A lot of people begin the new year with torturous resolutions that they hope will change their lives. I can’t get involved, I am too busy with the business of being me, but one thing I can make time for is a new list of animal interactions that have brought me joy these past few weeks.
– I saw a moorhen at the front door.
– I saw a squirrel eating a roast potato.
– The bank holiday deer came back to the garden.
– A wood mouse came to stay in the conservatory for a week (I gave him honey roasted peanuts, and yellow tissue paper to make a nest).
– I thought I saw a black swan, but it was a dog with it’s leg in the air.
We’ve done wintery things; eaten roast dinners, baked puddings, gone for walks, driven through floods, scraped the ice off the car windows, shivered, that kind of thing.
We thought we’d bought a house, but it seems we were mistaken.
At Shutter Hub we are celebrating ten years (TEN YEARS!) and, while we’ll not be getting carried away (we’re already doing enough!) we will be hosting an exhibition and a series of giveaways. Enter the giveaway here, and find out how to enter your work for our TEN themed exhibition here.
The latest book in the Shutter Hub Editions series is finally here, NIGHT MOODS is a collection of 100 images of the night, curated by Justin Carey. Buy it here!
The Shutter Hub OPEN 23/24 exhibition at Cambridge University has continued, with more lovely feedback and a couple of articles too (Velvet Magazine and Cambridge Independent). Vote for your favourite ‘Best in Show’ image from the exhibition here.
The AUTO PHOTO Award winners for 2023 have all been announced, the Top 100 images are being shown on screens at Cambridge University as part of the last week of the Shutter Hub OPEN 23/24, and the 30 winning images will soon be on display at Motorsport UK HQ.
The AUTO PHOTO 02 book is also now stocked by London’s coolest newsagents, Shreeji in Marylebone, which makes me happy!
Over at Toiletries Amnesty we did the annual numbers, and… hold on to your hats… drum roll… 4 million people given access to toiletries and hygiene products in 2023 alone! FOUR MILLION PEOPLE!
When I founded Toiletries Amnesty ten years ago I had no idea what it would become. It’s been a challenge (that’s me being very polite!) but it’s also been really important. Back in 2014 no one really knew about hygiene poverty, or what they could do about it. Toiletries Amnesty was the first UK organisation to tackle the issue, and remains the only one with a directory that allows individuals and businesses to see exactly where their donations are making an impact in their communities and beyond.
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In 2023 we supported over 700 locations across the UK and around the world. We enabled 4 million people to access essential hygiene products (as well as some lovely beauty gifts that brought a bit of joy to many difficult days), and diverted hundreds of tonnes of beauty industry waste from landfill and incineration.
Not bad for a ‘side project’ hey?!
If you’d like to keep up with what I’m up to work-wise (talks, events, exhibitions, that kind of stuff), you can find my Agenda on my website, for occasional updates in your inbox, join my Mailing List, and for daily bits and bobs, follow me on Instagram.