Continuing my month of street photog inspiration, I’ve become a little obsessed with Daido Moriyama and his utterly compelling body of work, with its very consistent low fidelity aesthetic and dynamic composition.
The following are a selection of photos from recent travels to Greece, specifically Athens, inspired by Moriyama’s work.
I had a choice when packing for this short trip to Morocco in 2007: pack my beloved OM10, knowing that the likelihood of losing or breaking it in the dense crowds of Essaouira’s annual Gnawa music festival were high, or try to get by using just the camera on my phone, a Sony k800. Reminding myself that I was going for the music, not the photography, I settled for the phone camera.
Needless to say, phone camera technology has come on quite a bit since then, and the quality of the resulting images is not great, but looking back I’m not so unhappy with my decision. I was able to relax and focus on being in the moment, whilst still capturing just enough in the grainy black and white images I took to be able to look back at the photos and relive the energy and vibrancy of an incredible weekend of music, adventure, and friendship.
A short series of snapshots from Spring 2020.
In 2010, Lucy and I took advantage of a business trip to Mumbai as an opportunity to travel around the south of India. The trip, over the course of 5 weeks, included a friend’s wedding in Bangalore, followed by many train, bus, and taxi rides taking in Mysore, the mountains of Western Karnataka, Pondicherry, Madurai, Kanyakumari, Kochin, and Mumbai. There are many stories to tell from these travels, but for now a selection of photos I made along the way.
The wind today blew us around a little. Our first walk of the day was a battle, with rain driving into us on gusts of Atlantic breath. Later it softened a little and we braved the huge expanse of Woolacombe’s beach. Bare feet, rain pocked sand, bitingly cold water, white cloudy skies. It was beautiful. Walking south. Talking a little; observing a lot. The grasses on the dunes shivered in the wind, giving life to the land; hairs on the back of a cold, slumbering giant. We paused at this small formation of rocks – a lone landmark in an ocean of sand. Looking back to Woolacombe village the sea spray fogged the view of the distant buildings; cosy boxes under a featureless grey sky.
These were taken on 22nd December 2014, days before Christmas. The sky was grey and unremarkable but the English channel drove wave upon wave of cold, dark water onto the pebble beach of Bexhill-on-Sea. Just days later we enjoyed a swim in calmer waters with the winter sun in our eyes.
My last trip to New York was an analogue affair. I set out each day with my old OM10 slung over my shoulder loaded with HP5. Not for a long time had I carried a film camera with no digital counterpart tucked away in my bag (where it couldn’t damage that oh-so-fashionable retro camera look). And the anxiety I felt! It took some time to identify the cause of the deep unease I felt as I explored the island of Manhattan.
With less than 50 frames to shoot and a whole city to explore my early captures took far too long as I fussed over composition, exposure, focus. I soon got into the swing of things however, and this shot somewhat makes up for the fact that I was wandering lost, unable to decide whether to commit to the trip over Brooklyn bridge as the biting wind tested my inadequate clothing.
