Where to start …

… at the beginning I suppose , put your seatbelt on , hold on tight , this is a bumpy ride but your already aware of that as you have lived through 2022 too !

I got the year off to a slow start with a atmospheric walk in the local woods , more to clear the new year cobwebs than create my latest “Masterpiece” , photography is really just a walk with a camera if you can maintain low expectation levels , I don’t manage to achieve this Zen like state very often but it is nice to “play” photography in the woods now and then , embracing the photo clichés , misty sunlight and the warm feel-good vibe !

Enjoying just being there …

February saw me trying to find a few new images for my LIMBOLAND project but the second month of this year felt like a hangover from the festive season and looked like it too , I made the picture below on the afternoon before storm Eunice struck as my blog needed to be fed, , on a more serious note Russian troops were gathering on the Crimean border for a “Special Military Operation” and “Partygate” was gathering momentum as the Government lost it’s credibility and the trust of the electorate , Sue Gray was investigating …

Russia invaded Ukraine on 22nd February , just as we thought the worst of things were behind us …

February 2022 felt and looked like a hangover of Christmas 2021 …

March kicked off slowly before delivering a subtle misty pic which was the product of a pleasant walk , not a predetermined photo shoot , I started writing The Photo What I Took Blogs and taking things easy photographically , progress was hard to find on the Limboland Project , I was enjoying walks into the local landscape , as I walked I contemplated abstractions of the landscape , tick , tock , tock tick I knew the dreaded curse of inspiration was on its way , these misty morning pics were too safe & quiet for me , I needed a bit more something or other , a little less subtlety , I really wanted a landscape that shouted , not one that whispered …

Inspired by sunshine , a recently fertilized field and some hard cut hedges a Abstract Expressionist Vibe landed , I trusted the unreliable Intentional Camera Movement technique to deliver some unintentinional serendipitous results and it did not let me down , no whispers or computer shenanigans here , this shoot shouted !

The pic below put the first “photo-smile” on my face of 2022 , ICM always surprises …

As the UK Government fell apart I was beginning to find my photographic feet and a sense of purpose …

I don’t need to be asked twice to embrace techniques that involve visual risks and uncertainty …

April is the month of World Pinhole Day , pinhole photography is a great opportunity to walk on the wild side and play photographically !

Not sure where the inspiration for my 2022 World Pinhole Day Entry came from but I did feel as if it possessed a 1980’s album cover vibe , yes that is me jumping up and down during a L - O - N - G exposure…

I love playing with photography , pushing & pulling the boundaries , rolling the dice and embracing the serendipitous elements , April is as good time as any to play the photographic fool , photography can still surprise me and make me feel like a student …

Give this anti-technique , technique a try , set yourself free from “Good Technique” , its good fun to go “bad” !!!!

The month of May saw me maintaining my Abstract Landscape interest , I didn’t realise how much of this stuff I had shot this year until I started to write this review , looking back it looks as if this photographer was definitely “Playing” at it rather than working at it , street photography was thin on the ground for various practical reasons , so I explored my local landscape and creative mindset for fun , the square format was really making a come back into my life too …

What was going on ?

The picture below was made during low tide on the tidal river Severn , I enjoy the process of looking and photographing in a more considered way , photography does not have to be “Bish Bash Bosh” , its not all about the rive and tear , its how you get there …

Take time to look , more importantly , take time to see …

As my fascination with landscape abstraction continued the country was becoming all nationalist , monarchist and optimistic , at last the population had something to cheer and they were not going to miss their chance to celebrate , Covid was perceived to be less of a threat than it had been , Johnsons chickens were coming home to roost and the nation was ready for a party !

The country got behind the queens platinum jubilee and I reopened The State Of Britain project photo files …

At last I found a subject that I “needed” to photograph , all this flag waving and jingoism is not my thing but I knew as a photographer that this event was significant and had to be photographed , this was my first opportunity to create a post Covid portrait of my bit of the nation …

The real significance of this celebration became clearer later in the year …

I made a lot of pictures around the Platinum Jubilee theme , it represented a important moment in the nations social history , the government were still fighting among themselves like rats in a sack and law makers were being fined as law breakers , the wheels were falling off the Johnson administration.

As the nation displayed its genuine affection for HM Queen Elisabeth II , the demise of the worst Prime Minister and government ever accelerated , Bojo was on his last legs and no amount of flag waving was going to save him this time …

As Johnsons 3 years of chaos came to an end , my attraction to all things abstraction returned and overlapped with one last flag pic , this pic felt like a gift to me and a real symbol of the decay of Britain during the Johnson years , a frenzy of flag waving could not hide the cracks & divisions …

Letters of “No Confidence” in Johnson reached the threshold in June , Johnson won the confidence vote that followed as the hypocrisy continued but he was now damaged goods , this was the beginning of the end …

Despite the distractions and chaos within the UK Government , signs of support for Ukraine were appearing in public spaces as the war continued , life was hard photographically I wasn’t seeing it but I was still managing to grow my State Of Britain project as and when the pics appeared …

I revisited a number of “Street” locations that had delivered for me before in the hope that lightning might strike twice to no avail , lower footfall and lower mojo continued to get between me and meaningful Street moments …

I managed a few “nearly” pictures but it wasn’t happening for me during the summer months , this “Street” thing is not as easy as it used to be , it feels as if half of the cast have walked off the stage and those that remain have forgotten their lines , to make things worse most of the “discerning audience” remain in the theatre bar , talking the talk unable to “walk” !

One of my great Street Photography frustrations is the disappointment of not making the most of the quirky offbeat moments that still turn up , the sight of a dinosaur ferociously trying to escape from a carrier bag got my attention on one of my rare Street Shoots but I failed to make the most of this visual gift , in short the monster escaped , my dinosaur picture lacked bite , another “NEARLY” picture for the nearly pics pile …

Newsflash (added 05 /12/22) - The dinosaur picture might be a “grower” , it is starting to look better than it did earlier in the year , is that dinosaur laughing ?

The quote below is from my 2021 annual review it still rings true today but maybe less true than it was this time last year , thankfully …

“Sadly Street Photography feels like a bendable thing that does not want bend at the moment , a square peg , round hole dilemma. The new normal is not creating the pre-pandemic “Street” vibe I once enjoyed , I hope its not lost forever” ?

“Street Photography is dependent on the hustle n bustle , light and shade of life , when life stands still , Street Photography stops” !

September brought the first misty shoot of autumn , on this special morning I was in my local landscape early and back home within two hours , drinking coffee and writing my blog , I love working these misty morning shoots , not least because almost everything becomes photographable . The right place , time and light makes photography so much easier !

This old horse box with red string caught my eye and became much more when photographed , beauty turns up in strange places …

Make the most of misty mornings , they are very special and almost always deliver …

The 8th September brought with it , sad news of the queens death and a period of national mourning , I responnded by making pictures that recognised & recorded this historic event ,

Truss met with the queen 2 days before her death and was asked to form a new government , Lettuce Liz become the new PM …

Johnson had resigned earlier in the year but hung on in desperation ‘ at last he was gone , taxi for Johnson …

I felt compelled to make a number of “Queen” pictures , the death of the Queen and Johnsons political demise signaled the end of a era and a fitting end to my State Of Britain project …

Unsurprisingly The State Of Britain series lacked a happy ending , the political chaos continued and the uncertainty remained …

The Queen was dead , long live the king ….

Frequent readers of my ramblings will be aware of my “pictures find me” theory , the picture below is from a bass guitar practice session ?

I was playing Stormy Monday Blues just as the UK economy tanked …

Tuesday was just as bad , Wednesday was worse and inevitably Thursday was oh so sad , you know the rest …

The “Strong & Stable” , “fiscal” Tories were looking incompetent as pension funds lost billions of pounds in value , the budget that was not a budget had created chaos and fuelled the cost of living crisis further !

The removal men were at No 11 , Kwarteng was sacked and replaced by Hunt …

After only 44 days “Liz the Lettuce” was gone too ! Taxi for Truss …

The lettuce had lasted longer than Liz …

As the political chaos of 2022 continued industrial disputes began to appear , the railway workers and Royal Mail workers began industrial action as the cost of living crisis worsened , another Tory leadership selection shambles was initiated and the search for the third “Tory Leader” of 2022 began , the fourth Chancellor Of The Exchequer in 2022 was already in place amongst the chaos !

October began and ended with only my annual self portrait shoot completed , I had lost my “ Lockdown Look “ thankfully , other than that it was all a bit “as you were” …

November blew in with the word Permacrisis being selected as the word of 2022 by Collins English Dictionary , a word describing the feeling of living through a period of war, inflation, and political instability , sounds about right …

I was gutted to discover that when the clocks went back at the end of British Summertime I had been gifted an extra hour in 2022 , truth be told a extra hour of 2022 was unwanted , not needed and unwelcome , 2022 was a “Shit Show” !

Sunak became the new PM as the “Permacrisis” continued , embarrassed by my lack of photo-activity in October I was determined to do better in November , my “Street” belief was waning , the essential positivity , optimism and inner smile was hiding …

I needed to find it , fast …

Sometimes as you go about your day to day special moments just turn up , the view below turned up as I drove back from the local supermarket , The first day of November had given me a warm welcome and reminded me that you have to buy a ticket to win the prize , carrying a full camera kit with you 24 / 7 is a burden that does pay off eventually …

No digital manipulation here , just light , life , the universe & everything aligning and doing their thing …

Thirteen days later I was driving to a shoot when my emergency stop skills were tested , another “Decent Pic” turned up , sadly the drive to the location proved to be more fruitful than the planned “Street” shoot , once again I was living on photographic scraps !

When the going gets tough my Abstract Expressionist persona appears …

I began to realise that I was taking creative refuge in the abstraction of my everyday , this might of been a subconscious avoidance of the realities of 2022 or maybe I was just making the most of the very thin photo opportunities around me ?

November saw lay offs at Twitter following Elon Musk’s take over , another layer of uncertainty entered life and made me reconsider all things on-line , social media was losing its shine and even more of it’s integrity , was it time to re-evaluate life online , this question had been living rent free inside my head for a while ?

I failed to find the surprising “Street” pictures I crave this year but this “Everyday Masterpiece” did manage to find me …

The first winter World Cup kicked off with a whisper , the football like everything else in 2022 felt flat , chaotic and divisive , I’m a big footy fan but this edition of the greatest show on earth was underwhelming me !

As November came to an end one of my photographic wishes was granted , a dull , misty , murky morning arrived , it was just what I and my Limboland project needed , The Limboland project relies on “A Certain Slant Of Light “ to quote Emily Dickenson !

The morning of the 29th Nov was very special and productive , this was my favorite shoot of the year , mornings like this one remind me of why I do what I do …

The end of 2022 was in sight , December arrived with more mistiness , dinginess and griminess , the UK remained in “Limboland” , more strikes were announced in more sectors as the effects of high inflation and the cost of living crisis esculated …

Despite freezing temperatures December served up a warm welcome for me photographically , the classic shot below turned up before 11.00am on the first day , there is something timeless about black & white photographs that feature large cased musical instruments …

I didn’t expect to find a picture in the village, as I rarely find pictures close to home , December was up and running , game on !

“Classic Street” , I have added large cased musical instrument’s to my list of Street photography triggers …

Once the “perfect” winter conditions appeared my photographic activity became prolific and productive , I realised why I wasn’t seeing it , I had a head full of mistiness , my photographic aspirations , belief and enthusiasm had not deserted me they had just taken a summer holiday , leaving me to photograph flags and uncertainty through gritted teeth on horribly hot sunny days , alone …

Although my head was fixed in a monochromatic Limboland aesthetic I could not walk past this softly lit full colour micro-landscape , it was just a TV aerial , a roof top and a tree but it added up to so much more to me ?

The square format makes simple pictures stronger …

As the year drew to a end I craved a Christmas Street photograph , I wanted just one last “hurrah” before “Auld Lang Syne” was sung ,

News of a strike at the advice charity Shelter was reported by the Guardian 05/12/22 following a offer of 3% , Unite the Union reported that Shelter have financial reserves of 12.5 million , strikes within the NHS began as the Government declared that pay negotiations were not on the table !

The foodbank charity https://www.trusselltrust.org are giving out food parcels every 13 seconds in the run up to Christmas , think about that …

Snowy winter weather contributed to the farcical chaos that has become the “new normal” , preparations for Christmas were at a advanced stage nationally and personally , the Christmas Street Photograph annual challenge looked like a challenge too far for me but I remained hopeful , everyday practicalities were getting between me and the elusive Street pic , life was challenging on both sides of my camera !

Sadly Football did not come home but the World Cup Final delivered a great game …

“THE WORLD IS FULL OF MAGIC THINGS, PATIENTLY WAITING FOR OUR SENSES TO GROW SHARPER.”

― W.B. Yeats

Magic was hard to find in 2022 although traces of it still existed for those who looked beyond , my photographic output reflected my input this year as it always does , I managed a few memorable pictures towards the end of the year but I never really got going , I believe that serendipitous elements gift me the images I deserve , the harder I work the luckier I get , the opposite is also true…

Once again just being here at the end of the annual “UK Shit-Show” feels like a major achievement , I normally write a positive optimistic paragraph towards the end of my annual review but can’t find the words this year , as the Limbland tag line says “uncertainty is the only certainty” …

As I write the final lines of this annual review D: Ream are being played on the radio , the irony is not wasted on me …

“Things can only get better” , I’ve heard that one somewhere before , lets not go there …

Merry Christmas …

Wishing you a safe , peaceful and warm New Year , enjoy good light , good pictures and good health …

Not sure that this counts as a 2022 Christmas Street Photograph …

MORE…

If your blessed with a bit more time feel free to visit highlights from LIMBOLAND , my Another Day Off project , The State Of Britain series or The Testing Times pictures , they represent the most turbulent years in modern British history and ten years of my life…