June 16, 2020
So much has happened and if you regularly return to my site, I’m really sorry I’ve not been blogging like I know I should. Instagram really seems to have sucked so much of my energy for it and the permanence of the blog maybe is what seems so daunting - setting up, logging in, and get the thoughts down. The ‘gram seems looser, I don’t know why. ANY ROAD I’m the Sony World Open Photographer of The Year 2020, which will I think take me most of this crazy year to process, along with everything else we all have on our plates right now. I’ve done lots of press around it, which obviously I quite enjoy (why would you do it otherwise?) and I’ve really hammered out how this portrait of Black Francis of The Pixies happened - but in short, it was humorous shot for the MOJO Interview with a legend who thankfully brought as much with him as I did that day. Credit goes to James Hole on lights, Ryan Tehee on retouch, Hasselblad for cameras and the diamonds at MOJO for putting me in this position in the first place. I’m so grateful to all of you, though I hope you know this by now.
This competition has been incredibly good for me, and to win the Open is so massive. I never thought I would get anywhere near the standard required as I always viewed it with such awe. I’m actually quite sceptical about several of the competitions out there and the model of winning in this way - like, really, who is to say any picture is better than any other. But as outlets for good quality work diminish, and the scrabble to reach a global audience becomes ever more desperate, a global competition like will push your name like no other - if you win. Ensure your feelings towards your work are in a robust state as I have seriously considered not entering work that I love, for fear of rejection and tarnishing that work onwards. However, overcoming that fear, pushing forward and putting the work and yourself out there I guess really is what we have to do - and I have to say it’s been worth it for me.
I have been asked lots about prints of this image and may do a short series if there’s interest. Contact me via the site if you need to see this image of exasperation every day. Thank you again for all your positivity and your messages, they mean a great deal.
