Everything is Light.
Everything is Light, September 2026
It’s not difficult finding places void of humans out in the desert. There is however an abundance of big woofy dogs, many of which like to chase cars and sometimes a bald bloke with a camera. This occasion was no different, but I did manage to capture some ‘out house’ type structure just as the light changed.
Photographing Nostalgia.
Somewhere in the Mojave, 2026
I love finding old cars in the landscape, so much so I made an entire project out of it. I don’t think I have ever photographed a new car mainly because I find them very unappealing visually. One might think that the likes of Stephen Shore walked around finding old classic cars and putting them in his photographs, but at the time the cars would not have been old, or classics for that matter. Whenever I think about this it gives me a headache, but it’s a good example of how a photograph can change meaning over time. Although any image may become nostalgic, its not what I think when I look at a Stephen Shore photograph. One only has to view a Shore on Instagram to see that it looks as if it was taken yesterday.
I can’t imagine an electric car like a Tesla will one day be called a classic, but maybe I lack the insight Shore had. For now I’ll stick with the classics.
Time to switch..
Joshua Tree in The Fall.
In the upcoming winter months, my shooting times switch from early morning to evening. Despite the mornings having a smaller window to shoot in (just before and just after sunrise), I always liked having the rest and the day and the feeling of having done some secret mission. Evening shoots are good in that you can work into the night, but it can be difficult to know when you are done as a night scene captures the imagination when you are tired and weary, but just have to stop and make an image.
I have always enjoyed how photography can adapt to its surroundings, whatever the time of day.
The Future
The Accidental Tourist.
As the new college semester begins I am reminded of the time spent as a student somewhere in the gritty north of England, so very long ago..
The importance of meeting people, discovering new things, and learning a craft, far outweighs all the other fluff today which seems to be trying to destroying art education. I learned a lot in my time as a student, but the one thing that I always remember was that, ‘A camera is not an investment, but an education is.’ It’s as relevant today as it was 30 years ago…
Easy?
Anza Borrego, 2026
No one could have imagined that putting a camera on a phone would started as a gimmick to sell phones would have become the phenomenon that it is today. Any program about photography will tell you that people take billions of photographs everyday, most of which are from a smart device. But they are not photographers and ‘photograph’ is used in the loosest terms. Some say it was the beginning-of-the-end for photography, with everyone now claiming to be a photographer, helped along with online platforms and an audience that knows nothing about The Photograph.
One could argue that the decline of photography actually began around 126 years ago with the invention of the Box Brownie Camera making photography more accessible and affordable. But maybe that’s stretching things a little too far.
The image above could have been taken using a smartphone. I could have left the tripod in the trunk, I could have snapped the image through the windshield and not braced the 117 degrees that day. But I didn’t. Getting out, thinking things through and making an image may not appear to matter, but it does.
Good photography is not, and never has been, easy.
Places strange and quiet..
One of the best titles I ever came across was the great Wim Wenders photography book, Places strange and Quiet. It was a title I wish I had come up, particularly now, when all I seem to do is photograph places strange and quiet. I could do a play on words with something like, ‘Areas Odd and Silent.’ But it still wouldn’t be as good.
Another Dawn Raid..
Casino Car Park, Choachella Valley, 2026
The Accidental Tourist Part II (The Permanent Resident) has been gaining momentum lately with several dawn raids during a period of sustained heat which seems to make everything an effort.
The series takes me back to when times were more simple. Just a camera and a standard lens. Nothing is planned except perhaps the location, but that often changes too.
The quest continues..
MEGALITH
Megalith
Sometimes its good to leave things open to interpretation and let the imagination do its work. With the onset of AI telling people what to do and think and make people even more lazy (as all technology tends to do) often it’s just nice to make photographs without any agenda other than your own..
A moist and salty stink.
There is a simple joy in doing a pre-dawn raid. Not sure why I thought the Salton Sea would be cooler than the desert, but its moist salty stink was not half bad.
If you are not thinking ‘how’ to get the image, then you are not thinking ‘about’ the image.
The craft of photography has vanished like a fart in the wind! Off the top of my head; Focus, Image stabilization, color correction, vertical and horizontal correction, exposure, saturation, contrast, and even focal length, were once controlled by the photographer. Now they are done automatically with the camera, or in post using software.
Those still shooting the old school way are either doing it because that’s what they have always done, or they are young and hip and think they have rediscovered the wheel.
I have always thought that looking back is the only way you see what good photography really is. Early photographers had to do everything technically, as well as having vision. You would think that today having everything done ‘automatically’ would allow photographers to be more creative, allowing them to ‘just think about the subject’. Personally I think its done the opposite. If you are not thinking ‘how’ to get the image, then you are not thinking ‘about’ the image.
Hot, steady, and ever ready.
Palm Desert, am, 2026
Changing my shooting times form evening to morning this past month, mainly due to the heat, often changes the way I think, and approach a subject. In the AM it always feels like a race before the sun comes up, but with that comes a sense of closure, and the thoughts of breakfast. In the PM there is always the idea of shooting into the night where you either get too tired and can’t think straight, and then fall off a rock, or, your battery runs out, or, very often all three which happened several times during my Convergence work. I should also add, that shooting in the evening means things, and excuses, can happen in the day and you end up not shooting at all. Either way both have their drawbacks, but whether it’s watching the sun come up, or going down, there is still that magic moment when everything comes together.
Untitled, 2026
Its not often I shoot in the middle of the day. The last time was probably photographing derelict interiors in the Salton Sea some 20 years ago. Back then, the reason was to stay out of the sun until the light was right, even though the air temperatures inside where higher, but it meant I didn’t get heat stroke. As it was so bright outside, I was able to make photographs in the dark interiors on an 8/10” using what light was available. Last week I discovered an entire housing complex built in 2007 and abandoned in 2008 due to the financial crash. The real interest lies in the interiors of these once beautiful potential homes frozen in a state of new-abandoned-melancholy, decaying, but still new. And so, thinking back to ‘Thursdays by The Sea’, I began photographing the interiors in the middle of the day. Due to the long exposures, its a slow difficult process and very uncomfortable in the extreme heat, so much so, my camera kept overheating. But then again, I wouldn’t want things to be too easy..
The next 20..
Cazabon, 2026
The Accidental Tourist series was never intended to be a major project. What started as, ‘the random images you make that don’t really fit in anywhere’, over time became a series and started to fill a narrative. Having spent months putting together a book edit after 20 years, although happy with the finished article, there were so many more images I decided to do another loose edit which can be added to here and there. And so The Accidental Tourist II, The Permanent Resident, was born and will hopefully continue long into the future..
The terrible boredom of paradise..
Somewhere in the Sonoran Desert, July 2026.
Once upon a time in Death Valley, no one but an idiot ventured there in the months of June through August. I was one of those idiots. It was something I will not forget, or wish to experience again despite it’s beauty. But people are stupid and now July is the busiest month for tourism and dead bodies. Living out in the desert this time of year is a reminder of that trip I made to Badwater Death Valley, in the middle of July when my skin began to melt and my boots caught fire.
The desert is perhaps my favorite landscape, but the only time I venture out now at night, or just before sunrise. Its a magical experience but often followed by the rest of the day spent indoors, at least until winter..
Oh to have fresh eyes..
El Mirage. 2026
Its been 18 months since I moved out to the desert. With its ease of access to many places I would choose to go, I cannot complain. What was once a day trip, or stopover, is now a 30 minute drive, but therein lies the problem. When I used to drive to the Salton Sea in the late 90’s, it took so long to get there that I could leave after lunch and not have long to wait for the magical light to appear. On a cross country road trip, you drive through the day and then arrive somewhere just in time for the same magical light to appear, and so on. But now, waiting all day, its not difficult to get distracted with something else, or have a cocktail and not go anywhere despite many locations only being 30 minutes away, including the Salton Sea.
In the small town I grew up in there is a castle. Its quite a big castle with dungeons, a gift shop, and cafe. People come from far and wide to see the castle, but I have never been. Its a little bit like that now when I know there are many great places to make photographs, but because they are close by, I haven’t been. Its such a weird thing, but like having instant access to anyone on the planet, doesn’t mean you want to call them.
So much for looking at places with fresh eyes…
Always there..
Between Pines- Palm Springs 2026
Whatever I go off and start a new project, eventually I come back to where it all began, The Urban Sprawl. Still shot in the same way and at the same time of day. Its something that will always be there and continue to grow.
Make-believe but still real.
Halo 8
As the latest show of work, Convergence, draws to a close it has been a time of reflection. As with the Penumbra work, the show brought about the question; How did you do that? This really wasn’t surprising, especially when you consider I always get asked the question, even with my ‘straight photography’. In an ideal world I would have left everything a mystery, but the problem there was that most would assume everything was done in post rather than in camera. And then I got thinking about something I had never related to before. Unlike a straight landscape, which could also be sketched or painted, these images could only have been done using photography. The idea being that the shutter is opened, I walk into the shot, and then wave a light around (simple explanation). Of course the artist can always add something, or take it away, but they cannot physically alter reality. (The same could be said for photography post-production of crappy AI.)
And so with this in mind, I feel good to have produced something, Make-believe, but still real..
This is what a polished turd looks like..
Not sure how many more times I can write how much the Salton Sea has changed, but as I place I spent years photographing as early as the late 90’s, its about all I can do.
The vintage cars have gone, and only a few abandoned, dilapidated buildings exist. Early on there was a story, and like all good photographs, the place asked questions; What happened here? why is it like this?
Now, its just there, with an abundance of ‘enraged sculptures’ and the threat of Lithium pollution. It’s looks abandoned, and yet people live there now. Basically the place is a parody of itself. A none-place that no longer needs discovering.
Monumental.
Monument Diner, 2000
I spent much of this past week searching through my photography archive, and by that I mean negatives and contact sheets, some dating back 25 years. It’s been some time since I looked at much of my old work, but it reminded me of when I would make images without reason other than the pure joy of making pictures, it was wonderful..
Sometimes you have to look back in order to move forward. Remembering why I used to make photographs will always be inspiring.
A Hot Show
Arc. Convergence 2026
CONVERGENCE
RUBINE RED GALLERY
The best thing (for me) about having a show is that the work is presented in the way it was intended. Lugging around large cameras and jumping off rocks at night deserves to be shown as large prints with beautiful framing in a fine gallery in a beautiful location. On this occasion, the fact that it was 105 outside, and lovely and cool inside, was a little ironic as all of the images were made in the desert.
I always enjoy seeing how people react to the work in person which is very different to seeing the work online. Sadly this will always be limited. It’s a bit like seeing a film at the cinema as apposed to watching it on your TV, or if you are silly, on your phone!
Books are great of course, but the images will always be ‘copies’ and too small to appreciate in the same way. For me at least, a nice show is the ultimate goal as a Fine Art Photographer.