January, 2024

After a project-filled close to 2023, and equally busy few days at the start of the year I had a bit of breathing room to start to map out where I want to sake things with this year. I had about a week with no events or anything lined up, so was able to take on some work as an exams invigilator at a University, straightforward work, low intensity enough to be able to think in peace (except for when a student needed something, or someone’s phone went off).

2023 felt like the first year back on track with my photography career since covid, and I feel like the feast/famine mentality of project work is becoming quite difficult to navigate. I will have to find a way to achieve better consistency.

I worked through the backlog of images from the last few weeks of 2023, and made some xerox prints of the work I had made at the local Temple over Christmas, to deliver to the community – physical gifts of photographs are far better than a link to a website or album, it’s something they can keep, put on their fridge, even though they are not “art prints” on thick paper they represent greater value than any jpeg ever would.

On January 8th an embargo lifted on the information that my shortlisted Portrait of Britain image (1 of 200) is also one of the “final winners” (1 of 100) meaning it is featured in the winners gallery, as well as on JCDecaux billboards across the country. I’ve already written my thoughts on the image itself and notoriety of this award, so won’t reiterate that here.

However, recent portraits I’ve made have carried forward my energy of wanting to do better, to have work I am more proud of gain recognition, rather than one I do not have that strong attachment to.

My first portrait of 2024.

The media attention from the award meant that the lady featured in the portrait was able to find me on social media and reached out, which meant I could finally send her copies of the images I had made, as at the time it was quite a rushed moment of contact during an event.

She was able to find the image of herself on a local (to her) billboard – I still have not seen it in person yet, but I’m glad she was able to!

Around mid-month I found out that a documentary image of mine was to be featured in the print magazine Then There Was Us, a publication which is their fourth annual selection of what they call “influential documentary and portrait photographers”. This is sort of what I mean when I say that I feel back on track, as for a while over the last few years I was working so hard on building up a body of work and not doing much with it. Submitting personal work to awards, magazines and so on is how I will be able to continue making that sort of thing, and I know that I needed the time to actually produce it, but it still feels like a few years went without much to show in terms of publicity. Of course I have the work I made to show for it, but the cold knowledge of the mere existence of photographs is not the same as when they are being shared, spoken about, and contributing to my next steps.

What else? I’ve been breaking in a new pair of boots, which isn’t something I’ve written much about, this isn’t a fashion blog, but then again, they aren’t really fashion boots. I am a bit of a quality boot enthusiast; not a collector but an appreciator. I don’t have space to collect and no incentive to either as I only have two feet with which to wear them, so my selection is purely function first, and ideally as much function as possible.

All of my boots have to be incredibly durable to survive the amount of walking I do, and comfortable in time as they mould to my tread. It’s hard to find the kind of quality I am after in the UK as many companies have outsourced and made other material compromises in order to keep prices affordable, but at the true expense of quality and reputation. Meanwhile some brands have appeared claiming to offer what I am looking for, but they are young companies without a heritage of trust and recognition, so it’s hard to take their marketing claims and reviews as seriously as ones from those with long established quality.

For many years my go-to footwear were the LL Bean Katahdin, which were rugged, and which I wore until the sole went entirely flat, but not waterproof which I found I needed in London especially, so went for some simple Dr Marten’s with waterproofed construction, which kept my feet dry but essentially disintegrated beneath me over not much time.

The sole effectively snapped in half while walking in New York, and I had them replaced as it had been less than a year since I bought them – but just over a year later with the replacement pair and the same thing happened, the sole coming apart in two neat halves. The waterproofed lining was unbroken, so that was something, and I continued to wear them until I found something which was just as plain cosmetically (a hiking boot would tick many boxes, but not something I can wear in some situations around town) but with far better quality.

My primary two boots now are a pair of Red Wing Iron Rangers (which replaced the Katahdins) and Danners Super Rainforest, which are the ones I am breaking in currently. The Danners cover me for everything except very formal scenarios (which I don’t own an option for at all, and prefer not to think about), and when it’s very hot as the lining is quite thick even though it’s the non-insulated pair.

I have a separate pair of travel boots which are similar to the Red Wings but with a buckle gaiter type cuff, and rough-out leather; these boots I’ve worn to a few different countries, and have survived a lot.

I don’t often buy new clothing, I like what lasts. Mid-December 2023 I bought myself a large scarf/poncho/cloak thing which is warm and styles well with my usual earthy tones – and I think this was the first item of clothing I actually purchased the entire year, with the second being the new boots.

I didn’t mean for this to become a clothing article. January doesn’t feel like it’s been a particularly slow month, I’ve been out plenty working on a few projects, and also being open to making more snapshots, experimenting a bit and hitting some failures more often than when I play it safe with what I know.

I’m planning some imminent travel, and lining up some smaller work for when I get back, including some more exam invigilation. I haven’t written about my time in India from 2023, but I’m hoping that this next trip will be noteworthy enough to have some properly structured thoughts about.