And to dust you shall return. I thought I’d write to you more this year. I haven’t. I’m either writing or I’m doing, and there’s been so much doing to be done!
I saw a circle of swans (eight of them) in the river, like synchronised swimmers, looking neatly inwards as a cormorant emerged from the water in the middle of them.
I saw a murmuration of birds, shaped like a sphere, loop the loop over the road and then, as two cormorants seemed to pierce through their perfect circle, they dispersed onto the telegraph wires.
I saw a squirrel on the scaffolding carrying a walnut (or was it a safety helmet?)
We saw Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in London.
I saw the Aurora Borealis.
I went to Tuthill Porsche with the Be Right Back gang, saw a 911 GT1 and a 911 GT ONE.
We took a weekend road trip to Scotland to eat car snacks and research passive houses.
My feature on Utrecht, the sustainable city, appeared in the October issue of Homes & Antiques magazine (it’s also available for you to read online here).
We went to Glandford Shell Museum for Charlotte’s birthday. Bought pastries from Picnic Fayre in Cley and headed to Holkham beach for wind-swept cruffin eating.
I went to A&E, had a CT scan, sat next to Mr Raspberry in the waiting room.
There was a little bit about me in Velvet magazine (online version here), they misspelled weirdo!
I made cakes with plums, and cakes with apples. So many apples, borrowed from the orchard.
I selected 36 images by photographers from around the world for the exhibition YOUR LENS, YOUR TRUTH, a collaboration between Shutter Hub and Sainsbury Centre, in response to The Camera Never Lies: Challenging images through The Incite Project. Find out more here.
I’ve been giving portfolio reviews for photographers – for Sony World Photography Awards, for Shutter Hub and for AUTO PHOTO with Caffeine and Machine. I’ll be doing more next year, kicking off at FORMAT International Photography Festival. If you’re a photographer and you’d like some help preparing for a review, download my free guide to portfolio reviews here.
I was tagged in this lovely Linkedin post the other day, and it reminded me how lucky we are to be able to have a positive impact on the lives of so many people around the world through the Shutter Hub Camera Amnesty. Lots of donations from generous people have meant we’ve been able to support some incredible people and projects over the year. If you’ve got spare photographic equipment that you’d like to donate, find out how you can help. here.
We launched our year-long exhibition on Worthing seafront, (RETURN) TO THE SEA, sharing the work of 150 photographers from around the world. It was a great experience. So many good people, talented photographers, and very nice dogs. The exhibition runs until October 2025, so if you’re wondering if you’ve got time to see it – you have!
Our other outdoor exhibition, TO THE SEA in St Gilles Croix de Vie, should have come to an end, but after a full year people are still enjoying it, so our partners in France are going to keep it up, until the weather decides otherwise!
In response to all this positivity (and my unfaltering love of the sea) we’ll be publishing a themed TO THE SEA book through Shutter Hub Editions. If you have something sea-like to share, please do – here’s the info!
The photographers for the Shutter Hub OPEN 2025 have been selected and will be announced very soon! Join us at Cambridge University for a friendly private view on 18th January, and later in March for the return of our Book & Zine Fair.
Over at AUTO PHOTO the Top 100 photographers and ultimate award winners have been announced. On the 7th December we will launch the exhibition at Great Northern Classics in Derby, and I would love it if you’d join us! Just RSVP and book a free ticket here.
We had over 1000 entries from 29 countries around the world, and it’s an amazing selection… if I do say so myself! The AUTO PHOTO 03 photobook is on it’s way to stockists across the UK and the Shutter Hub shop.
The Top 100 images will tour venues throughout the next 12 months as a digital exhibition, get a preview here on youtube.
I joined the judging panel for the Motorsport UK Young Media Awards, and Mai Ikuzawa, after winning the Creative Impact Award, joined the AUTO PHOTO judging panel for 2025.
I was very lucky to be invited to the Country and Town House Future Icons Awards, where Toiletries Amnesty was shortlisted in four categories. We were highly commended in the Best Environmental Beauty & Wellness Initiative category, and won the Best Local, Community or Charity Initiative award! You can find out more about the winners here.
The Future Icons Awards honour visionary innovators whose commitment to sustainability, discernment, quality, and environmental stewardship sets a new standard for responsibility and excellence. Their words, not mine!
As we reach the end of the year, we are nearing 1000 locations on the Toiletries Amnesty directory, and almost 6 million people given access to toiletries and hygiene products. That’s really something, for a self-funded side-project!
I used to find it hard to ask for help, ten years ago it was much harder to keep trying to explain what hygiene poverty was, and mostly I just felt (as some people said) I had chosen to take it on, so it was my responsibility. Well, I feel differently now. Yes, I still think I need to step up because I started it, but, now I have to ask other people to help. How can I finance this alone?! Seriously. Help me!
If everyone who reads this blog donated just £5 we’d be looking at over £10,000, and that would be incredible! If you can afford to donate more, that would be amazing – the difference we can make to other people’s lives together is more than you can imagine. So, please, if you can, make a donation through Paypal to Toiletries Amnesty today. Thank you.
If you’d like to keep up with what I’m up to work-wise (talks, events, exhibitions, portfolio reviews – 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.