Documentary Photo' Blog.

Welcome to my documentary photography blog. Here you an keep up to date with the photography stories that I am working on, be they environmental issues or classic social commentaries. 

News! New documentary Magazine!

As some of you may know, I set up the Centre for British Documentary Photography and it has grown in popularity and strength. The first aim of this was to create an online space where the public could easily search for and find social documentary photographers and their images. Also and just as important, was the creation of a professional publishing platform. And that feat is soon to be realised. It has taken a mountain of work and coordination with the other photographers involved with the CBDP, but it has all come together. Our launch date is mid March of this year. If you're thinking, "oh no, another photo mag", fear not! What we have put together is one of the most forward thinking publishing platforms seen in recent years. A genuine place where the photographers work mostly on their own stories we have developed a system that allows the CBDP to pay the photographers and writers involved. Think National Geographic, but more homespun - though Issue 1 has articles from as far afield as India and Finland. It has been a delight to be able to put this together and working with the other photographers, in this unity we have a common purpose - to spread the stories to as wide an audience as possible, way beyond the dedicated photo base. If this has inspired you, please take a look at the CBDP website - link on home page - and consider supporting this independent self financed project. Help us to keep print journalism and documentary photography alive. Here's the link to the very latest copy of the U.K's, best and fastest growing documentary photography magazine.Thank you.

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The Local Game.

Several documentary photographers have looked at the popular game of football, most have concentrated on the big events and relied on the abundant theatrics on show. What is often over looked are the smaller leagues where the players live locally and turn up every Saturday for free. These are the amateur leagues and make up the grassroots of the great game. I stumbled on this sector and immediately saw the potential, the first game I attended was a rough and ready affair, with dirty fouls and language to match. The Referee was threatened and beat a hasty retreat at the end, old tattoos from the 1990's were evident and clearly there were hardy  supporters from the major league clubs on the sidelines. It was a moody afternoon.I found a starting point for the project with Bream Football Club, nestled in the Forest of Dean, England and I spent two years following them around the various pitches used by the clubs in the North Gloucester League. It was obvious that no one had ever pointed the camera at the crowds, and it took a while to be accepted but the Coach was instrumental in helping me to build the trust to get in and make the important pictures. I have tried to capture the reality of the game concentrating on the action close to the edge of the pitch, action on both sides, on and off the pitch as it were. Here I found a story of triumph, elation disappointment and sometimes despair. Currently the work is ongoing but there is enough material for a book and local exhibition that I hope to accomplish in early 2023. I thank all the players and supporters at Bream Football Club for their help.

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Climate Change. The effect on the ground.

Today marked a turning point in the Landscape project as I received partial funding from the local Green Party. This means that I can continue to build the work and collect more information ready for the book and show next year. Talking with Blakeney Growers Small Holders I discovered just how easy and fast soil is eroded and "mineralised", it all makes sense when a geologist is explaining it. They also went on to talk about how this horse has already bolted and that soil is considered nothing more than a medium to hold fertilizer, water and as a means to hold the plant up. Very much like hydroponics, the medium is virtually inert. No wonder those supermarket veggies are disgusting. The plants are pretty much on life support. Thankfully there is some action being taken and farms across the nation are reverting to older more holistic methods. More soon.

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