May 2021

At the end of last month, photographer and writer Cary Benbow published a review of my Sea Level book on F-Stop Magazine. It was insightful and generous and really got to the heart of the work. It can be viewed here. Following its publication in F-Stop, work from the series was published on Phases Magazine website and Instagram, and on Ideapdf.

This month I’ve been further developing a new video script and have started to collect still and moving images. It’s been so enjoyable to get out of London with the camera and shoot new material. I’m also continuing with the Disrupted Landscapes series, hoping to eventually publish this work.

I can also now share an outtake from the editorial shoot that I did last month for a new south London magazine. It was great to have a reason to revisit Nunhead Cemetery and explore it in depth. I imagine that the printed copy of the magazine will be available sometime next month, looking forward to seeing it!

April 2021

In early April my work was featured on Photomonitor, the award for my MA Photography project England at the London College of Communication Final Exhibition Awards. Big thanks to Christiane for her support of the project - please visit photomonitor.co.uk to see my interview with Christiane Monarchi and view the image gallery.

Disrupted Landscapes - ongoing project

With the easing of lock down, I was able to get back to the Kent coast - my first visit in over a year. It felt so good to be out on a dedicated photography trip, collecting new images that I can use in Disrupted Landscapes. I am slowly working up a treatment for a new video and once this is further ahead, I’ll be making additional journeys.

Artist talk

Mid-month I took part in an artists talk with Sarah-Jane Field and Rowan Lear. Sarah-Jane had organised it as part of her final graduation project, ‘Why is there an Astronaut in a Field of Flowers’. I’ve always found her work very interesting so was very happy to be invited. It was great to discover Rowan’s work through this event as well, and really enjoyed the evening - there were over 80 attendees. If you don’t know their work, please take a look @sarahjane.field and @rowanlear.

Sea Level book

Also mid-month, the second edition of my photography book, Sea Level, was made available by Another Place Press. So happy with the feedback that I’ve received from people about the book. If you are interested it is available here.

I’m also planning to include a couple of small (16 x 12 inch) Sea Level prints in a spring sale beginning 1 May. All the prints in the sale are small editions and come with certificates of authenticity. If you would like info on this, please message me your email address as discounts are only available to e-news subscribers. The sale will run throughout May.

March 2021

It’s nearly the end of March and the relaxation of some lock down measures. I can’t wait to be able to travel to the countryside and the coast after such a long time in the city. Despite the repetition of life in lockdown March seems to have flown by.

At the start of the month I found out that I’d been successful in my application to the London Creative Network (LCN) programme at Four Corners. This is a programme to help freelance artists develop their business and involves workshops, talks and some 1-1 sessions. I know several people who have participated in the past and they talk positively about it. I’m hoping it might involve assistance with grant applications, developing projects and networking and exhibition opportunities.

In mid-March I received the great news that the University of the Arts London Art Collection would be purchasing the first edition of one of my Disrupted Landscapes photographs from my project, England, along with the first edition of my video, Inward Island. I am so grateful for the initial recommendation and delighted to be in such good company.

The university has ongoing opportunities available for students and alumni which is really helpful, and I’ve recently got involved in one of their current projects as a freelance photographer. This is exciting as the commission is landscape and local and involves some research as well. I’ll post more as the project develops.

I’ve also been putting feelers out for different freelance opportunities and am currently in discussion with a leading agency about representation.

February 2021

At the beginning of February we had the LCC MA Photography Final Exhibition Awards where annual prizes are given. I was very thankful to receive an award from Photomonitor and a commendation from Metro Imaging - many of my closest cohorts also received awards.

Natalie and I deinstalled our work from Offshoot Gallery at the start of the month. We were both invited to talk about our projects at the City & Cripplegate Photographic Society, where Natalie is a member, and the talk took place mid-month. It was a great experience for me to go back through the archives and find repeating obsessions as well as thematic links to my most recent work at LCC. Following my 40 minute zoom talk, I met some of the members in the break-out sessions and enjoyed listening to Natalie talk about her work.

Images from past work which share thematic similarities with my recent MA project England

Earlier this week, all MA students received their assessments/grades which was nerve-wracking and emotional. I was happy and relieved with my own grade and just wished my parents were both here to enjoy the moment with me. The last 15 months seem to have gone so quickly and now it’s time for a new chapter to begin.

January 2021

On Monday 4 January the government announced another national lockdown and unfortunately our exhibition England / Reflection, which was installed at Offshoot Gallery, was not able to open to the public on 14 January as planned.

We decided that the exhibition would exist online for people to see, and on the day of the cancelled pv we shared some installation photographs on Offshoot Gallery’s website.

Disrupted Landscapes #3 (c) Mandy Williams

Natalie and I created a short 10 minute-video where we showed images of our installed works, and talked about the themes and meanings of the individual pieces. This went live on 21 January and can be seen here.

Showing the 12-page free newspaper, England

Natalie and I were also in discussion with writer/curator Charlotte Russell which was a lot of fun, and a chance to let off steam! You can catch our discussion here.

The Inward Island video is available to watch on Vimeo - link from the video page of this website

At the end of this month, the University of the Arts London’s Graduate Showcase will go live. Created to showcase students’ work online as a physical show at the university was not possible due to COVID, it should be a great way to see what all the students have produced for their final projects.

December 2020

Nearly the end of 2020, a year that brings to mind the words ‘challenging, difficult, frustrating, sad, and occasionally wonderful’. Since March, we have had to learn to adapt to our restricted circumstances, and now in December, the immediate future looks very similar with London in Tier 4 and a new virus strain circulating the country.

Trace, on show at Worthing Museum and Art Gallery

Despite all the difficulties and uncertainties from Covid 19 the year brought me opportunities I had never had before and which I am very grateful to have experienced. From mid-January until the first lock-down I was thrilled to have a solo exhibition, A Strange and Familiar Sea, at Worthing Museum and Art Gallery. It should have run until late May, but despite being cut short, it was a wonderful experience. The gallery space was beautiful and I was happy with the install, and in the two months it was open, the exhibition received very positive feedback from visitors.

England / Reflection at Offshoot Gallery, London

Throughout the year I have been a student again, studying MA Photography at LCC, UAL. Tuition went online after the March break but the quality of online teaching was wonderful and it was great to have the intensity of working on a final project. I feel that I have learned a lot from this course. It was sad to have lost the social aspects of being a student, but in the autumn term some on site tuition returned and it was good to see the other students again. As an on site graduate exhibition is not able to take place because of Covid, a two-person exhibition, England / Reflection has been organised with another student, Natalie Robinson, and the work is now installed at Offshoot Gallery, London. We hope it can be open to the public from mid-January.

Inside Sea Level, published by Another Place Press

Lastly, this year has come to a close with my new photography book, Sea Level, published by Another Place Press. I’ve self-published before but never had a publisher take on my work, so this has been very exciting, especially as I had always hoped Sea Level might be published at some point. It was a pleasure to work with Iain, who runs Another Place Press, and the book was part of the Field Notes series, published alongside two other books. The first edition of 100 books sold out during pre-orders, and I received some copies this week.

Despite all the uncertainty, I’m excited by the year ahead. As artists, let's keep strong and watch out for one another. Wishing you all a brilliant 2021!

November 2020

Before we entered our second lock-down I was able to take a couple of photo trips. Late last month I visited a wooded area around Luddesdown, Kent which was incredibly beautiful, and also took a journey out to the Strand, in Gillingham, Kent where the above photo was taken in early November. I am already restless for another day out with the camera.

Around Luddesdown, Kent

November has been busy with MA work. There’s less than a month until our tutorials end which will seem very strange after such an intense 15 months. My project work is pretty much complete, apart from the written submission I will need to make in January. This month some of the students’ videos were screened in the cinema room and it was a treat to see our work at that scale.

Video capture

Also this month, Another Place Press announced pre-orders for its next three Field Notes, one of which is my small Sea Level book. I’m excited to see the finished book, having looked at the high-resolution printer’s proof earlier in November. I believe Sea Level will be published next month.

October 2020

This month has included working on the layout of my forthcoming book with Another Place Press. Iain created an initial layout that was very perceptive and flowed really well. Some of the layout also echoed the connections that I had made between images for the Worthing Museum installation. It has been so good to see the book take shape this month and I’m grateful to Iain for this opportunity.

Also this month I received my copy of the Shutterhub Yearbook 2020 which includes work by 100 contemporary photographers. Happy to be included and there is some lovely work in the publication.

Coldrum Longbarrow, Kent

This month I was able to go out on a photo trip and chose to visit Coldrum Longbarrow in Kent as I’d never been there before. Hopefully I will get another opportunity to go out with the camera before we go back into lock-down, which looks likely. I’ve also been finalising my MA project and starting the process of getting work printed up and framed. The core piece of the project is a short single channel video, but there will also be black and white photographs. Our term has now started up and we have 7 weeks until the end of lectures and tutorials. I hope that my work can be finished and installed without disruption.

September 2020

It’s almost the end of September and I realise I haven’t gone on a dedicated photography trip this past month. I have been working on my LCC project which will be part of a virtual group exhibition staged within the space of the Turner Contemporary in Margate. We are also being encouraged to find a place to display our work physically and I’ve been exploring this idea as well. The course begins again mid October and final submission of work is mid January so not too long now.

I am happy to share the news that my Sea Level series will be published as a small book by Another Place Press. It will be one of their Field Notes series. I think Another Place Press is one of the most ethical publishers around and I have several of their publications including a Field Notes book. Very excited to see how the book will develop.

From Sea Level

In early September I visited Worthing and saw the outdoor display of Beyond Land that Worthing Museum and Art Gallery have just installed with funding from Arts Council England. The West Buildings Shelter photography exhibition was still up further along the seafront.

Photographs from Beyond Land installed outside Worthing Pavilion

August 2020

This month I’ve spent some time by the coast, aware that we are heading into autumn soon and may face another lock-down. I’ve visited Joss Bay, Dungeness, and Hastings. Dungeness always feels like I’m coming home - no idea why, but it’s such a calming place. I’ve been going there since 2010 and it’s changed over the years but still beautiful. There were quite a lot of people there for a mid-week trip, probably because of furlough. During this pandemic being somewhere remote and on the edge of the land like Dungeness feels like a good retreat. I always think of Derek Jarman when I’m there, one of my favourite filmmakers, whose Prospect cottage will soon be turned into a publicly accessible resource about his work.

Bosham

In early August I found out that my photograph of Bosham was one of 100 images that had been selected for the printed publication THE YEARBOOK 100 - YEARBOOK 2020 Printed Publication. Selected by judges from @BenQEurope @ExposureFF, Fujifilm Original Photo Paper, @newspaperclub and Shutter Hub's @Karen_Harvey. I can’t wait to see a copy of the yearbook - another great example of Shutter Hub supporting the photography community.

This week I submitted my shortlisted photograph to the Royal Academy and really hope it’s selected for the Summer exhibition (which will now be held in October).

Next week I’ll be heading down to Sussex again to see a project that’s the result of an initiative by the Worthing Museum & Art Gallery. I’m grateful for their continued interest and support and excited to view the display.

July 2020

Already the end of July - time is going so fast in this COVID period where everything is off-kilter. I’ve been working on my MA project and will continue experimenting and building up content over the summer. I plan to have some photo trips while we have the freedom to move around and store up images for any future lock-downs.

Earlier this month I found out I had an image selected for Shutterhub’s Yearbook project. The whole exhibition can be viewed here.

At the start of the month I was contacted about participating in a small photography exhibition to be installed in a beach shelter on Worthing seafront. I have always wondered about showing some of the Frame series in the spot where they originated so I was very happy to be included with five images and with production costs covered by Colonnade House and Worthing & Adur Councils. The show, featuring 6 photographers, went up last week and is set to stay until October. I went down to see it and thought it had been really well installed.

Frame prints installed on one side of the West Buildings shelter, Worthing

I was also in Worthing a couple of weeks ago to pack up my exhibition at Worthing Museum & Art Gallery. I was sorry the show was cut short by two months because of COVID but it was a wonderful experience and the exhibition had a good eight week run before closure as well as a strong digital presence on the museum website. I also visited Highdown while I was there for my first countryside walk in months.

There are also a couple of future projects in discussion about existing series - more info soon.

June 2020

This month saw the end of the summer term at LCC. Since mid-April our tutorials and lectures have been online because of the pandemic. Now we have the summer months to complete our project. The photograph above is in the video I have made and since then I’ve been working on images and excerpts from interviews for inclusion in a small book.

from project

A little while ago PHOTO MEET & NORTHERN NARRATIVES launched an Open Call related to projects affected by lock-down which would be selected for a feature. Following The Urban feature they recently selected 16 photographers who explore different aspect of rural areas and my series Beyond Land was included in The Rural feature, re-contextualised in this age of lock-down.

part of Beyond Land feature

Since mid-March it’s been very rare for me to travel out of my neighbourhood, but a week ago I returned to the riverbank in south-east London where I have photographed since 2008. It was a shock to see the level of fly-tipping. The signs Bexley Council installed are no deterrent and they need to stake out the area and spot fine the people damaging the environment.

May 2020

Officially the final day of my show at Worthing Museum was 23 May. The exhibition opened 18 January and closed mid March due to COVID19 but the work remains in the gallery space. I’m grateful that it was open for two months and seen by lots of people, many of whom left comments. The museum has created a digital exhibition of A Strange and Familiar Sea which also includes the video interview they shot in February. At the moment there is no date listed for the museum to reopen as all cultural institutions remain in lock-down.

Land Art Agency

In mid-May the Land Art Agency was launched by Elizabeth Gleave and Marie Dryden. The agency is connecting photographers, whose work is rooted in environmental matters and initiatives, with the commercial industry and educational art platforms. They launched with 8 photographers - I’m extremely happy to be a part of it.

My father’s garden

This photograph was the final image I shot at my father’s house before it was sold. A black and white version is in the current Shutterhub exhibition, Everyday Delight. I’ve been thinking about this photograph - which was in the Fairways book that I self-published in 2018 - because I’m planning to make a small book as part of my MA project. I’ve been working on a video and would like to make an accompanying publication. As always, so many decisions to make but our tutors have been very helpful in offering guidance.

This week I got up very early, headed out to the Surrey Hills and then down to the south coast. I shot some video but am not certain that I will include it in the project. It felt strange to be out of London for the first time in two months and even stranger that I enjoyed being in the countryside more than being beside the sea.

Surrey hills

April 2020

Writing this in mid-May, 7 weeks into lock-down because of COVID19. So many changes to our daily lives. Shortly after writing the March blog, Worthing Museum & Art Gallery closed to the public along with other cultural institutions across the country. My exhibition, A Strange and Familiar Sea, is still in the Studio Gallery but the museum is not planning to reopen until at least 2 July. Everyone’s plans are up in the air, postponed or cancelled.

Sussex Life Magazine had interviewed me shortly before the museum closed and they included the interview in their May issue.

Sussex Life Magazine

My MA Photography course was on break until mid April and tutorials resumed online. The university is likely to remain closed until September. There have been a lot of changes to how we work but now it feels easier. One of the strange things is not being able to go down to the coast and shoot. Luckily I went twice in mid-March so gathered a lot of material. The photo at the top was taken on my final pre-lock-down trip. I submitted my final critical context paper at the end of April and have continued to work on my project at home.

March 2020

Writing this mid-month as COVID 19 spreads across the globe and the public are advised to self-isolate if displaying symptoms or in contact with an infected person. It’s an unprecedented situation and very worrying. To keep the virus from spreading large events will be cancelled from the end of next week. Many UK galleries are already cancelling or postponing shows. At the end of last week Worthing Museum had no plans to close to the public but I am aware that this can change at any point. I’m grateful that my show has already been up for a couple of months. There was a very nice mention for it in April’s issue of Outdoor Photography.

The short video interview that I gave at the museum last month about the work in the show also went live. It can be seen here.

At university we completed one of our collaborative projects last week. I had been working with four other MA students on a photography skills workshop for veterans that took place at St Pancras Hospital. The collaboration was really enjoyable and the workshop was a great experience. I documented it with stills and video and edited the 6 minute video for a small internal exhibition at the university.

Setting up for the photography skills workshop

The Shutterhub exhibition, Postcards from Great Britain, launched in Haarlem, the Netherlands on 5 March and runs until 2 April. The show will tour a few different locations during 2020. There are 119 photographers included. I have an image in the exhibition which was taken on an anti-Brexit march.

Anti-Brexit march 2019

Finally, I was very happy to find out last week that my photograph has made it through to the second round of the Royal Academy Summer exhibition. It’s an image that I shot in Canada, from a series about climate change and forest fires. Fingers crossed that it makes it through to the final hang, and that the exhibition will be able to go ahead this summer.

February 2020

My exhibition, A Strange and Familiar Sea, opened last month at Worthing Museum & Art Gallery. I have been down to the museum a couple of times this month to see the curator, and to meet the marketing manager and videographer. It has been great reading visitor’s comments about the show and their responses to the different series.

Visitor watching the Frame video

Since January I have been busy writing my critical context paper and working on two collaborative projects at university. I look forward to spending more time on my practical project, which has been simmering away in the background.

At the end of January I was out in Porto for four days. I loved the atmosphere of the city and tried to see as much as possible during the short visit. A highlight was the Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art with its beautiful gardens and different exhibitions.

Serralves Museum and Gardens, Porto

Earlier this month I found out I have an image selected for Shutterhub’s large project, Postcards from Great Britain, which launches in Haarlem, the Netherlands on 5 March and runs until 2 April. Unfortunately I won’t be able to go out for the launch and see the show because of study commitments. The show features 119 photographers. There’s more information about the exhibition here: https://shutterhub.org.uk/postcards-from-great-britain-shutter-hub-exhibition-haarlem-05-march-02-april-2020/

Closer to home I’ve been able to see a few exhibitions in January and February including Photo 50 at London Art Fair, Fleur Olby at the Garden Museum, Tom Lovelace’s curated photography exhibition at Borough Road Gallery, Revolv Collective’s exhibition at Seen Fifteen Gallery and the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize exhibition at The Photographers’ Gallery.

January 2020

In a couple of days my exhibition, A Strange and Familiar Sea, opens at Worthing Museum & Art Gallery. I can’t help thinking how excited my parents would have been to see the show as this was their town. I have so many memories here - from having moved to Worthing as a teenager, and from visiting my parents regularly from 2002 - 2016. It feels good to bring the work here, especially as so much of it was shot along the seafront. I’ve shown some of the photography before in Brighton, but I’m also exhibiting new work including direct to media acrylic prints. I’m excited to be showing the Frame video here as well. On Saturday 25 April the Museum will be having an open day which will include a curator’s talk about my exhibition. The show continues until Saturday 23 May, and the gallery is open Tuesday - Saturday 10am - 5pm.

Also this month I took part in Postcards from the Edge, the Visual Aids annual benefit exhibition in New York - this year it was held at Bortolami Gallery.

L’Oeil de la Photographie published a set of my Frame photographs this month too, which was a nice surprise.

December 2019

Nearly the end of 2019. It’s been a great year for making and showing work and for new opportunities – thanks to everyone who's supported me.
I’m excited by the busy year ahead. As artists, let's keep strong and watch out for one another. Wishing you all a brilliant 2020!

November 2019

Very happy to announce my upcoming exhibition, A Strange and Familiar Sea, at Worthing Museum & Art Gallery, 18 January - 23 May 2020. Worthing is where my father used to live, it’s also where a couple of my photography projects were located, so it feels good to be bringing the work there. The Museum has three exhibition spaces and the Studio gallery is a beautiful, light and airy (and large) space. I’ll be showing work from the Sea Level and Frame series, which were both shot in Worthing, and photographs from Beyond Land, as well as some new direct to media work.

I’m now just over one month into my MA Photography course at LCC, University of Arts London and really enjoying it. It has actually been more intense than I expected so am grateful that for now I can just spend my time reading, writing and developing work without trying to negotiate a job at the same time. Very lucky to have such knowledgeable and supportive lecturers. I’ve been photographing, recording and filming as part of the project but far too soon to know how the work will eventually be presented.

Having a new weekly schedule has meant I’ve been able to see a lot more exhibitions - Nam June Paik at Tate, On Edge at Science Gallery London, Danh Vo at South London Gallery, Other Spaces at 180 Strand, Trevor Paglen at Barbican, TPG New Talent, and many more.

September 2019

At the end of August I returned to Western Canada for a 10 day visit, arriving in Calgary, Alberta and heading south towards the US border in British Columbia. One of the days was spent on a road trip east of Calgary to the spectacular landscape of Drumheller and nearby Horseshoe Canyon. On the return journey north via Radium we once again saw the desolate stretches of burned out forests beside the highway. Thankfully there have been far fewer forest fires this summer than in 2018.

I made it back from Canada just in time to take part in another walk across the Broomway in Essex. It was quite different to the walk I took back in March - there were many water pools this time, and lots of algae. It’s an incredible walk.

Crossing the Broomway, Essex

The big news this month is that I have left my part-time public sector job in Digital Communications where I managed a picture library to begin an MA in Photography. Classes begin early October and I’m excited about the change.

I’m also working towards an exhibition in early 2020 which will be a significant show for me. The show is the culmination of a discussion that began several years ago. While I know most of the work that will be shown, I also want to create a couple of new works specifically for the exhibition.