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.

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 :-).

International Women’s Day 2023

Celebrating International Women’s Day, 2023

 What’s your ‘Wish or Hope’ for the future? 

This photography project began with Ivy, then 5, in 2021. I was curious at that time to understand what people were thinking and I loved the idea of using audio and visual references to record each sitter's response. The project lay dormant until last year when I picked it up again as part of my masters programme and began asking girls and women in our community if they’d like to participate. 

Photographing in the garden at The Allen Gallery (which is beautiful) and around Alton, it was my vision to create a variety of images, at differing distances from each sitter with a mixture of quiet moments, reflections and laughter in order to begin building a collective visual.

I am incredibly grateful to all the sitters who shared their time and stories with me, it has highlighted just how much of a rich tapestry of inspiring, creative, generous and kind women we are surrounded by here in Alton.

Re-entering the colour darkroom!

This week its been about falling in love with slowing down, with being in the colour darkroom, with aiming for aligning the correct colours BUT loving the fluidity of the unexpected.

This summer…….

September has rolled around and autumn is nipping slightly at the days beginnings and ends, whilst the glow of August lingers a little.

I gleefully always seem to be on catch up, on the back foot when it comes to sharing and posting photo work and jobs and berating myself for not posting in a timely manner or at all.

Its not that i dont want to, often i am caught between waiting for clients to post first then i share OR another reality which happened last night. I got home from a fabulous full days shoot, downloaded my images, checked them over, imported them to Lightroom and fell into bed. Knowing I had to drive 3 hours to a glorious destination today for a photo session tomorrow.

I'd love to pretend I have all these people, all these teams doing all the things that ensure smooth sailing of a small business but it's not, it's all me and if I'm knackered and dribbling then it's best I step away from a screen, put myself to bed and gear up for the next day. I'm certain you understand and it really helps saying it out loud.

So a snippet, shared from the gram of a recent epic 2.5 hour session in London with wonderful Lisa Berkovitz. Finding the light, the joy and the moments, laughter, positivity and connection….more on the gram, or here or both. Here's to a happy September x

Wishing Everyone a beautiful New Year x

Friday Night Confessionals.......September you're here!

Feeling grateful…….

So as I sit here Friday Sept 17th, FINALLY writing a Friday night confessional for what feels like the first time in forever (I realise I have started and not completed about 3 others over the last 3 weeks!! - Not from lack of wanting!) I am thrilled to share just a snippet of recent work which will be updated in the galleries soon and in the meantime here is a sprinkling of the fantastic clients I’ve had the pleasure to create imagery for :-)

OK, short and sweet :-) Happy Friday everyone xx

Sunday Afternoon Confessionals.....

Friday, Sunday…Thursday…I’ll get back to the Friday rhythm soon :-)

There’s something so joyous about catching up on a Sunday and here I am with Jake’s portrait, Head chef at The Greyfriar, Chawton.

YES!! Friday afternoon confessions.......has anyone seen summer?

If so, could you just politely direct it over here please :-) Thanks so much!!

Well, hello Friday!! How’s everyone doing?

This past week has been a super fab, crazy, zesty mix of editing, photography and client meetings with a slithering of yoga in person as a student and gym workouts to get my fitness + stamina back up as weddings approach!! The challenge of sitting to edit photo sessions is real now and I’m having to take a break and step away from my screen every 45minutes - to think pre pandemic I used to sit locked in for hours at a time now seems impossible!!

BUT I am super excited not only to be back right in the mix of photographing an amazing array of FOOD, PORTRAITS, LIFESTYLE and LITTLE PEOPLE + I am stoked to share a few images from this weeks sessions and commercial shoots!

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Images above taken at The Greyfriar Pub in Chawton ahead of their opening May 17th and capturing their new menu and staff pictures!!

Whooooo it’s an amazing feeling to be photographing, being creative and mixing safely with clients and friends again :-)

Stay safe everyone and have a great weekend! x

Friday Night Confessionals.......2021 International Women's Day

This year……ZOOM ruled

As International Women’s Day approached this year I had been spending this lockdown online studying my other passion, Yoga Teaching. The love and happiness that flowed out of the screens during class was phenomenal.

I pondered ways to celebrate and appreciate this when it occurred to me we were graduating the day before on March 7th so I asked if anyone would love to be involved and created the #choosetochallenge images for the IWD Gallery and some additional images for fun :-)

Totally amazed it worked and beyond thrilled these amazing souls below were up to experiment and see what would happen, we laughed A LOT and created some beautiful images. Thank You everyone xx My heart is FULL xx

Friday Night Confessionals….surprises all round!

This week!! WOWZERS

I had completely forgotten about this amazing interview!!! SO beyond thrilled to share this article on my lockdown project!!!

A Couples guide to our session

For each of my proposal couples and couples celebrating their love I create shoot plans and guides similar to the ones above.

After an email or chat over the phone where we discuss the details of your vision, we set up the following

Your Celebration/Occassion: Proposal/Anniversary/Birthday/Just Because

Our Route: Depending upon your goals and favourite spots

Time: Morning/Late Afternoon/Evening

Location: London/Hampshire

Delivery: Digital/Prints

This is always super helpful for both of us to confirm the details and sure everything up.

International Women's Day 2020

Celebrating ‘Friendship’

March 2020

I couldn’t let this year pass without celebrating - every year I capture portraits of women which then become an exhibition with the idea of inspiring younger generations.

This year the arts project in Croydon is taking a break + I thought it would be great to do something a little more casual with the end results being shared online during the day of International Women’s Day. I set about thinking of friends who work in central London so I could be in one spot and it wouldn’t be too tricky for them to come to me with the theme ‘friendship’ + ask them for their own interpretation, feeling, word, colour - whatever it was that resonates with them.

• so Friday 6th these gorgeous ladies below swung by for chatter, tea, pictures + let me take their photo.

I also had in my mind that I’m trying something new….challenging myself + stepping out of my comfort zone to shoot in a different way, to step back slightly, to allow the images to sit together, to continue for the month of March, to include portraits where the sitter isn’t smiling - I CANNOT even BEGIN to tell you HOW HARD that was!!! + produce a lovely project + as it turned out, was a very poignant theme.

Above a screen shot of my final selection of images, Below the final cut (or so I thought!)

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I loved how everyone’s response was very different.

I wanted to bring people together with this project, to share their individual interpretation of “friendship” + to create portraits where I challenged myself in the image making. I am really good at getting right up close to people and in to their space to capture their essence + to be honest this has turned in to a process of challenging normality for me, for sitting on my own hands when I wanted to move in closer or select the happiest photo in the selection + publish on socials only my finely curated selection of happy.

What transpired was me forcing myself to choose images I loved but were perhaps a little more sullen than my usual work. Not soley to challenge myself but to look at the images with a different perspective, a different vantage point. That in itself challenged me to let go and reconnect to being happy with the images myself, whichever ones I chose + trusting the ‘process’.

It’s also been about a conversation Tanya and I had about the viewers experience and ‘seeing’ as the artist or photographer was at the precise moment in time and layering on top of that what we bring in the form of our own interpretation/feelings/emotions/life events to any art at any given moment.

My normal way of working is interacting, observing, creating ease between me, my camera and my sitter, recording just the right representation that I see in any given moment that I feel is an accurate representation of them - on Friday, I stepped back, I deliberately created space to see if it impacted the images I created, if it brought something else forward. So a project based on friendship and exploring how we see.

It’s interesting that looking through the selected images of each of my friends , the versatility of their emotions and our conversation serves as a great mixture to capture slightly different feelings in each picture + the selections below are to appease my controlling mind and show the fun we had!! :-) They also work really nicely as a set of images.

I’m continuing this project and excited to capture more friends through March - over on instagram you can also hear everyone’s interpretation of ‘friendship’ . Have a fab March + enjoy x

Friday Night Confessionals....When London is your meeting point

Ahhhh ALL the Friday night lovevibes right here!!

AND AWESOME CLIENT LOVE <3 xx

Jackie was amazing from start to finish. Her attitude and energy were matched only by her skill as a photographer. We were a tough assignment with multiple extended family members from 20 months to 75 years old and she managed to keep us engaged, get all of the combinations we wanted in the shots and most importantly to get us to have fun.

I LOVED this session, everyone was super fun and up for snuggling in to keep warm AND Because they had all flown in to London from very hot and very different locations and not seen each other all together since Jason’s wedding 4 years ago, it was extra super special!!

YAY LONDON Happy Friday everyone! Have a super weekend x

Friday Afternoon Confessionals

On this grey, rainy Friday I thought sharing these guys might lift the mood!

Photographed around Shoreditch + Brick Lane, I love the ever changing graphics, the blasts of colour casually illuminating the area and pops of wow when you see something new.

It had been a while since I photographed a session around this area and I always arrive way before a session is scheduled to reccy the area and with the light beautifully pouring down the high street I was excited with what lay ahead in our session.

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Super colourful London Love

These guys were so fun and open to ideas and beyond cute with each other!!

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Just beyond Spitalfields and on the way to Brick Lane is a outdoor studio delight - if you LOVE texture + rustic colours lol.

No understatement on how IN LOVE I am with this backdrop!!!!!!! Part Penelope Pitstop Part evil rider lol

As I mentioned!!! THAT LIGHT - I mean hello!!!! We also met the owner of the shop these two are in front of + who had arrived to open and kindly and graciously let some smooching happen before he got to work :-) #LOVELONDON

To book your couples session (or surprise proposal, it’s almost getting to that time of year!!!) drop my an email or give me a call and we can coordinate a plan :-)

Have a great Friday!!xx

Dora Maar @TATEModern

Sunday afternoon I headed down to TATE Modern to check out the recently opened ‘Dora Maar’ exhibition.

If you love old skool photography and miss the skill and delight of darkroom photography then this will get the brain firing + nostrils wishing for that chemical hit that only a darkroom can provide.

If you love a bit of ‘Surrealism’

noun

1. a 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images.

then this is also for you! Original Photographs in all sizes from passport to A4 are displayed together enabling the viewer that intimate experience that only super tiny images can provide and ensuring you stay transfixed upon it, roving each small corner for all the details. Magazine layouts showing the final printed versions and the images on display are intriguing and fun to get close up to + figure out what was going on during their creation and perhaps how each part was layered over, printed, scratched.

There are 9 rooms in total and I literally squealed with delight in the first two rooms! Looking curiously at each image, inspired by their form and tone and technique. A few fireworks went off inside me as I referenced a personal project I’m currently working on - this was such a joy to behold.

The hesitation in writing steps in now because I left rather flattened. Here’s why - I LOVED the first rooms, I loved seeing hand crafted, considered pieces of photography and reading about Dora Maars life was fascinating yet I stalled at room 6 + 7 - I’m not sure if that’s the curators intention.

In these rooms the exhibitions and my attention turned to Picasso.

Because of this interjection I’m afraid my concentration on the beautiful work I’d seen in rooms 1 through 5 slithered away + became diluted. MY NOTE TO TATE Modern - Picasso was obviously an important part of Dora’s life BUT it seems a little unjust to dedicate some of the rooms to his work and her inspiration on him - as if a house hold name would ‘pad things out’ when that was the last thing that was needed. **The exhibition up until this point had been full and robust, inspiring in its freshness and the inclusion of the solarised image which inspired ManRay was sublime.

As a female photographer myself I applaud the ever growing inclusion of female photographers being displayed now because I remember a time in the not too distant past, when my photography history programme wouldn’t include even 1. + yes I realise that in fact makes me sound ancient - I’m not!!! However, I felt the reference to their relationship : single/complicated/married wasn’t needed, it didn’t add to the validity of her work and his work then overshadowed hers because it felt so off piste + random to have two rooms dedicated to it..

If you absolutely needed to, just perhaps one image representative of his painting of Dora during their time together would have sufficed, remove the fact she was having an affair with him and the huge image depicting the painting of both of the women in his life and we would have a gorgeous collection of images, inspiring the viewer to learn more about Surrealism/Photography/Dora.

I felt confused as to what you felt these rooms brought to the viewing experience aside from confusion and a peppering of annoyance?

The following 2 rooms of her return to painting was both textural and fluid although in part also looked like she was thoroughly pissed off their relationship had ended + in all honesty was how I felt that so much of his work had been included. I didn’t go to see Picasso, I went to see a little known female photographer and artist in a celebration of her contribution to the Surrealist movement. Step it up TATE, the work speaks for itself.

**Perhaps the exhibition’s natural ending was in room 5 with a last room (6) full of her sojourns in to painting, her development + experimentation in to this area along with her return to the darkroom + lifting Picasso from his bereft dessert because the exhibition up until this point had been full and robust, inspiring in its freshness and the inclusion of the solarised image which inspired ManRay was sublime.

Friday Night Confessionals.....

OOhhhhh Back at it!!

Right after Joe + Joanna’s wedding I took some time off to recharge and celebrate my birthday - a complete treat + such fun :-) I ate cake, saw photography exhibitions and got super inspired, hung out with friends, disconnected from work + hit the gym in an invigorating, right back at it kinda way - it felt amazing + refreshing. I swam in warm outdoor pools, pondered life in sizzling hot sauna’s and slowed down enough to regain that sense of presence, It was such bliss and set me up perfectly for getting back in to work for the last few weeks of the year and Winter.

Mum makes an epic cake + this beauty was totally #Vegan! She even made vegan lemon curd for the filing!!

Duffy at Mottisfont Abbey! An amazing and inspiring exhibition to catch on the last day :-)

Yes there’s no escape lol there’s frost on my car right now + for once I’m hybernating on a Friday night tonight cooking yummy food and delighted to be in out of the cold!

This week I have been chatting over on instagram about getting the most out of your session in WInter and Top Tips on ‘What to Wear’. Not only does this time of year make bright colours pop a little bit more it also can create long shadows + soft golden hours at each end of the day - just like D’s session above as we rambled around London to celebrate her 10 year wedding anniversary!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5QzRwlh5I_/

More on both of these to follow this week!

Have a super weekend everyone x

Friday afternoon LOVE confessionals.......turned in to Sunday night love vibes

AMY & JOHN - Sept 21st, 2019

Soooo. I have been trying to post this for days, literally since last Wednesday. Poor Amy she must be going crazy wondering where her lovely post is - well, here’s the thing - I have re-arranged, reshuffled, edited, added, taken away + NOTHING seemed to give (to me) adequate justice to just how much emotion and feelings were in John + Amy’s wedding. + esp The Romance, the Light!! + The love, until now.

Amy gave me so many beautiful compliments for her wedding photography I wanted to include this too as I had to re-read her lovely message a couple of times and sit down and read it over again. I always strive to do my best on each wedding day + each wedding day is a live event so anything can happen at any given moment and so to touch or make someone smile by capturing their day makes my heart burst x

“Oh my god Jackie,

I have been on an emotional rollercoaster this evening! I can't believe how BEAUTIFUL they all are!

I couldn't be happier, you captured the emotions, the atmosphere, the fun and made everything look soft and romantic and just stunning!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

The ones of my dad's speech are so emotive and his face when I'm walking down the steps to him and I can't get over how beautiful the golden hour ones at the little fox are, you've made me look beautiful and John looks so handsome and they're such romantic pictures!

You're totally awesome as a photographer and a friend! You are such a positive ray of sunshine and it was so great to share all of my plans with you and for you to be a part of our day xxxxxx xxxx xxxx”

Getting ready, those fun and sometimes frantic moments of preparation and then THOSE moments when you’re in your dress + your brother arrives + you take his breath away. Matthew + their Dad shared duties of giving Amy away + they both did such an amazing job!!

In the stunning outdoor setting of Ness Gardens, Amy’s older brother walked her to their Dad and he walked Amy up the remainder of the Aisle towards John.

Open Air ‘I do’s’ + a very sophisticated bridal party!!

NOW THESE DETAILS!!!! Hello, rocking the blue, the wedding favours which were packets of seeds (epic) the cake topper and the flowers…so much romance interlaced.

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THIS PICTURE! I get as a viewer of this blog you’re only seeing snippets of the entire day but I hope it conveys the romance and happiness + the feeling of family centred love and the speeches always hold a lot of pressure for those delivering them and cross the spectrum on funny, crazy, embarrassing + loaded so THIS picture makes me tear up every time .

Unsure if he would be able to deliver a speech, Amy’s dad has been a little poorly so he and her older brother shared the moment - a moment arrived when Dad felt he was able + there was not a dry eye in the house, the sentiment + love radiated from him + I need another tissue again now……..

As day merges in to evening, the light (AMAZING LIGHT!!) changes and guests mingle, chuckle, have fun and catch up I was able to scoot around + capture some family fun and THEN Amy + John took themselves off for a little walk……..so divine + a peaceful breather before dancing, cake cutting and evening guests arrived……

First Dances can be soft r dramatic and I love how the blue lights capture these two perfectly and match their colour scheme!!!

Friday Night Confessionals...humble reflection

Sooooo, I’m sitting here Friday August 2nd…

A special day, My mum’s birthday - we went to the beach for fresh sea air, ate fish n chips (then vegan ice cream when we got home - have you tried the Vegan Magnum?? OMG!!) and I feel blessed we had a sunny day - we went to Goodwood one year and the heavens opened and we got drenched!

AND I’m beaming because I’m also thoroughly delighted the short film I worked on in April in Dublin had a screening this week, unfortunately I wasn’t able to get back to Dublin for it BUT I was most definitely there in spirit :-) + I’ve been made up that the poster is a combination of two of the images I took as ‘Stills Photographer’ - I can’t wait to get my hand’s on an actual paper copy too - I’m going to pin it up in my office, I might even frame it!

Patricia wrote, produced + directed this film and what a talent to be able to do all three! She + I met in 2000 on set of a feature film in the depths of Dublin, it was an ‘experience’ and firm friendships were definitely formed, the kinds were an event bonds people and that shared hilarity/crazyness/dancing/cocktail experience means those friendships even if not seen every day, still remain and make you smile when you see that person or people again.

I remember Patricia constantly writing back in the day and so you know when you are just beyond thrilled to witness their journey and see the process unfold, it’s such a blessing to cheer them on and working alongside Patricia again was wonderful. I’m pinching myself in fact because even though 19 years ago I clearly remember the ‘professional’ photographer coming on set to take the pictures for the poster, DVD case etc…..Now full circle I was taking those shots.

I guess it means more when you circle back to where it all began and a bold move + sense I had to make a change, trusting my heart that it’s whispering ‘you need to do this’ even when I couldn’t see how it was going to turn out - but letting it unfold at it’s own pace, ended up changing my entire life.

So I’m chuffed to pieces for Patricia + super chuffed to have captured the stills for her + see them take on new life in the form of the poster + I’m excited to see where this goes x

So I know, acknowledging our achievements, actually sitting with them for longer than a couple of minutes, doesn’t always happen. We are pleased, we smile, we rush to the next job, piece of work, we perhaps feel bashful (imposter syndrome kicks in and in our minds we’re delighted but don’t want to appear gloating or show off-y) and as a way of ensuring that doesn’t happen we move along quickly. Well, I’m celebrating these journey’s tonight for longer than 2 seconds, I’m letting it sit and soak in. However big or small an achievement, take more than a few breaths, smile, beam and then carry on :-)