A special thank you to my film sponsor who came through for me once again for my upcoming project.

Still Film..

There was a time when the digital verses film debate (boring I know) was all the rage. But these days people don't even ask anymore and just assume film has gone forever. Well it hasn't and every time I scan an image shot on film my faith in the medium is restored, especially when that image was made in the dead of night. In terms of highlight and shadow control, long (very long) exposure, battery life (no batteries with my camera) and all the rest of it, film still has its place. People just don't know it.

Dodge Viper.

2014 Environmental Bursary.

I was delighted to be awarded an environmental bursary from The Photographic Angle in conjunction with the Royal Photographic Society last week. The bursary will fund my Virtual Water project that I plan to begin shooting in October. 

In order to obtain my bursary I was invited to the RPS awards event, a swaray  of photographers and industry linked folk along with some new friends and old enemies. It was a pleasant evening, and a humbling experience to share the same stage with some of the very best photographers. 

I was a little disappointed that the queen wasn't there as promised, but you can't have everything. 
 

You take the high road and I'll take the low road..

Several years ago I began a project called 108, (the walkable distance along the border between East and West) a series of photographs looking at the border between Scotland and England.
This project was started before there was any public talk of Scotland wanting to become independent, however, having a Scottish mother and an English father, there was always talk of these things in the house I grew up. I say talk, but it more my fathers shouty opinion that a huge wall be built between the two, and my mother's cursing threats of going back home to live with my Auntie Morag in peace.
With these things in mind I was always fascinated with the border, so much so, my first ever photograph was made looking over a motorway bridge in the dead of night with the city lights of England in the distance, a familiar scene after countless trips back and forth as a child to see my Grandparents.

After working on the series for about twelve months I hit a bit of a brick wall and the images failed to inspire me further. I put this down to the fact that there really wasn't a lot going on. It was one of those projects that sounds great, but offers little in the visual sense. And so the project was shelved for a few years.
Once I heard about the possibility of the Scotties gaining independence, my first thought was that my fathers wishes might now come true and a huge wall would be built, complete with gargoyles and those holes for pouring out hot oil on the enemy below. However, after my visions of death on the borderline I thought now might be a good time  to return to the 108 project, hopefully with more vigor, and more importantly a higher purpose. And so I set out once more and completed the project in November of 2013.

I must be honest and say that this project just really got on my nerves when I was shooting it as I just felt nothing for the images at the time. But now with all this talk of change I have to admit to being rather fond of the old 108 series.

And so now I would urge you to look at these images and think of me walking the border in a bad mood, especially now that there is an overwhelming number of photographic projects based around the border in the run up to September 18th, and most of them are pretty dull...

    

Images form the 108 project.