The gritty and often maligned seaside town of Morecambe stands on the brink of a new era as plans to transform it through ‘The Eden Project North’ are forging ahead.
To me, Morecambe is a fascinating subject to photograph due to its incongruous mix of stunning Lake District views, vast beaches, grand yet decaying architecture, dilapidated houses of multiple occupation, boarded up shops and salt-of-the-earth people – known locally as ‘sand grown ‘uns’.
A few years ago I travelled to the South East of England to explore pastures new. My original idea was to take my Canon 33V with various lenses but knowing that my hands tend to freeze up in the cold, I chose to take the Canon f/1.8 50mm STM lens. Without an aperture ring or hyperfocal distance markings, I decided to use the camera on programme mode and – shock horror – spend the week using it as a giant ‘point and shoot’, letting the camera make all of the technical decisions, while I just composed the images and shot the scenes.
Paris in the wintertime; a monochrome masterpiece which simply begs to be photographed. I explored Paris after many years’ absence in December 2019 during relatively carefree times. No coronavirus to dull the joie de vivre or curb people’s movements.
Before the COVID-19 lock-down in the UK, I spent a week in Athens at the start of March 2020.
Unsure of the heightened conditions of the airport security, I opted to take my Lomo LCA with a few rolls of Ilford XP2 Super. I’ve used this camera for the last 10 years on trips to various countries around the world as it’s simple, light-weight and I like the intense smell of oil when I use it.
