It came with a great sense of relief that, on the 29th of March, I had a plane to catch. This plane that I was to catch on the afternoon of the 29th was heading to Strasbourg; a visit to ma chérie and an escape from the 29th of March or what the 29th of March now represented which was everything contrary to reason. Exactly … Continue reading Wanders: Goethe Dies (Strasbourg)
Having walked down the Lea Valley late last year with Gary Budden, we endeavoured to continue on from our point of departure in Planet Stratford and to follow the river right the way down to Leamouth where it finally pours into the Thames. Though on paper the walk was effectively a south-following meander, mapped largely (or at least so we thought) by potentially walking along … Continue reading Wanders: Leamouth Labyrinth
Photos from Andrew Bartram‘s Fenland series. The memory of a day from the my childhood returned to my thoughts recently. It was born of the colour orange, the feeling of sunlight upon my face and memories of my father. Forever being hoisted from the comfort of my house into varied, arid stretches of land in search of animalistic treasure, the day in question was a … Continue reading Fictions: Whixall Moss
I wander thro’ each charter’d street, Near where the charter’d Thames does flow. And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. – William Blake Properties on the banks of the river were first earmarked for government-approved privatisation some years ago. Though private property had been a constant on the banks of the Thames for several hundred years, this millennium saw … Continue reading Fictions: The Charter’d River
Apart from going on a number of planned walks throughout 2016, towards the end of the year I managed to head on a number of more random jaunts out into a variety of places. Though the reel of photos I took has come back mixed in terms of quality, the walks were still interesting enough for me to want to write about them. Three in … Continue reading Wanders: Odds and Ends
I was initially struggling to put together a showreel for 2016. I don’t think my film work has ever been so reliant on its varied soundworlds for their full context and so pulling the strongest images out of that context doesn’t quite work. I’ve tried my best to make something vaguely cohesive from these moments though, looking back at the five films I’ve made this … Continue reading Showreel 2016
When recently interviewing the writer and filmmaker, John Rogers, the setting of our meeting place in Stratford played heavily upon my mind. Such was the contrast between so many of the buildings and spaces within the area that many ideas came about just from a quick meander around its many new developments. Because of this we agreed to reconvene at the place a few weeks … Continue reading Wanders: Planet Stratford with John Rogers (London).
The Neolithic town of Avebury in Wiltshire has figured in much that I love for a growing number of years now. Its draw has been one that has crossed all areas of the arts that dominate my current interests, to the point where the village almost seemed to embody a fictional realm akin to Alan Garner’s Elidor or Tolkien’s Middle Earth. It had become a … Continue reading Dérives: A Journey To Avebury.
The photography series, Areas Of Outstanding Natural Beauty (1982-1984), was the first work I came across by Keith Arnatt. This was some time before he would eventually be back in vogue thanks to Tate Britain’s well received conceptual exhibition, of which his most famous work, Self Burial (1969), was the publicity image for. Very much like the landscapes that so much of Arnatt’s work captures, … Continue reading Responses: Keith Arnatt’s A.O.N.B (1982-1984).
There are few writers that figure more prominently in everything I do than the teller of beautiful Edwardian ghost stories, M.R. James. Alongside W.G. Sebald, J.G. Ballard, Alan Garner and Virginia Woolf, his writing holds a great power over me with its familiar yet unfamiliar worlds. His writing preys upon my mind at regular intervals, even outside of the Christmas period from which they were … Continue reading Trailer – No Diggin’ Here.
Celluloid Wicker Man 