Thanks for taking the time to comment! As always it is very much appreciated.

The blog is a good place to post singles and work in progress rather than tight sequences, so I’ve been using it a fair bit. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’ve trimmed down the website a lot - only one urban landscape project there now - so the blog is stepping in to take up the slack.

The trips… yeah I have a huge guilty feeling everytime I do one of these. I love shooting for them as it really makes you concentrate on compositions - I’m intensely aware of the spaces I’m shooting, so the high is very rewarding. The guilt comes from making these wonderful compositions by a montage and not as single pics. I’m very aware that people respond to the highly graphic nature of these, so I’m very tight with myself to only combine pics from one space. After all their reason for being is to reflect on a particular space, not just to be merely arbitrary graphic arrangements - even if that is how some people respond to them. There is a part of me that is also very worried that I’m not a photographer anymore, although in truth I stopped thinking of myself as a photographer a while back.

I really don’t know why the new work is easier. I’ve changed camera and format and I’m not really into my stride with the digicam yet. I’m so used to seeing a very bright high res MF gg and composing taking into account every detail, just seeing a vague outline on a lcd is taking some getting used to. Loosing the square hurts to. The square can be SO dynamic. You can use the sides, corners, top, every aspect can be made to work. The rectangle is not suitable for that. I couldn’t do those trip-type compositions with it.

It could also be that I’m much more assured so I’m not trying to prove myself with every pic. I’m quite happy to stand back and take ’simple’ pics. Although, like you, I think the bitches brew has gone.

I’m not sure how the new stuff will work out. The aim is for a lulu-type book. I want to try and use singles, dips, montages,  all mixed together. The design of the book will be as important to the work as the pìcs I guess. Narrative is important to me, it is my main concern I think. Not so much the ’story’ narrative of scene of the crime, but something more nebulous. You are right, I’m not really that interested in singles as stand-alones any more , but I’m am veryinterested in doing some serious montage work, not sure how but I hope to work on some ideas over the summer.

Anyway, thanks for the comments! I’ll probably come back to these after I’ve thought some more.