A year of photography
Don’t worry, I am not going to bombard you with a year’s worth of photographs! Needless to say, I can’t believe that it has been a year since I posted a blog on here. In summary, I have continued to be enthusiastic about street photography and took part in The London Photo Show at Hoxton Arches again in June. I entered a selection of photos; a couple of black and white (B&W) shots, as I had been on a Photography Workshop earlier in the year with Brian Lloyd Duckett. I also designed a couple of collages on projects I had been working on which you may have seen in the ‘Photographic Themes’ section; one was on Twinning and the other on the Walkie-Talkie building. The other photo was another collage on reflections in water; a theme I remain keen to pursue and which can be seen in the ‘Themes’ section. Although I was pleased with the photos and the reception at the show, I think I really should have concentrated on one theme/project for the show; maybe next time!
Photos taken in The Barbican this year
I continue to be active with the Urban Photographers Club (UPC) entering the London Photo Show with their support, helping to run the Monthly Book Club and joining photowalks. I also engage with Street Snappers Collective. I enjoy entering challenges and competitions and during the past year I had two photos short-listed in the monthly themes of Amateur Photographer (‘Night and low light’ in October and ‘Dusk to Dawn’ last December). The two photos can be seen below. I frequently enter competitions on Photocrowd. I get a lot of pleasure from going to photography exhibitions and have attended a few this year as well as art galleries which are always inspiring.
In terms of social media, I have managed to significantly reduce my presence and time on Facebook. I am also going that way on Instagram too (you can see my account in this link), posting less frequently and limiting my time on it. The other day I checked the first 20 posts on Instagram and 15 of them were adverts! I have however joined Substack and I am really enjoying it. I have subscribed to photographers, writers and artists who I find particularly engaging. The quality of the writing is generally superb and I have been inspired to write several posts on my photography. Pop along and check them out. It is a long time since I have written anything so I was pleased to find this creative outlet which I will be using more in 2026. Alan Schaller has built an app and created Irys specifically for photographers. It was launched in October so hopefully an exciting opportunity for photographers who are becoming despondent with other platforms.
Some of my favourite silhouettes from 2025
What’s in store for next year? I will be continuing with my current photographic interests, UPC are hoping to put on their own photography show, so I hope to take part in this. I will continue with projects as they give me a focus for my photography. I may make a Zine on a particular project. Mostly I hope to get out more to take photographs in the street.
Thank you for reading. I would love to hear your photography plans for 2026.