A lifestyle blog
I took a roll of Mr Negative Fragile 400 away with me to Chichester and Emsworth, which turned out to be a rather good accidental test of it. I say accidental because I wasn’t setting out to test the film. I simply wanted a roll in the camera. We were away for a night, wandering around Chichester, exploring Emsworth and staying at The Ropemaker, and Fragile came along for the ride. And
There are some places you stay where everything is perfectly fine, and then there are places where you find yourself thinking, I’d come back here. The Ropemaker in Emsworth is one of those places. We stayed for a night and it was exactly the sort of little South Coast escape I like. Comfortable without being stuffy, friendly without being over the top, and quiet enough that you actually feel as though
I don’t like surprises. There. I’ve said it. I know some people absolutely love them. They like not knowing where they’re going, what they’ve been bought, what somebody has planned. They enjoy the anticipation and the mystery of it all. I do not. I like to know. I like a plan. I like to know where I’m going, what I’m doing, who will be there and, preferably, what the parking
There’s something oddly comforting about writing things down. Not typing them into a notes app. Not setting another reminder that gets buried beneath twenty others. Actually writing them. Pen on paper. A shopping list. A birthday you mustn’t forget. The prescription you need to collect. An appointment next Thursday at 2.15. “Post parcel”. “Reply to Sarah”. “Buy lightbulbs”. Tiny things, really. And yet somehow those tiny things can become incredibly
There is something quietly reassuring about knowing you can step outside and just go. No booking, no planning, no particular destination needed. Just you, a bit of time, and something simple enough to carry in your hand. I remember once reading that runners love running because it is so uncomplicated. You lace up your trainers, step out of the front door, and that is it. The world becomes your route.
There is something about Paris that feels like it was always waiting to be seen in black and white. Like colour is almost an interruption, a distraction from what the city is actually doing underneath all that elegance and noise. I took a set of photos there recently and I keep going back to them more than I expected to. Not because they are technically perfect or because I nailed anything particularly
Every now and then a roll of film comes along that reminds you why film photography is fun in the first place. Not technically perfect, not particularly sensible, but full of character. That was exactly my experience shooting a roll of Dubblefilm Jelly recently on a trip to Wales. Jelly is one of those films that doesn’t try to behave itself. The colours lean heavily into pinks, reds and magentas,
Sometimes a dinner arrives that you suspect might be a bit of a faff. Lots of packets, lots of instructions, and a vague sense that it will all end up being more work than just ordering a takeaway. That was slightly my expectation when a dinner box from Ding Dong Dim Sum arrived to try, along with one of their bamboo steamer baskets. The concept is simple enough. Instead of ordering dim
Photography crept up on me quietly. It did not arrive with a grand announcement or a shiny new identity. It just slipped into my life and started rearranging the furniture. Not the physical stuff, but the way I move through the world, the way I notice things, the way I feel about being here at all. Before photography, days were often something to get through. Lists, obligations, noise. I moved
I was sent some press tickets for Silverstone’s Lap of Lights, and a friend went along for me as we were deep in helping my MIL move house. And if you know anything about me you will know how gutted I was not to be able to drive around the iconic Silverstone circuit. Especially after my trip round the Isle of Man circuit in September! I hadn’t quite known what to
When Kodak brought Kodacolor back this year, the name made everyone do a double take. People expected a revival of the classic family film that lived inside every point and shoot camera at birthday parties and days out. But this new Kodacolor is not that film resurrected. It is a brand new stock built from motion picture technology, the same world that gives us that rich Kodak cinema look everyone
There is something quietly brilliant about the Bush Hotel in Farnham that takes a minute to appreciate. Maybe it is because it hides behind that unassuming arch on the high street. Maybe it is because locals tend to stroll past without ever thinking of it as somewhere they might actually stay. But once you have spent a night there, you realise it offers exactly the kind of easy comfort and
