You're Always Welcome Here

This collection of images was short introduction to a longer term project, that of documenting the people I see whilst out walking my dog. I chose this subject as it's one of the few forms of activity that has been viable during the covid-19 lockdown restrictions. A small opportunity to connect with other people who share an interest and pastime with little risk. Each person shares a similar space in the world and sometimes similar stories yet despite being part of the social collective of being dog owners and walkers they each have distinct taste, experiences, preferences and outlooks.

Jasmine is my rescue dog and best friend for many years. I often walk with her to and from places I need to go and most often to a place where I can play games with her in a semi controlled way. This series was a personal decision to let Jazz take control of several walks and lead the way. Mainly as I found I tended to also be rushing and hurrying around our pre-set route and destinations. I found myself thinking of what she sees and smells and how she interprets the world. I also thought of how I myself was the cause of our hasty walks and with this series I took the time to enjoy the experience of being with her.

'Home is Where The Heart is' was a project I completed with the support of Coffee4Craig, a Manchester based homeless charity. This project was intended as a question of the representation of those who are in a position to call themselves homeless after personal circumstances have lead to them requiring help to find shelter, food, clothing and other sources of medical or personal support. As apposed to the architypal image of individuals in these circumstances the project was to connect the subjects with an audience in a way which created a sense of uniqueness, individuality and equality. Each story and person has their own specific needs and their own story to tell in how they became homeless and ultimately progressed on to anew chapter in their life.

The experience of a shower but in imagery, view this whilst playing rain sounds and the image becomes visual texture.

The decisive moments, commonly associated with Henri Cartier-Bresson is the precise moment all natural occurrences intersect to form a scene of equilibrium in front gf the camera. Here the (in)Decisive Moment the scene is built from the less obvious ways our world coincides with itself.

Throughout 2020 the only opportunity to leave home was for the 1 hour exercise limit per day. in that time I decided to proactively create, to record and muse over the now strange sights of normality.

This collection of images was captured and collated after a recent shopping spree, of photographic books for research, revealed various types of messages, items and notations within used copies of the titles I bought. Each one a little peek into a strangers life, past and connection with the book. I found it interesting how it related to my own past experiences with being gift books but also how, where and when the notes were made or placed within the book.

By no means the first, but possibly the most documented, enslaved man in the Lancashire and Greater Manchester area Juba Royton is notable for his few but unique appearances in local and national records. These dates are merely records of occasions in his life, no images of him, no history before his arrival in Oldham and no indication to the type of man he was beyond what the records infer.

The national lockdowns in2020 lead to the weekly Clap for the NHS. A tribal act intended to unite and elevate the risk and struggle of front-line workers, with the goal of influencing the general population to follow the restrictions. Instead we saw a symbol followed for fear of public ostracisation and the true individual action of littering and abandoning the guidelines.

Street photography has been around since the inception of photography as a medium. It's a genre of work that I enjoy both researching and creating as it presents us with a vision of everyday life otherwise unseen and unknown. whenever I'm not working on a commission or project I like to soak up the atmosphere of my home city Manchester looking for the sights and scenes which epitomise what it means to be Mancunian.