After a manic few days it was utter bliss to get out in the garden and pot on the courgette plants which had magically grown exeptionally well in the oatly pots!!
Fingers xd they keep growing!!
Friday Friday FRIYAY
The Face exhibition at the Natuonal Portrait gallery
A spicey margarita at a roof top bar in London, a walk along the strand, pina colada in hand, ART at the NPG…perfect Friday!
Of the 5 of us who did art this evening, 3 of us work in the creative industries and 2 of us worked at Exmouth House on the corner of Exmouth Market, home of The Face Magazine, Arena and Arena Homme +.
Nostalgia bubbled to the surface as we soaked up the exhibition - the vibrant page layouts, typography, photography and remembered what felt like a ‘golden era’. The 1990s - wasn’t 1950 a golden era? Well, seems like we all feel a bit nostalgic for the ‘90s - the culture, fashion, music, lived experience and fun!!! The excitement, individual style, feeling of something new about to blossom.
I’ll be going back to see the exhibition again and sit amongst the coloured walls of the exhibition each FULL of rich creativity and soak up that feeling of inspiration - i’m also going back to buy this book ⏬️
Island time....WFH
Working from a HOT destination x
view looking out over a pool with a pontoon in the distance
Sipping coffee, blue sky, warm air…….writing emails, pondering
3 movies watched on the flight
‘Lee’ The story of Lee Miller’ ***** absolutely incredible, I studied her work at photo school and recently visited Farley House ahead of seeing the film. For me it’s a fantastic portrayal of her life and incredibly moving too
‘Wolfs’ LOL Brad Pitt & George Clooney ***** a tonic!
‘Conclave’ ***** WOW!
Flight time yesterday was a movie catch up and I am OKAY with that! I also started watching ‘Anora’ and look forward to finishing it on the return journey :-)
Phew…okay….what am I doing here….all will be revealed…
Monday morning confessionals..
Magical morning walks….
For the last few days I’ve been hiking for a couple of hours as the day begins and the birds are singing their hearts out.
It’s so joyful.
It’s nearly 5 years since I read ‘The Nature Fix’ by Florence Williams. Little did I know when I picked this out at Boston Airport March 18th, 2020 - just how much it would shape and frame the months that followed.
It’s a wonderful book if you haven’t read it, detailing studies around the world on the benefit of time in nature - I recommend it to everyone!
It’s easy to get into something and then step away for a moment only for that moment to become much longer than one intended. I’ve missed walking every day and starting my day walking 5 or 6 miles before the world wakes up.
I’d replaced it with hot yoga or swimming but increasingly I’ve really missed the fresh air you just don’t get in a chlorinated pool lol and so, bundling up against the morning chill i’ve been stepping out. Ordering the day + my thoughts.
Wherever you might be this week, I hope you take a moment to tune in to the dawn chorus, the crisp air or the sun on your cheeks x
Sunday ruminations.....
It’s always intriguing to visit the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, there appear to be trends each year that connect each artist and hold the room. Themes of connection, the human spirit, the human condition, moments in time, chapters of lives.
This year felt no different yet amongst all the work on display two artists stood out for me - I enjoyed the use of shadows, photography is all about light after all and how we as photographers and artists choose to embrace it / shy away from it/ harness it and the mood it creates / dictates / expresses.
As authors and expressive beings, the stories we edit and create through the choices made in a split second / through intuition or more exactingly curated, assemble their own journey to the viewers that receive the images we create. Control is not ours on how it lands.
Sometimes we are drawn towards the content of an image, sometimes the colour / black and white, sometimes the familiarity and sometimes its dramatic angles.
The images by Nick van Tiem caught my attention because of the light illuminating certain areas, the angle at which they were taken. I felt as if I was looking at film stills, I was intrigued. (images above)
an image of a figure kneeling on a bed in white thong in a white room, window crack ajar, mind the gap box on the shelf behind by Jack Davis as part of the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, on display at The National Portrait Gallery, London.
then ‘Chlo Mydia, 2023’ by Jack Davis caught my attention
having only just read the title of the work today - 2 days after seeing the image, I write with a wry smile. Art should have a voice and catch us by surprise or give us something new each time we return to it. On Friday evening, I simply enjoyed how this image stood out against the others in its curated simplicity when clearly it has been carefully positioned. The background window ajar, glass vase of stones, mind the gap on the shelf, human arm attached to what feels like a cyborg and the sterility of the room. I loved it because it was different to everything else in the room and now I love it because on a Sunday morning it’s made me look a little harder, question what I didn’t see on Friday evening and why and promise myself next time I go to an exhibition I either take longer to look or go back a second time to see.
Friday night confessionals, a galentines lunch with a view, photo session + ART
Friday night confessionals, a galentines lunch with a view, photo session + ART
The National Portrait Gallery
Final days of the Taylor Wessing and a blissful evening wander around some of the galleries, stumbling across a sketch book display of work by Lucien Freud + a 5x4 print of Hugh Grant- recorded as a reminder of the awesomeness of the 5x4 format/picture/
Friday night confessional- Jan 24th ‘25
Phew! Hibernation fully being embraced over here :-)
Trips to Brighton to photograph interiors
A roller disco because we need more joy, fun and laughter in our lives right now AND it’s always great to do something we loved as a kid + why not!?
We also ran our monthly life drawing session and WOW! We have talented a bunch or artists!!
I found a gorgeous bakery / cafe in Worthing and the MOST delicious coffee, totally by chance and I’d HIGHLY recommend it (the most gorgeous cakes too!!)
aaaannndd…finally….i’m celebrating 9 years of being a yoga instructor (alongside being a photographer) by launching a set of postcards from sayings I use in class 😀….
Happy Friday everyone! X
First Friday night confessionals of 2025
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy + utterly fabulous year ahead x
Friday night....
Working with this architects practice was a dream!
Natural light poured through the doorway and between laughter + chatter Nick brought his A game!
Lamenting a week of inspiring clients
Sunday afternoon confessional….
Full of gratitude this Sunday afternoon for incredible clients, for them trusting + entrusting their briefs to me.
Grateful for variety, for natural light, cloudy days AND sunshine. For the moments between moments and for getting up every day to work on something I love.
This week reminded me to take my time when something just doesn’t ‘feel’ right, to move around until I feel that synergy with what’s infront of me and if that means taking a breath or a break and coming back, that’s Okay.
Commercial shots, event photography, portraits
Friday night confessionals…..
Hello January!
Spent such a fun day recently exploring Greenwich and the Maritime Museum, The Astrological Photographer of the year competition has some breath taking and curious images.
Discovering old gems
That twilight time, reorganising work or boxes or offices when there's no real rush and you can enjoy finding pictures you took 20 years ago…..in film…..printed in a darkroom…on photo paper…..lol utter bliss creating and curating this project…I mean it was stressful at the time lol BUT I had that feeling in my abdomen that it was just so Or just right and kept being hit by fizzes of inspiration on how the images could sit together - or not - + doing every single part of this process was magical and it enabled meticulous crafting of the materials.
Loading the film, actually choosing which camera aesthetic would suit, which film to load, all the locations, all the elements of the ‘story’ or narrative. The decisions on processing times, paper to print on, chemicals used in printing, size and scale. Mounting, cutting the windows in the board, carefully attaching archival tape to secure them, sequencing the set, framing and displaying….photography is always a series of decisions. It’s always a process and that’s where the magic lies…..
A pre Xmas treat
I've had my eye on this place for ages and finally after my last photo session before Xmas this morning (+a last minute grab of festive gifts)…I landed here.
I'm in heaven. Not quite ready to reflect upon the year but ready to hibernate for family time, peace + fresh air.
I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a beautiful Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Between the raindrops
Tash & Tom were married yesterday!!
Dear diary..
Forever curious and forever learning…
Yesterday I had a super learning day with Nick Church just outside Bristol….pretty excited to keep working on new tools and skills I picked up :-) #always learning #alwaysastudent
Brighton Wedding Bells!!!
Brighton was particularly spectacular this past weekend!
Read MoreFriday Night Confessionals.....it's been a while...
Soooo, I did a thing,
Writing this from a hotel in Brighton, the night before a wedding I’m photographing, I’m on catch up and wanted to share the week, I’ve missed doing this and I hope it continues, fingers x’d!
So, the masters, it’s been going on for a while and aged me more than anything else I’ve ever done!
For the last 2 years I’ve been working on a MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in Photography, it’s a qualification I have wanted to work towards since I completed formal photography training on the certificate programme in America and as we came out of lockdowns in 2021 I became a little more serious about achieving it. Fast forward 2 years and here we are, my foiled certificate arrived this week and it became ‘real’.
Around a month before we finished I FINALLY felt I was drawing all my threads of research together and so the plan now, after the summer, is to dig in, continue the project and fine tune the prototypes and iterations I have started!!
Photograph certificate
Wednesday evening
Highgate Pergola - Emily & Stuart rocked their engagement pictures!!!
I’ve been missing my morning walks and Tuesday showered me with a gift of a walk - it was so joyful, out the door by 7am, 2 hours of bird song and fresh air was THE BEST start to the day!!
Here we are in Brighton, urban art everywhere + I’m snapping like crazy the ever changing landscape of the graphic art in the Lanes!!!
Menorca, May 2023
It's funny what catches your eye on a walk
Sunday night confessionals
Ahhh I’ve been exploring…this morning I made my way up to Chelsea Physic Garden after seeing it in the ‘Green London’ book produced by the Hoxton mini press.
It was a real treasure trove of delights with 2 guided tours led at 11am and 12pm - these sounded wonderful, alas I wasn’t able to join them. The morning was crisp and fresh w a smattering of cold fingers and frost bite, I wound my way through the grounds. Some plants hibernating for winter, some in full delicious glory against the sunshine rising over the river (the gardens are south ish facing and must be a joy in fine weather)
Sunday morning confessionals
I can’t believe this time last week I was a bag of nerves preparing to hang my photo show at The Allen Gallery.
I’d been to a hot yoga class to help find some calm/grounding/balance + it worked but I was also a mixture of excitement to be displaying images in a different way (tacked to the walls) + nervous as to how it would look and be received.
A week on and its been pretty intense. The volunteers at the gallery, Mick and Josie were soooo helpful and encouraging and Tony gave the seal of approval when it was all in place and between them they were such a tonic :-).
