1 Roll, 1 Day. March 15th 2020

Back in December last year, I was talking to Catherine from Everyday Mama about 35mm film, and our love for shooting this way amongst our digital work. Over the last few years, we have had conversations about creativity, art, family, and how important it is for us to record, and share our everyday moments, maybe even more so now at this time in our lives. We talked about a project we could do together, so last Christmas Day, we both shot a roll of film each, me in West Yorkshire, Catherine in Auckland. You can see our shots here.

At the beginning of March, we were chatting on Insta, and Catherine suggested we do a 1 roll, 1 day project every month. We put the date in our diaries and then immediately realised we’d both be travelling that day. Instead of choosing another, we stuck to that day. I’m so pleased we did, as only a week later we both found ourselves in lockdown on opposite sides of the world.

I sent Catherine my photos from March the other day, and she put our photos side by side in diptychs. I love how she’s chosen them to fit together.

I had to share these words that Catherine put on her Insta post about our project; ‘And herein lies the lesson from this month for me, embrace the mundane, don’t be so quick to dismiss the very very ordinary moments, because woven together, they make up the very fabric of our lives’.

5 Creative Ways To Stay In Contact

It can be a bit lonely sometimes can’t it being self employed? Or just being in this situation we find ourselves in. Having a good creative network around you certainly helps. Having those people to cheerlead you, to chat to about your latest ideas, to help you see the right path when you’re feeling confused, and sometimes a shoulder to cry on when times are a bit too much.

So in these strange times, that feeling of isolation can really hit you, I know it has done for us. It’s been hard to think straight some days, but I know that doing something creative each day does really help me, whether that’s picking my camera up and taking photos or making a mini film, making lunch, or planting some seeds in a window box.

If you follow our stuff, you know I love a project. That might be one over a day in collaboration with a friend, it might be over a few weeks with a couple of friends, or it may take shape over a year or more, building a portfolio of work around a theme. I was chatting to Suzi today about ideas for collaborations, and how you can keep in touch with your photography inclined friends to create photos together. Maybe you want to do it it a pair, but these would work in larger groups too. So after a cup of tea and biscuits, we’ve come up with a few ideas 5 Creative Ways to Stay In Contact.

1. THE CHAIN

Choose who will take the very first photo. This could be of anything, but we guess it’s either going to be around the house or on your daily walk at the moment! That person then sends the photo to the next one in the chain, who reacts to that photo to take the next one. Maybe it will have a similar theme, or the light will be the same. Maybe it’s a silhoutte, or the view from your window. Find a similarity, get creative with it, take the photo and pass it on. We’re thinking that this will be a chain letter that you actually do like opening!

THE CHAIN II

I love a good sequel. If you wanted to set some limitations around the chain, you could think about setting a theme to it. Maybe only taking the chain photos in one room of the house, or maybe concentrating on the colours of the rainbow, we’re surrounded by their vibrancy at the moment. If you’ve been meaning to put your camera into video mode, but haven’t quite plucked up the courage yet, this could be your moment! Film a clip of your everyday, maybe 5 seconds, and then send this clip over to your project buddy who will react to it, and film the next 5 seconds of your collaboration! If you each did 6 clips of about 5 seconds each, all of a sudden you have a minute film. I REALLY want to see these!!!

2. TEA FOR TWO

Pick a time of day to share a cup of tea together. Maybe it’s taking a flask of tea on your daily walk. Maybe it’s sitting at the kitchen table for five minutes with your favourite biscuits. Maybe it’s your first cup of tea of the day you’re sipping, propped up in bed. If there are 2 of you, or more, try and co-ordinate a similar time. Take photos of those steaming cups of tea, and the location you’re in, noticing the details, the light, the chaos or the calm. All these prompts will hopefully lead to a body of work you can show on your blogs or Instagram feeds. As the Phlock Live photography conference was cancelled a few weeks ago, and as I was going to be running filmmaking workshops, I wondered how we could still create something together. So I asked people to film their first cup of tea on a Saturday morning, and I put it together in this film below. Tea solves so many things.

3. SING IT OUT

I have to say having a good sing does help me relieve a lot of tension. But for this one, it’s more about the words, unless you really want to have a sing, and by all means set up a FaceTime duet! Choose a couple of song titles, more if you feel yourself really getting into it, and create an image around that tile or lyric. I’ve been listening to a bit of Joni Mitchell today, I love Blue, so I’m sharing this montage me and a couple of photography friends did a few years ago. We limited ourselves to just taking photos on our phones for 3 weeks with a daily theme.

4. SAME TIME, DIFFERENT DAY

Pick a time of day between you, one that is convenient. Remembering when the GOOD light is though as this will really enhance your photos. When you’ve chosen the time of day, take a photo each day for a week at that time. And then share them in a blog post or on Instagram. Look at the similarities or differences. It’s so good working together like this as you soon build up a good body of work.

5. SELF PORTRAIT

I know I know, this is supposed to be a collaboration. So this is a selfie with a difference. You know that Bob Dylan video where he holds up the lyrics on cards? So, how’s about you set up your camera to take a self portrait. And on a card, write a message to the person you’re collaborating with. A few words about the project you’re doing together, or how that person has inspired you in some way. Or just tell them how you’re feeling that day.

Maybe you’d like to work on the project ideas consecutively, or take your time with them, or come up with your own ideas, we’d love to hear about them.

And when you come to the end of the project, and if you have access to a printer, how’s about printing a photo out from your collaboration together and writing a note on it and popping it in the post?

Even thought we may be feeling isolated, we can still work on things together. Have fun, we’d love to hear how you get on. Please do tag us in to anything you do and we’ll share it #5CreativeWays

And just a quick note about our mentoring programmes. If you’re just on the edge of setting up your photography business, or would like to nurture the one you have, if you’d like guidance on how to take better photos for your creative business to connect with your ideal clients, we have been mentoring people for over 5 years. We are currently offering a free 30 minute Skype call to see if we’d be a good fit to work together, the perfect amount of time to have a cup of tea and chat about where you’d like to take your photography. Just email us here and we will set up a chat with you.

Happy Creating! Don’t forget to hashtag #5CreativeWays so we can share your collaborations!

Moira and Jim

I remember the air stewardess holding my hand as we climbed the steps to the plane which was emblazoned with the British Airways flag and logo. It was the first time I was going to fly, and I was a little bit nervous as I turned round to wave to Mum and Dad in the terminal. The air stewardess looked down at me, squeezed my hand and said ‘you’re going to have the best seat in the house, you’re a V.I.P.!’ I don’t think I fully understood what that might entail (I got a colouring book, felt tips and a window seat near the front), but it really worked, and as we trundled down the runway of Leeds Bradford, I looked forward to my first trip to the capital.

I was going to visit my Aunty Moira, and her then boyfriend, soon to be her husband and my Uncle, Jim. My memories of the trip are slightly hazy, but it always makes me smile thinking about it, my first great adventure. We ate lots of cheese sandwiches, I remember the pelicans in St James’s Park and the pigeons landing on my head in Trafalgar Square. The smell of the city stays with me to this day, and when I studied and lived down there, that familiar smell always made me jump back into this trip. The memories of taking a black cab ride after seeing The King & I with Yul Brynner, and eating a McDonald’s for the first time. That trip will always have a special place in my heart.

The week before lockdown, we’d travelled down to Oxford to run a filmmaking workshop. On the way back home, we stopped off at my Uncle Jim’s house for a night. Sadly, my Aunty Moira lost her brave battle with breast cancer 20 years ago. We miss her every day, and life still feels very strange without her in it. Olive’s second name is Moira, and she is definitely showing her namesake’s spirit!

My Uncle now lives with his lovely wife Nicola. When we arrived, and Olive was having a nap, Jim told me that he’d recently discovered some old negatives. The images that emerged were of him and Moira down in London in the 70s, taken around the same time as my trip down there.

I absolutely love them, and I asked him if it was OK for me to share them here. I love that they were taking pictures of each other. And even though they are mainly individual portraits, you can feel that both of them are in the shots. The way they are looking at each other, well it absolutely gets me. The black and white, the flares, the cars. The newspapers and tube fares that send out clues to the time they were taken. The blemishes and dust scratches on the photos, and the washing line image, which seems to be a family obsession!

I’ve been turning to my film camera more lately, and have had it close to me during lockdown, seeing these has deepened my love for film. I can’t quite describe it, it just seems to ramp up what I’m feeling a bit more. People describe film photos as timeless, but these images depict the time they were taken so well, the timeless quality comes with the way they look at each other. That absolute look of love.

Here are Moira & Jim.

My Uncle has just sent me these gems from my trip down there!