Surreal Facades: Illusions and Reflections in London’s Streets

I’ve gathered together a series of photographs shot in London in the last few months that have an aspect of surrealism and illusion and that include architectural elements as part of the composition. These are not double exposures or composites but suggest layering despite being single exposure images. To me there’s something a bit Magritte-like … Read more

Reach Out and Touch

In this post I’m featuring a selection of images on the theme of touch with a focus on holding holds and linking arms rather intimate embrace. I’ve been reading about touch deprivation and how this affects our mental health. Since the onset of the Pandemic nearly two years ago the way we communicate socially has … Read more

Barber Signs and Imagery

The other week walking down London’s Kingsland Road in Dalston I took an illusionistic street photograph involving a barbershop window that regularly catches my eye. In the mix is a striking, monochromatic bearded profile with pronounced eyebrows as well as a beautiful, shrouded female figure with crossed hands. Rather than hipster qualities I associate his … Read more

Street Photography, Illusion and Tree Goddesses

Tree goddesses are usually associated with antiquity and are represented in a variety of cultures, for example Celtic tree deities, dryads in Greek mythology and  Kodama – Japanese spirits that inhabit trees. I’ve previously drawn together some images of People in Trees featuring actual people sitting in trees. This collection is different. I’ve noticed the juxtaposition of … Read more

palm trees: unseasonal representations

I was looking through my photos of a California road trip taken earlier this year and came across this image of a lifeguard hut on Santa Barbara beach: I started thinking about other palm tree imagery I’ve photographed; not in saturated Ibizan sunsets but palm trees in more monochromatic settings. I looked back through my … Read more

Ghostly mannequins

I took some pictures in Camden recently of reflected facades and shadowy figures which were actually mannequins, though I like the ambiguity of not quite knowing whether the shadows are of humans or not: I started thinking about another image I’d taken in New York, a  store in the process of being decorated had mannequins in … Read more

Charlie Chaplin: iconography and the immigrant

I’ve just started reading Confabulations by John Berger, who died earlier in January this year.  Recently I’ve been reading almost exclusively on my Kindle (in a space-saving Marie Kondo-like spirit) but I decided to buy a hard copy of the book – it’s small, portable with a good-sized font, and illustrated with colour photographs and … Read more

is it a painting? street photography and ambiguity

A few days ago I printed and framed an image I’d taken this summer on a hot day in London. Here it is: When my husband saw it he asked me whether it was a painting. I realised I was pleased that the image had this ambiguity; that it could be perceived of as a … Read more

illusions at night

I was in West Hampstead the other night when I came across what looked the the silhouette of a resting camel; it was in fact a peeling concrete wall … The picture below was taken last week In Leather Lane near Hatton Garden And I was drawn to photograph this crushed can the other night … Read more