chrysanthemums | sgraffito | peat compatibility
new work
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I had some thoroughly wholesome jobs over the winter, so much so that I hesitate to call them ‘work’ and feel incredibly grateful to have played a part in them. Some of the projects I’ve been working on are embargoed or still in progress and won’t see the light of day for a while so it might feel a little Toast heavy in places but purely by chance and the working of the self-employed world. Call me old-fashioned but I’m a big believer in allowing my clients the opportunity to share their images before I do, it feels like a simple courtesy (I find it fascinating to see the images people choose compared to my favourites and it’s always good to see them in context PLUS in most cases I’m simply not allowed to share them before they’re published). Something I touched on in my photography chat is the secrets I have to keep and if I’m honest it makes sharing new work feel a little like sharing old work but that’s the way it is - to combat this I don’t look at the images after they’ve been delivered so that when they’re published it’s kind of like a lovely surprise and they still have that ‘new’ feeling to me. Here’s a digestible round-up of delicious commissions from the past few months.
a quiet game of light and colour
I chatted with Alice Vincent about fun things in Japan, photography (apparently I have a lot to say about that at the minute) and taking pictures of people without taking pictures of people. Read the article on Toast magazine.
chrysanthemum workshop
A day of learning, un-learning and generally being very playful with Frida Kim and Wagner Kreusch to celebrate the Chrysanthemum.
the Why Women Grow podcast
In all honesty I’m not sure where to start with this one... It has a ‘words don’t do it justice’ kind of place in my brain because the days I have spent working (using that term loosely) have been nothing short of spectacular. To be in the company of rawness and vulnerability and strength and wonder, to bear witness, to have music thread through bare branches and find it’s way to my ears. To put the camera down and listen to voices, poetry, strings. Listen to the Why Women Grow podcast.
Mr Ben for Toast
See more of my images and read the article by Emma Love, on Toast magazine.
February was a month of travel, exploration and taking pictures for me so I am carving the time to work through those - we visited Singapore, Bangkok and then spent a few weeks in Japan. There are many stories that found their way to me (ornamental cabbages! resting brooms! knots!) and once I make sense of them all I hope to share them somehow in tangible, tactile formats. The world of printing things is vast and overwhelming with endless possibilities so I’m going to keep it simple and try my best not to over-complicate the already terrifying notion that is sharing my work. It’s one thing to tell other people’s stories but a completely different thing to share my own.
Absolutely love your photography, particularly the Haarkon books and especially the way you find the beauty in the ordinary such as so-called weeds or simple shadows. It helps me appreciate the little things around me and inspires me to keep taking photos, along with celebrating underappreciated plants in my t-shirt designs.
Beautiful images