M and J, having a smoke

M and J, having a smoke, a few weeks ago.


We went for a walk with T and L in the park. Since then T and L have had a baby and life couldn't be more different.



(Baby photos to follow eventually, I'm sure.)

Pop

In Melbourne I visited my grandfather. It's been three years now since my grandmother died. He is still living alone in the big house he shared with her for over fifty years.


Since she died he no longer has the daily imperative of looking after her and his memory is suffering. It's "not like it used to be," he told me. He meticulously writes down everything he's doing on the calendar in the kitchen so as not to forget. If it's not on the calendar he's not sure about it. I noticed that every day had been crossed off with its passing. It reminded me of a prisoner's marks on a cell wall.


We had a beer and I told him about life in London and laughed more than I expected we might. It struck me that our lives are worlds apart, even though he is my grandfather.

Re-remembering Australia

Whilst in Australia recently I found myself drawn to details which previously I'd overlooked. Perhaps Australia is becoming less familiar to me, or maybe I am re-remembering these Australianisms when I go back and the nostalgic part of me wants to capture them. In particular I found I kept being drawn to the gum trees, and the big sky...

M&S's wedding

M and S were married yesterday. They asked me to photograph it and while my initial reaction was no, I thought a challenge might do me some good. I stopped photographing weddings several years ago mainly due to them being both stressful and photographically uninspiring.

They're still very stressful and photographically uninspiring, but I enjoyed myself nevertheless. Hopefully I've got some good photographs. The professional make-up girl said, "Oh you're using film. Gosh. Rare these days for a wedding photographer to be using film." I started to say, but I'm not a wedding photographer ... but thought it'll take too long to explain.

I brought along the digital SLR as a back-up and ended up using it a hell of a lot more than I'd anticipated. I know now why wedding photographers (ie, real ones) just use a digital SLR with a big flash on it. It's just dead simple. And unrewarding.

I don't think I'll volunteer for any more wedding assignments any time soon, but it was interesting to get out there and do it for a change.

Here's the happy couple, many hours into the evening:

Snow in London (2)

A few more images taken on the Tooting Bec Common on Sunday:



A woman dressed in black wandered from one end of the Common to the other. I took several photographs. M and I felt like we were stalking her:


I like the narrative in this one. A pity I couldn't focus it, but somehow that seems to have added to the quality of it...

Snow in London

On Sunday we woke up to pouring snow (does snow "pour" when it's coming down heavily in big thick flakes?). M and I went for a wander on the common:

A few more photos from Chamonix

A few photographs from Chamonix