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June 4, 2026In 2025 adults started talking and writing about a phenomenon they couldn’t understand – kids shouting the numbers 6 7 followed by a weird hand movement which apparently became a craze. According to a BBC article the phrase “67”, which first gained popularity with Generation Alpha, has gone on to become a viral internet sensation and was even named Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year for 2025.
It reminded me that I too had a childhood relationship with the numbers 6 and 7 and brought back memories from the early 1960s. I had recently moved from London’s Stamford Hill to the posher Finchley and was attending Hasmonean Primary School, an Orthodox Jewish Faith State school in Hendon. In the mornings we had Jewish assembly followed by religious studies. During the summer term of 1964, the topic in Jewish assembly that week was the story of David and Bathsheba. In Hebrew, the word for Bathsheba is Batsheva. Broken down, Bat means daughter and Sheva is the number seven. Batsheva can also be translated as “seven years old”.
One morning, the headmaster, Mr. Cohen, stood in front of my class row in assembly, raised his hand and pointed at us. Gliding his hand from right to left, he announced with authority “YOU … are the most beautiful girls in the world, because you are all seven!”
Mish, bottom row, 3rd from left
I felt shock and panic – I was six.
Lonely Six
I had to be seven! Immediately. I couldn’t rationalise that according to his Batsheva theory I would eventually become beautiful in August during the summer holidays. I had to be beautiful now. I had to be like the others, not cast out on my lonely island of non-beauty. But I was very good at arithmetic so worked out that in order to be seven all I had to do was subtract a year and change my date of birth to 1956. We used to have to write our birth dates in our exercise books. It calmed me knowing that simple forgery entitled me to join the world of beautiful girls and not be the traumatised, shamed outsider I felt myself to be. And voilà I became 7 just like that!
Street Abstract with handprints, smile emoji and no.7
One day my parents received a phone call from the school who wanted to clarify how old I was as my date entries didn’t match their records. I was outed!
Nowadays I see this story as part of my journey towards authenticity, self-acceptance and embracing my reality. At the age of six I needed validation and felt ostracised from the beautiful group. A sense of otherness remains and I can still feel left out, but on the whole it manifests as individuality and independence. I have reclaimed the number six.
This is a 6, New Orleans, 2025
Self-portrait at the age of 68
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April 28, 2026I was walking into Soho Square when I spotted someone wearing a vintage traditional dark chocolate brown Astrakhan Karakul hat, and it immediately brought back memories of early childhood where I’d seen the same hats worn by male members of London’s Persian Jewish Community.
Here’s a photo that predates my birth by decades and is a studio portrait of my paternal grandmother Bibi’s relatives. Bibi, whose Hebrew name was Dvora, was the daughter of Moshe Ben Eliahu Mulla and Sarah Bat Binyamin Namdar. This is a very early photo of Bibi’s parents and brother. The image was taken in Merv in Turkmenistan. I don’t quite understand the date at the bottom but I’m assuming it was taken in 1920:
Lynton Talbot in a vintage Astrakhan hat, 2026
Above, Lynton Talbot in his vintage Astrakhan hat. We had a chat and in addition to a mutual appreciation for each other’s hats, discovered a shared background in teaching visual culture. Lynton co-runs a gallery in Wardour Street called TINA.
I realised I’d previously photographed a man in an Astrakhan hat at the winter Grand Flaneur Walk last November and I had experienced that feeling of curiosity and recognition.
Man in a Persian Lamb hat at the Winter Grand Flaneur Walk, November 2025
When my father died back in 2004 I kept his old photos and a few personal objects including his bowler hat which his initials on the inside brim. However I have no record or memory of him actually wearing it :
Dad’s bowler hat
My kids took a liking to the hat and I do have some early digital photos of my son Dan peeping out from under his duvet donning his “bobo”‘s bowler hat:
Dan in Bobo’s bowler hat, 2006
In terms of memory and continuity from my own perspective, I would say that the beret is a hat I’ve worn since I was a teenager, therefore spanning over 50 years!
I’ve always liked the retro style of the beret. Below a scan of one of my father’s old photos featuring his relatives on a beach. I vaguely remember them – I believe he did magic tricks and went by the Anglicised name of Uncle Simon as well as the Persian Dosh Lotfolloh (sic).
Vintage postcard featuring relatives in berets
Above, a scan of a photo taken during a Purim party in the at Stamford Hill’s Persian Synagogue. I am wearing a white beret, and receiving a prize from my late Uncle Khalil. I had dressed up as Bonnie, inspired by Faye Dunaway in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde. The photo probably dates from the late 60s as I cut my hair short around that time.
Next, me in a blue beret and retro sunglasses pointing a toy gun at Rossano Sanavio in Padova in 1979/1980. I think we were trying to create a homage to French New Wave cinema, and that the inspiration was the director Jean-Luc Godard:
Me and Moriyama, 2023
Above a selfie taken at an exhibition of one of my favourite photographers, Daido Moriyama, back in 2023
Next a series of recent street photographs and portraits featuring berets. The first three shots were taken in the Kings Cross Area:
Beret and clouds, Kings Cross, 2026
Vintage style on the tube, 2026
Photographer Chris Freeman, 2024
A few from Soho:
Graeme Webb talking to Brian Stewart, Little Italy, December2025
Frith Street, 2026
And finally one of Soho local Julian, walking down Frith Street with an antique rug casually draped over his shoulder:
Julian, 2026
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March 29, 2026I’d like to share some photographs shot over the past year where the image of the eye has caught my attention; as well as new street abstracts featuring fragmented representation and abstract forms. Many of these photographs document human intervention, either through deliberate damage such as tearing or the presence of graffiti.
Changing Representations in the Street:
In late November 2025 I was walking down Monmouth Street off London’s Covent Garden when I noticed some torn posters which were unusual. Contrary to defaced imagery I have documented in the past, specifically when it comes to eyes in my blog on Defaced Posters: Eye Gouging & Oedipus, these eyes were carefully and accurately cut out rather than scratched out and ripped:
As well as perfectly cut out eyes, the first image has additional graffiti suggesting snot running out of one nostril. My feeling is that this – a touch that can be interpreted as funny, demeaning or both depending on one’s stance – has been added by someone else at a later date:
Torn and Snotty, Monmouth Street, November 2025
In the poster alongside, the perfectly cut out eyes reveal a solid ultramarine Yves Klein blue beneath:
Blue Eyes, November 2025
The following week I walked past again and the change in both images was dramatic:
The rips in the image below reveal a slice of a beautiful black face whose fragmented gaze is direct:
Torn Reveal
The next series of images document human Intervention with regards the representation eyes in posters and adverts in public spaces:
Lion King Poster with gold paint added to eyes, 2026
Abortion is Murder sticker, London 2026
Anus sticker on eye, Spitalfields, March 2026
Eye Voted, NYC, November 2025
A series of found abstracts.The following images were photographed locally to me in the Gospel Oak and Highgate Road vicinities:
Gouged Eyes: Oedipus revisited, 2025
Vibrant Abstract, 2025
Found Cubist Face, 2025
Found Abstract in Highgate Road, 2026
Highgate Road Abstract
Surreal Pavements, 2026
Facial Reveal 2025
Next, a series of images shot in New York in late October and early November 2025:
Abstract Autumn in New York, 2025
Layers of Time, NYC 2025
Below, some abstracts that reference New York Mayoral election. The following images contain torn fragments featuring Zohran Mamdani, who at the time was a mayoral candidate:
Blowin’ in the Wind
Seen on the New York subway, in addition to the outlined eyes and lashes, an example of unibrow graffiti. Open to interpretation, with opinions varying from signifying natural beauty and empowering strength and the legacy of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo to a mocking symbol of unkempt ugliness:
Unibrow, New York Subway, November 2025
In the final section are a few more examples of graffiti that make me question their intention. Humour, misogyny, venting? A combination?
And seen the other day, a pencil moustache and an additional blackened tooth adorn a poster in Soho advertising glamorous eyebrows:
Below, another example of the ubiquity of male genitals in graffiti. A penis at gunpoint drawn on a poster advertising a young person learning music production skills:
The word CUNT scratched into one of the layers of a torn billboard on Highgate Road:
Notes
Yves Klein Blue: French painter Yves Klein signature colour was an ultramarine blue that some people claim spiritually draw them into a different dimension.
Link to my gallery documenting penis graffiti.
Link to gallery documenting graffiti, hair and gender.
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February 15, 2026The idea of fingers and gestures communicating energy in visual art is not a new one; in terms of painting a particular example come to mind – that of Michelangelo’s fresco The Creation of Adam, where the anthropomorphised representation of God appears to be injecting energy via a pointed finger into Adam’s more relaxed hand.
I’ve gathered together photographs I’ve taken as well as one from my family archive that feature fingers and gesture; spontaneously emanating energy, giving instruction or indicating interiority.
Firstly, here are examples where I feel musicians are emanating energy and communication through their pointed fingers.
Musician Ronald Thomas (who also happens to be a Tuina therapist) at the Afro Cuban Music Night
Orquesta Mambarito bandleader David Strahan
Below, a few more images from London’s Afro Cuban Music night over the years:
Dave Pattman communicates with the bata players
Dancer Luanda Pau, 2018
Vicky Jassey singing, 2023
Next, a series featuring people with a strong sense of personal style caught in the moment of gesture.
Top hat and gesture at the 2024 Grand Flaneur walk
A couple of George Skeggs aka Soho George
The following shots were taken outside Bar Italia in Frith Street, Soho:
Soho George – it even says so on the lining!
Brian Stewart at Bar Italia, Soho
Tommy with bespoke ukulele on his 29th birthday
Watching me watching you, 2026
Photographers Jim Nemer and Gerard McNamara, December 2025
Below, some images photographed at the London Colour Walk, a monthly gathering in Spitalfields Market:
It’s You! Featuring Marisa Mendez on the right.
Photographer Jim Nemer pointing at fellow photographer Graham Long through a partition.
The beautiful Elena poses for the camera
To me, unconscious finger gestures can also suggest thoughtfulness and thinking.
Images featuring family:
Below, a photograph I inherited from my late father. He’s on the far left, looking like a young, thoughtful John Turturro. My dad had enlisted as a GI during the Korean War in the early 1950s.
Above, a photograph taken during a flight; my husband Stephen in reading mode giving off a monastic air. Below, a shot from the mid 90s featuring my younger son Dan.
Above, a scan of a film photo I took of my mum having her armpits waxed by her beautician, Susan. Circa late 80s. I like the way Susan’s index finger, covered in warm wax, is pointed skywards.
Next a photo from 2005 of my son Raf as a teenager. Is he on the verge of giving me the finger for invading his privacy yet again?
This brought to mind a poster I’d seen at the Women’s March in London in 2017, where the image of the usually genteel and elegant Audrey Hepburn has been utilised in a poster showing attitude and contempt for sexist assumptions:
Audrey Hepburn giving the finger, 2017
On the theme of visual culture and symbols here are a few example of mannequins that caught my eye because of their fingers and gesture:
Up there, 2025
Broken in Paris
Fragmented and Surreal in New York
Finally, a couple of spontaneous portraits taken in Soho in the past year where the fingers are integral to the composition:
Luca at Bar Italia, 2025
Portrait of sax player Wayne Escoffery at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, 2025
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December 29, 2025My latest visual haiku is a New Year’s resolution on the theme of dance. During 2025 I was dancing Salsa regularly at The Hyde Park Bandstand, usually on a Sunday afternoon. However the outdoor season came to an end in November and despite indoor club alternatives I haven’t danced socially since then. I dance at home on a daily basis but it’s not the same as partner or group dancing, such as participating in the Cuban wheel dance Rueda de Casino which I love. So in 2026 I would like to dance some more!
Strangely, even whilst dancing on a weekly basis I came across some “instructions” in the form of graffiti on the streets reminding me to dance some more. This happened on several occasion in locations as diverse as London’s East End and Camden Town as well as in New York City. The photographs in this visual haiku were predominantly shot in 2025 on a mixture of camera and iPhone; most recently a photo of my TV screen during the Christmas edition of Strictly Come Dancing featuring the message on the back of Claudia Winkleman’s jacket. The exception is the final image; an iPhone selfie taken in the ladies loos of the London Coliseum at the start of the 2019 season of Gloria Estefan’s On Your Feet. Another dance connection is the fact that the tattoo stating Carpe Diem – Latin for Seize the Day – belongs to Santos, one of the regular dancers and Rueda leaders at the Bandstand.
With regards my photographic take on a haiku, the original inspiration is a Japanese poem often evoking nature and ephemera. The traditional format for a haiku is three lines containing 17 syllables (the first line has 5 syllables , line two 7 and line three 5). This haiku also functions as an image-based New Year’s resolution whilst conforming to the traditional haiku syllabic structure.
Keep dancing dancer
Carpe Diem dance some more
!Dance! That Conga beat
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November 29, 2025What qualities in people inspire me as I age, and how do I feel about ageing?
I had recently seen an exhibition of portrait paintings at The National Portrait Gallery with my friend Rose Rouse, who is also a cofounder of Advantages of Age, a social enterprise created to challenge the media narrative around ageing. We were struck how – particularly in the representations of older women – they seemed dispirited, physically defeated and crushed, as if weighed down by their years and experience.
I photographed Rose that day juxtaposed with a reproduction of a historical regal figure – their presence exudes power, strength and a vibrant spirit:
Rose Rouse at the National Portrait Gallery, September 2025
Rose told me that she and Suzanne Noble were planning a 2025 awards ceremony for the Advantages of Age in November and asked if I’d like to create an exhibition of six portraits that convey an alternative narrative to ageing. I agreed, and later, brainstorming with another friend these phrases emerged:
I am creative
I’m still learning
I am relevant
I love dancing
I’m not invisible
I live in the moment – not in the past (carpe diem)
Here are the portraits. Firstly, Julie whom I met at the London Colour Walk. Her powerful stare combined with home-made Medusa snake headdress connote a creative combination of cosiness and female empowerment:
Julie and Medusa headdress
Portraits:
Below, DJ Bungle – a 62 year old Salsa dancer and Samba Percussionist – seen here at the Hyde Park Bandstand where we regularly dance throughout spring to late autumn:
DJ Bungle
Next, a woman I encountered at the New Orleans Jazz Fest earlier in the year. Smoking and with an O’ Shit badge firmly emblazoned in her sunhat, she was defiantly celebrating life:
Manifesting the festival spirit, 2025
Also from New Orleans is octogenarian artist Amzie Adams:
Amzie Adams, 2025
Below, observing my mum at her dressing table, 2025:
Mum and Me, 2025
And finally, a man I noticed in a London Bank because of his impressive turquoise moustache. he had grown it for Movember, a charity addressing mens mental health issues including suicide awareness, as well as raising money for prostate and testicular cancer projects.
A turquoise moustache for Movember
The images were displayed at the 2025 Advantages of Age Awards Ceremony in Hoxton Hall. I had the idea to make the exhibition collaborative and invited people to add their spirited phrases to the ones I’ve mentioned above. The affirmative words were placed around the portraits:
Below, genre-defying creative Marisa Mendez, joint winner of the 2025 Style Queen award, contemplates her affirmative statement:
Marisa Mendez interacting with That’s The Spirit
Here are some of the contributions:
Marisa’s affirmation
Nidhi’s positive statement
I’m empowered by time by Rachel Lankester
Below, mixed media and wearable art artist Alessandra Bester:
Next, a few more images from the awards ceremony. First of all, juggler Ben Cornish in action:
Ben Cornish in action
Looking across from my seat I spotted fellow photographer and colour walker Richard Kaby and his partner Helena:
Watching the awards ceremony at Hoxton Hall
Colourful and stylish at the awards
Below, Suzanne Noble and my husband Stephen chatting about something big!
This Big!
Finally, a photo of me on the left with fellow colour walkers and creatives Nidhi Uppal and Alessandra Bester:
Photo by Ben Cornish
Links:
Advantages of Age
Amzie Adams
Movember
Suzanne Noble
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Decisive Moment: portrait of Brian about to down some crispy bacon #portrait #streetphotography #spicollective #fujifilm #streetstyle
Ciao bello #dogsofinstagram #streetphotography #hangingout #womeninstreet #leica @_keepcalmandcarryone_
I accidentally deleted this portrait and it vanished! So I’m reposting – an impromptu encounter with a man called Ronald who was rolling a cigarette when I spotted him #portrait #streetportrait #smoking #streetstyle #womenstreetphotographers
And the skies suddenly opened this afternoon! Two shots: the 1st taken through the window whilst sheltering in the station. The second image doubles as an abstract and reveals the impossibility of my crossing the road without getting my shoes soaked! #streetphotography #abstractphotography #londonlife #womeninstreet #leica
Arms and identity – two images. #streetportrait #creativity #leica #identity #tattoo @alessandrabester1
Experimenting with bokeh effect and a zoom lens for the first time in a while on a wet afternoon in Regents Park – series of 5. I love the single rose placed on the sculpture in the final image #fujifilm #roses #beauty #raindrops #transience
Existentialist London street abstract #graffiti #abstractstreet #reflection #documentingspace #existentialism
She said as I was walking past “you look so cute!” and I replied “YOU look so cute! Can I take your photo?” #streetportrait #kawaii #streetstyle #womeninstreet #spicollective
