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For me, the thrill in photography is chasing that unusual subject, composing it in the viewfinder, and pressing the shutter. I also get excitement from first seeing my images on the monitor, as I did in the past with film, seeing my prints come to life in the darkroom. I do make basic enhancements to colour and contrast, but rarely perform any complex editing, and never use composite images. All of my images are essentially as seen through the viewfinder.

As one does, I was walking through a local industrial estate one Sunday morning when I came across this brightly painted building which really appealed to me. I found it a really stark contrast to the generally dull and dreary surrounding, and the slightly eerie feeling that sleeping industry has at the weekend. This image started a summer-long project I eventually named 'Industrial Colour', which involved a lot of poking my lens through wire fences, and getting strange looks from security guards.

Sometimes patience is required to get the image you are looking for. Whilst it may look like this boy is a solitary soul, in fact this bridge was extremely busy as it was in the heat of summer in tourist location. It took 125 shots over a 2 hour period to get this one image. And for those wondering, yes the boy could have been photoshopped, but he wasn't.

Those of you who have followed for any length of time will know that for many years my specialism has been minimalist urban photography. It is only in more recent times that my attention has been more focussed on a style which probably is best described nowadays as New Topographics. However, there are times, as in this collection, where the dividing line between the two styles is very thin.

I would never make a good landscape photographer. Not because I don't have a good eye for it, but to get the best photographs more often than not requires getting up at stupid-o-clock to catch the morning sun. As an urban photographer I can take my time getting up, because for me the best part of the day is usually around midday, when on  a sunny day the shadows are strong and textures come to life. These conditions are ideal for urban minimalism.

In my minimalist photography I go out of my way to avoid street furniture such as lamp posts and overhead cables, as the detract from the simplicity I desire. In some cities, whilst trees are pleasing to the eye, and give a break to the otherwise stark built up environment, can also be very annoying. In my urban landscape photography however, they can become quite a feature. To see more in this series, please click on the link to take you to my collection of ‘The Urban Lone Tree’.

Positioning to get the right image is one of the more challenging parts of urban photography. Stand too close and lens distortion may be a problem. Stand too far away and irritating distractions such as lamp posts or trees get in the way. For this image, the ideal position would have required standing in the middle of very busy traffic in a downtown street, and therefore was just not possible! In the end I had to settle for the pavement, where I had to jostle for position with pedestrians in this very busy shopping area.

Sometimes the elements just come together. When was trying to take a photograph of this wall which had been partially overpainted, I was moving around trying to find a position to avoid the cable. Suddenly the sun came out and cast a shadow of the cable on the wall, which dissected the crack running down the wall, to creat this Mondrianesque image. Thankfully I was in the right place at the right time.

This image was created by the widely used photographic technique of long exposure. This technique is commonly used at night time to show light trails of stars or car lights, and normally requires a tripod to maintain sharpness. Here the technique has been exploited in daylight and without a tripod to blur movement and soften sharp edges to produce an image somewhat resembling an impressionist painting. The only post processing is the tweaking of colour and contrast.

Whilst a recent holiday to Morocco was mainly about chilling out with my wife, I did find time to practice my new found love of New Topographics photography. Our hotel was next to a village called Douar Erha, just south of Marrakech. Being in an area frequented by tourists, the village has its fair share of holiday villas and hotels. However, surrounding these are the rather more humble homes and shops of locals. Better known for my minimalist photographic style I was naturally inspired by the shape, form and line of the buildings, as well as their eerily isolated feel. However, despite the unfinished look of the buildings and little signs of life, it was quite evident that they are habited. In fact, I was invited into one of the homes to share mint tea and Arabic bread!



Urban photography is often about capturing the moment. I came across this scene in early afternoon where workers had obviously vacated their chairs and returned to their offices after enjoying their lunchtime in the warm sunshine. This left this irregular arrangement which is not normally part of minimalist photography. I am not sure that if the chairs were arranged in a orderly fashion the image would have been quite as strong.

This image was taken at the end of a 5 day visit to Joao Pessoa in Brazil. Although it is a working visit, I was able to find some time to get out and about with my camera. During my stay, my inspiration for photography came from the long stretches of golden sandy beaches, and true to my minimalist self, I found just the shot I was looking for!

It is amazing just how much there is around us that provides a suitable photographic subject that most people seem oblivious to.  As an urban photographer I spend quite a lot of time scanning my environment for abstract subjects, even when I don't have my camera with me! This photograph is of a building reflected in the Leeds and Liverpool canal in the centre of Leeds, UK. Had I not been observant and looking down at the time I too might have missed it.

By the very nature of photography, highlights and shadows are an integral feature in most genres of the art. In minimal photography, shadows can be used to very good effect as the subject of the image. In the above example, detail can still be quite clearly seen in the sunlit areas, while the shadows, which account for approximately 50% of the image, are almost completely detail free, eliminating distracting detail which could otherwise confuse the viewer.

Walk around any large city or town these days and you are likely to find buildings faced predominantly with reflective glass. I find these buildings an excellent canvas for abstract photography, and over the last couple of years have built up a series of what I now call Abstritecture.

Marmite is a famous British branded yeast extract spread. It has lovers and haters, and not much in between. The manufacturers even use this love/hate relationship as a feature of their advertising. I find a similar love/hate standpoint toward minimalism in photography, and wonder why it is like that.
In the featured photograph I see a beautiful arrangement of shapes and colours where others may just see a sign against a wall. It is this transformation from the mundane which excites me about minimal photography, in the same way that, for me, Marmite transforms a mundane slice of toast into an exciting taste sensation.