Globe 2019 SUMMER

During my university years, I put down the camera, only to pick it up
again and invest in new lenses once I had secured my first real job. As
I grew weary of the monotony of working life, the idea of travel became
an obsession. After leaving my job, selling my car and ending my
lease, I set off for Europe, a one-way ticket in hand. Ironically, I left my
camera behind, as I was afraid of damaging it. After my travels through
Europe, I settled into London for my first and only job in the UK.
It was only a few years later that I was drawn back into the magic of
photography, when I photographed an aurora borealis in Sweden: travel
and photography had come back together for me. Since that point, I
have covered much more of Europe, and gone on adventures in Africa
and, later, Asia. I moved from a Pentax SLR, to a Pentax DSLR, and
then to a Canon DSLR. Each time I made a change, the larger system
made me miss my compact and solid Pentax K1000. This ultimately led
me to the Leica M system. While it may be a more difficult camera to
use, it is also the most fun.
Travelling allows me to be stimulated by new surroundings: as I become
more connected to the places, and to the people who populate
them, they slowly start forming part of my identity. The Leica being a
more discrete camera, and one
which I do not like to use with
lenses longer than 50mm, forces
me to get closer to the people.
Another special feature of the
camera is that it only covers part
of my face, so my subjects can
see my face the whole time I am
photographing them. While I
have always been a bit shy, this
helps both me and the subject
to form a connection. Returning
from my travels, I am proud to
produce a dignified photographic
presentation of the unique
place I have visited, its culture
and the story of the journey.
Summer/Autumn 2019
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