Conga Drums and Nostalgia

A few weeks ago I took some photos of musician Daniel Marruzzo at London’s Afro Cuban Music Night. He is about to play a conga drum and the lighting gives the whole image a red glow: The conga drum looks red but isn’t. From time to time I miss my old red conga drum. A … Read more

street abstracts: torn and folded

Over the years I have photographed many torn posters and adverts, peeling walls and glue glyphs. I like the layers, textures and fragmented altered imagery. Recently I was waiting at a bus stop in Kentish Town standing by a billboard and took a few versions of the photograph below. The wind was blowing and folded … Read more

Motivational Graffiti and Rosh Hashana

This evening heralds the start of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana. As Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman writes in the Jerusalem Post: Rosh Hashana is an opportunity for change. It is “not just the beginning of the Hebrew Calendar; it is also the symbol for renewal. This is when we begin to scrutinise ourselves and … Read more

Woman at a dressing table

The images in this post have been selected around the themes of sitting at a dressing table, looking into a mirror and applying makeup. Firstly here are a couple of portraits I took of my mother from a project I did at college in the late 80s: In the next photo I appear in the … Read more

Venetian shrines and daily life

Back when I studied History of Art I spent a year in Venice researching various secular motifs in 18th Century Venetian painting. My assumption from that time was that Venice, unlike Rome and Florence, was not particularly a centre for religious iconography. However, on recent visits, walking around the city with an objective eye, I … Read more

Percussion & The Afro Cuban Music Night

Back in May I wrote a blog post highlighting images of dance and movement at the monthly Afro Cuban Music Night in London. I wanted to post some new images featuring musicians and percussion instruments. This is Richard Sweet on okonkolo, the smallest of the three batà drums used to play traditional Afro Cuban music: This … Read more

Photographs taken on Public Transport

Last week I took a photograph of a father and his young daughter on a London bus. I decided to develop it in black and white which to me rendered the image more nostalgic and timeless, with less distractions, so that one can focus more on the subjects and the beauty of the girl’s hair … Read more

Badges and Identity

I was at the Trump protest in London and took a photograph of a man whose badge made me smile because of the use of the word quite. I tend to use the word quite myself – I was quite upset or quite angry – it’s very tempered, understated and moderate.  I love the British humour … Read more

Signs: dress code and etiquette

I’ve just returned from a short trip to Venice. One of the photos I took was of this sign, seen outside a parish: I noticed the sign and misread it at first; I didn’t realise it was advocating a modest dress code policy. I initially saw the X above the guy’s cap as some kind … Read more