VISUAL HAIKU

I’ve been thinking about using my photographs to create visual haikus. The original inspiration is a Japanese poem often evoking nature and ephemera. The traditional format for a haiku is three lines containing 17 syllables (the first line has 5 syllables , line two 7 and line three 5). Here is an experimental autumnal haiku … Read more

Wet Frowns, Rainy Day Abstracts & Landscapes

It’s been raining a lot. I’ve gathered some of my favourite recent shots that feature aspects of rainfall. A few years ago I started documenting representations of gender and expression with a particular focus on frown lines and forehead expression – I called it The Frown Project. In the last couple of weeks I’ve felt … Read more

Palms of Palma

I’ve recently returned from a restorative summer holiday in Palma, the capital of the Spanish island of Mallorca. The following images were all taken on the trip and contain representations of palms and leafy elements. The first two photographs were taken in an old café, C’an Joan de s’Aigo, where the speciality is a delicious … Read more

Flying and Freedom: Images of Urban Birds

It’s quite rare for me to photographs birds so when I realised I’d captured birds in flight on two occasions in the past week it made me stop and think … why? Late last night I finished reading Cuban musician Paquito D’Rivera’s memoir Letters to Yeyito. In the coda he writes: the bird, which represents, … Read more

Red October – A Visual Diary

In recent weeks I have been doing my usual thing of walking around with a camera and photographing whatever catches my eye as well as developing and editing several ongoing photographic projects. Looking through the photographs I’ve taken this month I was struck by one of the themes that came through – the dominance of … Read more

Abstract Nature / Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on my Head

After a few weeks of unprecedented sunshine and warm temperatures in locked-down London it’s become more typically cloudy and rainy. Yesterday I was walking back home after doing some exercise on Hampstead Heath. It had been raining; my trainers were soaked and annoyingly my mind persisted in recalling Sacha Distel’s version of Raindrops Keep Fallin’ … Read more

Leafy Walls and Abstract Photography

Yesterday was a glorious autumnal day in London and I decided to walk through Hampstead Heath and then get the tube from Belsize Park. On my way to the station I saw a red fringed throw hanging out a window, reminiscent of red flag on May Day. The throw was framed by green ivy which … Read more

Street Photography, Illusion and Tree Goddesses

Tree goddesses are usually associated with antiquity and are represented in a variety of cultures, for example Celtic tree deities, dryads in Greek mythology and  Kodama – Japanese spirits that inhabit trees. I’ve previously drawn together some images of People in Trees featuring actual people sitting in trees. This collection is different. I’ve noticed the juxtaposition of … Read more

palm trees: unseasonal representations

I was looking through my photos of a California road trip taken earlier this year and came across this image of a lifeguard hut on Santa Barbara beach: I started thinking about other palm tree imagery I’ve photographed; not in saturated Ibizan sunsets but palm trees in more monochromatic settings. I looked back through my … Read more

Venice Carnival Part 2: Coriandoli, abstracts and fleeting moments

The first part of my tribute to this year’s Venice Carnival concentrated on images of masquerade and fancy dress. In this second part I focus on found street abstracts featuring coriandoli, Italian for confetti, a traditional decorative feature of the Venetian carnival. The pavements and squares are strewn with it. Here’s a picture of my … Read more