Ciao Ciao, Europe

Today, January 31 2020, is Brexit day. At 11pm tonight the UK will leave the European Union. Like with all goodbyes to relationships that have meant something to me, I feel sad. I’d like to mark the day with a few thoughts and images. I was thirteen years old when I discovered the BBC drama … Read more

A Visual Journey Inspired by Sunglasses

It was exactly 40 years ago when, as a student in Venice, I first encountered a phenomenon that I found both simultaneously attractive and ludicrous. Walking along the Zattere – a waterfront promenade – in late Autumn there were groups of young Italian guys hanging out and people watching. These guys were cool, and they … Read more

Badges and Identity

I was at the Trump protest in London and took a photograph of a man whose badge made me smile because of the use of the word quite. I tend to use the word quite myself – I was quite upset or quite angry – it’s very tempered, understated and moderate.  I love the British humour … Read more

Purim 1984 in Hendon

I’ve been sorting through boxes of old photographs and came across a series of images I took back in 1984 when I was in my 20s. I had decided to revisit my old primary school, Hasmonean on Shirehall Lane, Hendon. It was and still is a small Jewish primary school, established in 1947. My purpose … Read more

Venice Carnival Part 1: masquerade and fancy dress

I’ve recently returned from a few days in Venice. It was the period of Carnevale, the Venetian Carnival, which culminates on Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras. The first contemporary Venetian Carnival took place in 1979. I studied History of Art at Venice’s Ca’Foscari University in the academic year 1979-1980 so was able to immerse myself in the … Read more

Back to the 80s and Greenham Common

I was looking through a box of old prints yesterday and came across a couple of photographs I’d taken at Greenham Common back in the early 80s. Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp was established to protest at nuclear weapons such as cruise missiles being based at the RAF site in Berkshire, England. The women’s camp began … Read more

scrapbooks and collecting images

There’s a small but interesting exhibition on at the moment at London’s ICA called “Paperwork: A Brief History of Artists’ Scrapbooks” which got me thinking about the various ways in which I collect images, potentially for inspiration but sometimes just to ponder and absorb or surround myself with. Here’s an example from the exhibition which … Read more