Three of my images are included in issue #112 of F-Stop Magazine, Amusement 2022.
rievaulx
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 18 March 2022].
Rievaulx is a lovely little spot in the North York Moors.
Visiting there in 2012 (when these photos were taken) inspired me to encourage my parents to visit there during their visit in 2017.
Unfortunately, on that visit, we had sleet and rain instead of smatterings of snow.
It was a lovely spot to visit on Valentine's Day.
sunflowers
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 5 March 2022].
bosham ices
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 16 February 2022].
untitled #79
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 13 February 2022].
in abundance
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 5 February 2022].
Hello, my friends.
The past two weeks have been heartbreaking, so I hope you forgive me for missing my usual travel-themed post on Tuesday.
I spent much of the past week or so trying to edit the photographs I have of Anthony and Anthony and me around full-time work, grieving, and an overwhelmingly small amount of sleep.
I shared a gallery I created on my website on social media shortly after the funeral. As I'm in London and the funeral was in Melbourne, I tuned in at 03:00 and finally turned in at 05:15.
I'm still in shock, and I know that will last for a while. Alongside other feelings of grief.
These flowers are Dimorphotheca ecklonis, a type of daisy. And Campanula poscharskyana, a Serbian bellflower or trailing bellflower.
I have no knowledge of the meaning of these flowers and no witty puns on their names. I enjoyed their colour and brightness after a couple of weeks of darkness. And the elongated pot felt a little like it belonged in a cemetery (though found in a garden in Rye back in 2016 that had nothing to do with death!)
Normal service will resume shortly. I promise. Thank you for bearing with me x
tall poppies
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 21 January 2022].
brontë parsonage
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 18 January 2022].
we come from the earth, we return to the earth, and in between we garden
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 16 January 2022].
rambo's
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 11 January 2022].
At first glance, this is a pretty simple photograph and perhaps a bit dull to most.
But there's so much in this photograph to make me laugh and so many layers to the scene.
And the splashes of bold primary colours thrown in adds to it.
I was going to use a phrase from one of the many signs in the image as a title, but there were too many to choose from, and I thought it was more fun to let you discover them yourself.
Bonus points to the signwriter/s for the spelling mistakes and inappropriate apostrophe use.
cracked and blue
A quick post to say happy birthday to my good friend Phil. And happy 21-year friendversary!
I took this photo during our trip to Chichester in September last year. It reminds me of a lot of his urban texture photography.
you've made your bed...
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 10 January 2022].
a bed of roses
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 2 January 2022].
new lighthouse [dungeness]
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 28 December 2021].
a low ebb
2020 had its challenges, but I’m not going to lie. For me, personally, 2021 was a bitch.
I’m not going to expend more energy expanding upon that topic in this post.
I’ve tried to stop giving oxygen to elements in my life that proved to be unhealthy this year. Possibly for the first time in my whole life, that involved cutting ties with an ex-partner.
While this year has been a hard one for many reasons, there have been definite highlights.
And, especially when I was sick with Covid-19 back in July, I was overwhelmingly reminded of the brilliant global support network I have. I’m still gobsmacked by that. To those of you part of that network, both family and friends (and I’m sure you know who you are), I send you my love, and I’m forever grateful for you.
Before things went a bit more than pear-shaped this year, I managed to complete another 100 Day Project starting on 31 January 2021. I had a proper go at sketching every day. And, while I don’t profess to be a master illustrator, even after those 100 days, I created some not so terrible drawings.
The 100 Day Project for the coming year will start on 13 February 2022. I’ve had a few ideas of what I’d like to do, but we’ll see which one I settle upon.
Through my Patreon, I shared writings from my attempts at NaNoWriMo in 2009 and 2016. These are still rough second drafts and are currently only available to patrons.
I shared curated series from my sepulchre work, mushroom photographs, and travel photography.
I started my series of love letters to london, which I’d hoped to complete in 2021, but I will continue into 2022.
This year I took self-portraits for the first time since mid-2018 and have shared some that continue my interior/exterior series or fall into my new wallflowers series. I already have images from the latter to share in the new year.
I won’t bore you with my plant progress this year but suffice to say, my indoor plants fared better than the garden.
And I wrote actual handwritten letters for the first time in decades, inspired (or guilted?) by my friend Phil.
The things I let fall by the wayside this year were reading (beyond news articles of varying lengths) and language studies. Both I want to get back into in 2022.
In May, I unexpectedly found myself confronted by what is believed to be the oldest tree in London. A beautiful yew, she may be 2,000 years old.
She was more impressive up close than from a distance. I’ll share more close-ups of her beautiful contours in the new year, though I shared one previously.
In May, there was also a pleasant day out in Hertford. Exploring the source of the New River and wandering along the River Lea. Though there was also a bull charging me for photographing him!
In October, Scott and I explored the section of the New River (not new, not a river) between Hornsey and Finsbury Park.
At the end of 2020, I wasn’t overly hopeful for much travel this year. I would have settled for a weekend away somewhere within the UK.
Thanks to one of my longest-suffering friends, Phil, I visited Chichester and Bosham (first image in this post),
Itchenor
arundel cathedral
and Arundel.
untitled #203
And thanks to a cat-sitting gig for Jo and Becky, I was able to visit Minera,
untitled #144
Coedpoeth
and Wrexham.
However, the most unexpected and surprisingly fulfilling element of 2021 for me was becoming a cat-sitter.
Growing up and into my 20s and beyond, I was always a dog person. I couldn’t fathom cats. I would have said honestly at one point that I hated cats. So cat-sitting was not even close to being on my bingo card for 2021.
But really, in retrospect, I think it was more that I didn’t understand cats.
A chance pub quiz with friends led to me becoming a cat-sitter for the first time this year, and it’s something I hope to continue into 2022 and beyond.
There are side bonuses, like exploring new areas of London and beyond and locations for shooting self-portraits. And going “on holiday” but being paid for it.
But I’m not going to lie that the kitteh snuggles are lovely, and winning over an anxious or difficult kitteh brings a particular buzz with it. (Though I would be all good with less claw-to-skin action in demonstrations of affection…)
So, in order of appearance, here are the cool cats I’ve met this year (apologies for the photo quality with some. I hope to get better photos of them in future!)
Shiloh
Susie
Bao
Paczi
Meg
Mog
Sammy
Lily
Poppy
I’m not going to chance my hand predicting what 2022 will hold. But I have credit for travel that will hopefully take me back to Wales and Scotland, so that’s a positive start.
Anything else is a bonus.
I hope your 2022 is better than 2021.
untitled #246
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 24 December 2021].
living on bridlington time
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 21 December 2021].
half-eaten
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 11 December 2021].
untitled #30
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 13 December 2021].
for no one knows his dying day
[I originally posted this entry as early access for my Patreon patrons on 5 December 2021].