait of Ray Gelato at Bar Italia
Ray described the Umbria Jazz Festival to me and advised I book accommodation in advance as Perugia gets busy in that period. On Ray’s recommendation we stayed in a hotel right in the centre of the action, which was perfect for us.
Ray Gelato through the crowds at Umbria Jazz, 2026
Below a young child on his guitar jamming along to Ray Gelato and the Giants.
There was music everywhere – everything from buskers and brass band processions to small outdoor stages and arena gigs.
Me & Stephen snapped by a stranger before the Gilberto Gil concert at Arena Santa Giuliana
Gilberto Gil at Arena Santa Giuliana
Funk Off Italian Brass Band on the main pedestrianised boulevard of Perugia, Corso Vannucci
Buskers on the Corso Vannucci, Perugia
Above, Italian musician Francesco (on the right) who regularly performed in the street with his keyboard in a genre reminiscent of New Orleans icon Dr. John.
Mitch Woods is Brooklyn-born and California-based pianist and singer whose genres span rock, boogie-woogie, blues and jive. Mitch has lead his band The Rockets since the 80s and also currently tours with Van Morrison. It was great to meet him as he was doing a residency in the jazz club at our hotel:
Mitch Woods, 2026
Below, Ray and Mitch jamming together
Ray Gelato & Mitch Woods, Perugia, 2026
One of the surprise gigs for me was seeing the Charles Lloyd Quartet who shared the bill with Terence Blanchard & Ravi Coltrane. An 88 year old sax player and flautist – I was blown away by his spiritual energy and found his sound totally mesmerising. I also loved the background artworks which I believe were created by his wife Dorothy Darr:
Charles Lloyd Quartet
Charles Lloyd Quartet
I visited some of Perugia’s Museums during the day and in one of the rooms at the Fondazione Perugia, was struck by this painting of a woman with a tambourine or tamburella. (Possibly by Gian Domenico Cerrina also know as Il Cavalier Perugino – if anyone can confirm do let me know).
Many of the shops in Perugia had musical instruments in their windows. Here are a few examples:
Guitar as style accessory, Perugia
There was something surreal about the ukulele and tambourines juxtaposed with adverts for reducing cellulite and high-end facial fillers and beautifying creams in this pharmacy window:
Pharmacy window with ukulele, tambourines and reflections, Perugia
Vintage camera shop with vinyl records, guitar and olive oil window display
Elegant coffee shop and reflections
A couple more images of people and coffee in Perugia:
Excited pooch at the local Coffee Shop & Gelateria
My husband being a big fellow prefers to have a double espresso rather than a single; this bar in Perugia brought it to him in two separate espresso cups!
Doppio Espresso
What I didn’t let on to Ray Gelato was that I knew that Antonio, the owner of Bar Italia and Little Italy in Soho was coming to Perugia to surprise him. Antonio along with a few friends, also regulars at the cafe, were arriving on the final Saturday of the Festival, which also happened to be the day I was leaving, having arrived the Saturday before towards the start of the Festival.
Antonio Polledri in Little Italy
Back in London, I intend to keep up my tradition of going to Bar Italia.
Above, my two sons deep in conversation at Bar Italia earlier this year.
And today for breakfast I made myself coffee at home. I’m reflected in a shot of my Bialetti Moka pot with the London cityscape behind it:
Reflected self in my Bialetti Moka pot with London View
Links:
Bar Italia
Ray Gelato
Charles Lloyd
Mitch Woods
Related posts:
Fashion and Individuality
London in Lockdown Part 2: Street Abstracts and Facades in the West End
Spotted in Soho: Street Photography in the Days of Covid-19
Bar Italia – a Visual Update [...]
Read more...
June 4, 2026In 2025 adults started talking and writing about a phenomenon they couldn’t understand – kids shouting the numbers 6 7 followed by a weird hand movement which apparently became a craze. According to a BBC article the phrase “67”, which first gained popularity with Generation Alpha, has gone on to become a viral internet sensation and was even named Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year for 2025.
It reminded me that I too had a childhood relationship with the numbers 6 and 7 and brought back memories from the early 1960s. I had recently moved from London’s Stamford Hill to the posher Finchley and was attending Hasmonean Primary School, an Orthodox Jewish Faith State school in Hendon. In the mornings we had Jewish assembly followed by religious studies. During the summer term of 1964, the topic in Jewish assembly that week was the story of David and Bathsheba. In Hebrew, the word for Bathsheba is Batsheva. Broken down, Bat means daughter and Sheva is the number seven. Batsheva can also be translated as “seven years old”.
One morning, the headmaster, Mr. Cohen, stood in front of my class row in assembly, raised his hand and pointed at us. Gliding his hand from right to left, he announced with authority “YOU … are the most beautiful girls in the world, because you are all seven!”
Mish, bottom row, 3rd from left
I felt shock and panic – I was six.
Lonely Six
I had to be seven! Immediately. I couldn’t rationalise that according to his Batsheva theory I would eventually become beautiful in August during the summer holidays. I had to be beautiful now. I had to be like the others, not cast out on my lonely island of non-beauty. But I was very good at arithmetic so worked out that in order to be seven all I had to do was subtract a year and change my date of birth to 1956. We used to have to write our birth dates in our exercise books. It calmed me knowing that simple forgery entitled me to join the world of beautiful girls and not be the traumatised, shamed outsider I felt myself to be. And voilà I became 7 just like that!
Street Abstract with handprints, smile emoji and no.7
One day my parents received a phone call from the school who wanted to clarify how old I was as my date entries didn’t match their records. I was outed!
Nowadays I see this story as part of my journey towards authenticity, self-acceptance and embracing my reality. At the age of six I needed validation and felt ostracised from the beautiful group. A sense of otherness remains and I can still feel left out, but on the whole it manifests as individuality and independence. I have reclaimed the number six.
This is a 6, New Orleans, 2025
Self-portrait at the age of 68
Related posts:
the wise son and the wicked son
Purim, ritual and ancestry
Exploring identity in self-portraiture: looking back in time
Purim 1984 in Hendon [...]
Read more...
April 28, 2026I was walking into Soho Square when I spotted someone wearing a vintage traditional dark chocolate brown Astrakhan Karakul hat, and it immediately brought back memories of early childhood where I’d seen the same hats worn by male members of London’s Persian Jewish Community.
Here’s a photo that predates my birth by decades and is a studio portrait of my paternal grandmother Bibi’s relatives. Bibi, whose Hebrew name was Dvora, was the daughter of Moshe Ben Eliahu Mulla and Sarah Bat Binyamin Namdar. This is a very early photo of Bibi’s parents and brother. The image was taken in Merv in Turkmenistan. I don’t quite understand the date at the bottom but I’m assuming it was taken in 1920:
Lynton Talbot in a vintage Astrakhan hat, 2026
Above, Lynton Talbot in his vintage Astrakhan hat. We had a chat and in addition to a mutual appreciation for each other’s hats, discovered a shared background in teaching visual culture. Lynton co-runs a gallery in Wardour Street called TINA.
I realised I’d previously photographed a man in an Astrakhan hat at the winter Grand Flaneur Walk last November and I had experienced that feeling of curiosity and recognition.
Man in a Persian Lamb hat at the Winter Grand Flaneur Walk, November 2025
When my father died back in 2004 I kept his old photos and a few personal objects including his bowler hat which his initials on the inside brim. However I have no record or memory of him actually wearing it :
Dad’s bowler hat
My kids took a liking to the hat and I do have some early digital photos of my son Dan peeping out from under his duvet donning his “bobo”‘s bowler hat:
Dan in Bobo’s bowler hat, 2006
In terms of memory and continuity from my own perspective, I would say that the beret is a hat I’ve worn since I was a teenager, therefore spanning over 50 years!
I’ve always liked the retro style of the beret. Below a scan of one of my father’s old photos featuring his relatives on a beach. I vaguely remember them – I believe he did magic tricks and went by the Anglicised name of Uncle Simon as well as the Persian Dosh Lotfolloh (sic).
Vintage postcard featuring relatives in berets
Above, a scan of a photo taken during a Purim party in the at Stamford Hill’s Persian Synagogue. I am wearing a white beret, and receiving a prize from my late Uncle Khalil. I had dressed up as Bonnie, inspired by Faye Dunaway in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde. The photo probably dates from the late 60s as I cut my hair short around that time.
Next, me in a blue beret and retro sunglasses pointing a toy gun at Rossano Sanavio in Padova in 1979/1980. I think we were trying to create a homage to French New Wave cinema, and that the inspiration was the director Jean-Luc Godard:
Me and Moriyama, 2023
Above a selfie taken at an exhibition of one of my favourite photographers, Daido Moriyama, back in 2023
Next a series of recent street photographs and portraits featuring berets. The first three shots were taken in the Kings Cross Area:
Beret and clouds, Kings Cross, 2026
Vintage style on the tube, 2026
Photographer Chris Freeman, 2024
A few from Soho:
Graeme Webb talking to Brian Stewart, Little Italy, December2025
Frith Street, 2026
And finally one of Soho local Julian, walking down Frith Street with an antique rug casually draped over his shoulder:
Julian, 2026
Related posts:
Top Hat
Gotta photograph that hat!
A Century of Top Hats
Photographs Inspired by Earrings: An Update [...]
Read more...
March 29, 2026I’d like to share some photographs shot over the past year where the image of the eye has caught my attention; as well as new street abstracts featuring fragmented representation and abstract forms. Many of these photographs document human intervention, either through deliberate damage such as tearing or the presence of graffiti.
Changing Representations in the Street:
In late November 2025 I was walking down Monmouth Street off London’s Covent Garden when I noticed some torn posters which were unusual. Contrary to defaced imagery I have documented in the past, specifically when it comes to eyes in my blog on Defaced Posters: Eye Gouging & Oedipus, these eyes were carefully and accurately cut out rather than scratched out and ripped:
As well as perfectly cut out eyes, the first image has additional graffiti suggesting snot running out of one nostril. My feeling is that this – a touch that can be interpreted as funny, demeaning or both depending on one’s stance – has been added by someone else at a later date:
Torn and Snotty, Monmouth Street, November 2025
In the poster alongside, the perfectly cut out eyes reveal a solid ultramarine Yves Klein blue beneath:
Blue Eyes, November 2025
The following week I walked past again and the change in both images was dramatic:
The rips in the image below reveal a slice of a beautiful black face whose fragmented gaze is direct:
Torn Reveal
The next series of images document human Intervention with regards the representation eyes in posters and adverts in public spaces:
Lion King Poster with gold paint added to eyes, 2026
Abortion is Murder sticker, London 2026
Anus sticker on eye, Spitalfields, March 2026
Eye Voted, NYC, November 2025
A series of found abstracts.The following images were photographed locally to me in the Gospel Oak and Highgate Road vicinities:
Gouged Eyes: Oedipus revisited, 2025
Vibrant Abstract, 2025
Found Cubist Face, 2025
Found Abstract in Highgate Road, 2026
Highgate Road Abstract
Surreal Pavements, 2026
Facial Reveal 2025
Next, a series of images shot in New York in late October and early November 2025:
Abstract Autumn in New York, 2025
Layers of Time, NYC 2025
Below, some abstracts that reference New York Mayoral election. The following images contain torn fragments featuring Zohran Mamdani, who at the time was a mayoral candidate:
Blowin’ in the Wind
Seen on the New York subway, in addition to the outlined eyes and lashes, an example of unibrow graffiti. Open to interpretation, with opinions varying from signifying natural beauty and empowering strength and the legacy of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo to a mocking symbol of unkempt ugliness:
Unibrow, New York Subway, November 2025
In the final section are a few more examples of graffiti that make me question their intention. Humour, misogyny, venting? A combination?
And seen the other day, a pencil moustache and an additional blackened tooth adorn a poster in Soho advertising glamorous eyebrows:
Below, another example of the ubiquity of male genitals in graffiti. A penis at gunpoint drawn on a poster advertising a young person learning music production skills:
The word CUNT scratched into one of the layers of a torn billboard on Highgate Road:
Notes
Yves Klein Blue: French painter Yves Klein signature colour was an ultramarine blue that some people claim spiritually draw them into a different dimension.
Link to my gallery documenting penis graffiti.
Link to gallery documenting graffiti, hair and gender.
Related posts:
Fragments of New York: focus on the eye
Eyes Around Town
street abstracts: torn and folded
Multiple Exclamation Marks in Graffiti, Signs & Stickers [...]
Read more...
Participatory art at the Julio Le Parc exhibition at Tate Modern #julioleparc #reflection #documentaryphotography #creativity #leica @womeninstreet @unexp_collective @street_badass
Dart in the heart / shadow portrait #shadowhunters #bnw #dreaminstreets #streetphotography #creativity @martin_creed @womeninstreet @unexp_collective @street_badass
When you spot a stunning colour walker in the ladies loos at Spitalfields and ask if you can take their photo – her name is Susana #colourwalk #advancedstyle #portrait #creativity #style @london.colour.walk @womeninstreet @street_badass
The lovely Soraya @swwsociety #candid #streetphotography #womeninstreet #unexp_collective #street_badass
Double profile #streetportrait #streetstyle #tattoo #profile #bnw @womeninstreet @unexp_collective
My latest blog post celebrates the 10 year anniversary of one of my documentary projects Changing Views which captures the scene from my kitchen window.(link to the blog in bio) . The full gallery is also on my website https://www.mishaminoff.com/changing-views-3/ Here are 3 examples including one taken yesterday on the 10th anniversary #landscapephotography #cityscape #documentary #time #fujifilm
Surreal urban fox #streetphotography #portrait #fox #dreaminstreets #youth @womeninstreet @unexp_collective
A new one from my ongoing series entitled Persian Kentish Town #persiankentishtown #reflection #illusion #identity #dreaminstreets @kasra_rugs
