September newsletter: soggy feet and freewriting

An image from my recent visit to the Lake District

I hope you are all doing well

I am recently back from a few days on my own, hiking in the Lake District. It was a wonderful, solitary time. There were grand vistas, intimate cloudy moments, soggy feet and some of the best fish and chips I have ever had! What struck me was how much my photographic direction has developed. I didn’t do much photography but I deliberately avoided traditional landscape photography. I concentrated on the mood of the mountains and also the details. You can see my favourite image from the trip at the top of this e-mail.

Are you on Twitter?

I am now running a photography poll every Monday. The questions are not designed to black and white, but to generate debate about different areas of photography. There have been some very interesting discussions. I would love it if you joined in. Do follow me on Twitter to join in.

What I’ve been up to this month

I have started working through The Artist’s Way book by Julia Cameron. This course is designed to help you discover your identity as an artist. It is certainly not for everyone but it does have a lot of interesting ideas and prompts. They have encouraged me to become more focussed on what I do and to realise some of the less obvious elements that combine to make one a creative person.

I have also been enjoying the Beauty through Stillness online course run by Paul Sanders. Paul sets a weekly theme for a small group of attendees to make images about. The prompts have certainly taken me in some interesting directions. And I have enjoyed seeing how other attendees have approached each theme and seeing all sorts of different work.

What I learned this month

From working on The Artist’s Way, I have learned the value of freewriting. Each morning I now write three pages in longhand, generally before breakfast. I can write about whatever comes into my mind, or I may have specific questions or ideas that I want to delve into. It isn’t necessarily about photography: just whatever is going on in my head. I have found that this allows me to get rid of a lot of the odd thought that are spinning around and focus better on my day. It has also given me time to work through ideas and issues. I feel more alert and more productive as a result of it.

I also learned that deciding to make an image based on a random word can make one very productive and very creative!

What are my plans for next month?

All I am saying is watch this space and look out for an extra e-mail this month!

What I’ve been writing about this month

My latest blog is called “Why it is dangerous to take inspiration from other photographers”. I fully admit that this is a headline designed to cause controversy and (hopefully) generate more click throughs to the article. But I do hope you will take time to read it: I think what I have written about inspiration is important to think about.

What have I been reading this month?

I was lucky enough to get a copy of Hidden Layers of Perception by the very talented Alex Wesche. The book contains very moving multiple exposure images of her local woodlands. It has been commercially printed but hand bound.

What have I seen this month?

My wife and I saw the excellent Moonage Daydream. It is described as an experimental, cinematic odyssey and explores the life of David Bowie. There are some very interesting sound and visual montages in it. Some are more successful than others but I really enjoyed the end result. It helped that I really like Bowie’s music!

Make sure you keep in touch!

You can follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Vero. But please also e-mail directly: I really enjoy the conversations I have with those of you who have contacted me. And I love to see image and projects that you are proud of. And do send me recommendations for reading, listening, exhibitions, blog articles and more!