Black White Photography - UK (2019-11)

45

B+W

›

quite paradoxically – a by-

product of the game, and if I

tried to shift that balance there is

every likelihood I would be in the

poor house before the week’s end.

M

y other excuse is

that I don’t have

enough spare

time to take the

pictures I want to take. I’m not

talking about carrying a camera

while I’m out and about – that’s

easy enough – but the more

considered studio shoots that

I used to love. Spending days

indulging my photography

was easy enough to justify as

a full-time student with all the

time in the world and very little

responsibility, but now there’s

a house, partner and kids to

consider and, as a self-employed

freelance whatever-I-am, I know

that if I’m not writing, editing

or proofreading, then I should

be pursuing opportunities to

write, edit or proofread to ensure

that I don’t find myself sat on

the naughty step for not paying

the bills again. And if I’m not

pursuing work there’s every

chance that it’s my turn to do the

school and nursery runs, feed

the kids something other than

biscuits for their dinner, and

maybe, just maybe, show willing

with the washing machine. And if

that’s all sorted I can pretty much

guarantee there’s something

I need to tick off the house /

vehicle repair list – a quick glance

tells me that ‘fit new toilet’ and

‘fix leaking coolant pipe’ are the

current list-toppers, and both are

becoming increasingly urgent.

Above Over a period of two years I have collected a selection of twigs

and dry grass for a series of ultra-minimalist miniature landscapes

that I envisaged shooting on 5x4 film. However, apart from this digital

test shot (snapped specifically to illustrate minimalism in a book),

progress has stalled. My one-hour window will hopefully enable me

to make more headway with this project.