CJ: FEATURES,PHOTOBOOK BY JOHN BOLLOTEN, THIS IS NOT A LIFE IT'S JUST AN EXISTENCE.

August 7, 2025

Sharing some pages from a new photobook by John Bolloten, this new book by John is a vital document, and I believe everyone should spend some time with it. Published by Shotta Publications and Fistful of Books. Buy the book here

‘THIS IS NOT A LIFE, IT’S JUST AN EXISTENCE’ gives us a shocking and often taboo glimpse into the day-to-day world of people who have been chronically and repeatedly let down by social systems and safety nets that have been there to help them. This book is an incredibly important insight into the reality of their lived experience and the telling of their stories, Vicki Beere

I’ve featured John’s work in the past on Documenting Britain and here; it was an honour to see this book in development and some pages from the book, and share some of my thoughts while John was making the book. John is very focused, has a clear way of working, and knows exactly how he wants to show his work and share the lives of the people who trust him. I enjoyed talking to him about the book development and seeing it come into fruition.

My quote, back of the book

John’s sensitive and honest collaboration with the people in this book shows the hidden violence that many decided to ignore. John had made work where you can’t disregard the people within the pages. The photographs and life stories are brutal, but they should be seen and heard by as many people as possible. Chloe Juno Buy the book here

Follow John on Instagram

See Johns work here

John Bolloten: Margins

27 August—20 September 2025

Wed – Sat, 12 – 4pm

Preview 22 August, 6 – 8pm

Abject Gallery

John Bolloton pulls away the veil that separates “normal society” from the marginalized living in the abyss. In his book, we are immersed in the daily life of Bradford’s outsiders: a brutal parallel world still screaming after a decade of cuts and austerity. He cares enough to show this shadow world without flinching but with love and empathy for the subjects who are at last given a voice. **Barry Lewis**
**Buy the book here**

**Buy the book here**
John Bolloten’s This is Not a Life, It’s Just an Existence is one of the best photo books about drug addiction I have ever seen. Dense, brutally honest, painfully close to the edge. A journalistic masterpiece. His photographic apex! **Miron Zownir**

**I love this book and John, you are getting better and better as you go!! Your work is great and the energy you are putting into it is insane.** **Boogie**
**Buy the book here**

This book is the most honest account of people living with trauma I’ve ever seen, and for John to have truly gained the trust of these traumatized and damaged people with his empathetic, honest, and respectful approach is an astonishing feat. This document of trauma, of wasted lives, of intimacy, crime, and addiction should enrage us all.
Tom Oldham Buy the book here

Intimate, unforgettable, beautiful, and brutal, this important book of photographs and personal accounts shows a world that cascades from addiction. In John Bollotens’s images, we know this world because he brings it close, having earned the trust of the people in it. **Anne Worthington**
**Buy the book here**

John's current on-going projects include Blood Brothers (bare knuckle pit fighting), Levelling Up (a disturbing documentation of the decline of Britain's towns and cities), Trap Life (an in-depth investigation into the criminal side of the drugs world), For God's Sake (about Christian street preachers) and Ciggies, Spliffs and Red Bull which sees him return to the Bradford Sunday football league. His critically acclaimed book "Tbilisi Raw" went deep into the Georgian underground amongst football hooligans and skinheads. https://www.johnbolloten.co.uk

John's long-awaited book "This is Not a Life, It's Just an Existence," which covers the whole five-year period of his work with injecting drug users, was published in January 2025. Buy the book here

CJ: FEATURES: SOPHIE STEWART; IHATESMOLTALK

February 4, 2025

Over the years, I’ve worked many different types of jobs in between curving a way forward within documentary photography, when I saw this work by Sophie, I found it instantly relatable, the relationship we have with this thing called work and the work you have to do to survive in between finding work that you love because they say if you do what you love, it won’t feel like work? I love these short testimonies and insights into people’s lives and their feelings while working. The work also makes me think of one of my favorite books, #nyc by Jeff Mermelstein, photos of people’s mobile phone screens’ lives seen and read through overseen text messages, published by Mack Books. Insights into our thoughts and feelings. CJ

CJ: How did this work begin?

SS: I started these text pieces when I went back to work after one of many Covid lockdowns. During that time I think many people started to question the type of work they did and the meaning behind it and if it was making them happy in the long run - There was a lot of time to think at this point! I think it became a good way to moan about things that were happening around me and a good way to discuss this feeling of inertia that a lot of people were questioning when they went back to work. Sophie Stewart @ihatesmoltalk

DM your stories to Sophie - posts remain anonymous 🤍
Created by @stew.art.s Linktree @stew.art.s

Sophie Stewart @ihatesmoltalk
@stew.art.s
DM your stories to Sophie - posts remain anonymous 🤍

Sophie Stewart @ihatesmoltalk
@stew.art.s
**SS:** In a way, it's a collaboration of discussions and experiences between myself and my colleagues or people who have spoken to me in passing about jobs they have had or are still in. My text work has previously been more formal with set questions and more of an interview-style setup. But, this has taken a more informal approach - I often write them in my phone notes after a shift or right in the middle of a conversation with someone, when I'm like wait! I need to write this down! It's easier working in the moment like this and laughing with others about our shitty jobs, I love how people engage when we have these discussions and I always encourage people to get in touch with stories they want to share about pointless jobs, or undignified work or just if something is annoying them and they want it off their chest! Putting them on Instagram as well was a good way to feel connected when we were in this weird virtual world and now it's just continued on here because I hope when somebody is doom scrolling it gives them a laugh or some relatable content, which in turn opens up the discussion of a lot of issues there are with this type of work and what the heck we are doing with our time and things may change in the future of hospitality, hopefully for the better! Sophie Stewart @ihatesmoltalk
DM your stories to Sophie - posts remain anonymous 🤍

Thank you Sophie, for allowing me to feature your work! I love it. CJ

@stew.art.s

CJ: FEATURES; PORTRAITS AND PLACES BY EMYR PAYNE, WALES.

February 4, 2025

I’m always looking at documentary photography on social media, in magazines, on gallery walls, and in newspapers. I came across Emyr Payne’s portraits on Instagram and a couple of his portraits are fixed within my picture memory. One is the photo of John Starkey @john_starkey_clairvoyant, taken on Llandudno prom Wales. For 5 years I ran and curated a page on Instagram Documenting Britain. I would find photographers and upload their features, also something I enjoyed was sharing fast edits up onto the story feature from the many documentary hashtagged collections that have built up over time. Photographers’ images seemed to come back to me Emyr’s was one of them, so I would include them in the story feature edit, especially the photo of John Starkey, standing in a payphone with his hotdog! The story function on Instagram was fun to sequence, creating a fast pace and collecting many different photographers, presenting a continuous slideshow of documentary photography made across Britain from 2015 to 2021.

Photobook / Zine ‘Coming Up For Air' By Emyr Payne published by @admpublishing

Early portrait of @john_starkey_clairvoyant , taken on Llandudno prom. It was taken in Sept/Oct 2020 and is included in my first zine 'Coming Up For Air' published by @admpublishing and @ffotonwa les one image series. Last frame on the roll!
Photographer, Emyr Payne
**CJ:**I wondered if you would like to write a little bit about why you do what you do, I know it's hard sometimes to write this, I find it hard as often just kind of driven to photograph certain things. It would be lovely to get some words from you. When did you start taking photos, Did you go to college?
**EP:** Up until I was in my thirties, I had never picked up a camera, knew nothing about photography and didn’t even take holiday or memory snaps on the phone. To be honest, I never really thought about it. But after graduating as a learning disability nurse my wife suggested I do some short courses with the local college as a way to de-stress in the evenings. She was doing eight-week courses in pottery, glass making, stuff like that, but I had no interest in any of that. In the end I decided to do photography just because I like hiking and thought it might be nice to learn how to take a good photo of the mountains in Snowdonia. So I did an eight-week course (one evening a week) and learnt the basics: exposure triangle, how to use a camera, and some simple editing techniques in Adobe Bridge. My tutor was really encouraging and to be honest, if it wasn’t for him I might not have started taking it as seriously as I have, so I owe him a lot. I did a longer night course in the same college after that, where we did some more advanced stuff on Photoshop and did a ten-picture essay, but otherwise I have been self-taught. I mostly learn from studying other artists’ work from photobooks, websites and zines. Sometimes I look up some technical stuff on YouTube; that’s how I learnt how to use flash and do zone focusing etc. But otherwise I just try and go my own way. I have no interest in doing an A level or degree course. I tend to learn and work independently with everything I do.

Dwyran, Sir Fon / Anglesey
Photographer, Emyr Payne, Wales.
**CJ:** How long have you been taking photos?
**EP:** I’m 37 now so I’ve been photographing for around 5-6 years and trying to make up for lost time. I’ve become quite obsessed, to be honest, and the more I do it, the more I want to do it. The perfect life for me would be to quit the day job and use my time to write stories and take pictures, but of course, the world doesn’t work like that.
I’m only interested in taking the pictures I want to take too, so making a career out of wedding or commercial photography would never be my thing. I’m not great at weaving photography into my normal day, although I am getting better at remembering to take a small point-and-shoot camera around with me. I prefer to set time aside, like on a weekend or in the evenings, where I can get my head into it and commit completely to the challenge of finding a picture. I tend to visit the same places over and over again, getting deeper into the psyche of a place as I continue my practice. For me, there is no other way. It’s about getting a good picture, but it’s also about knowing a place and its people. That’s where the good stuff comes from. Once you get a feel for how a place thinks and feels you get better pictures.

Muster Point, Hirael, North Wales, Photographer, Emyr Payne, Wales.

Llandudno in 2021 on a Ricoh GRIII
Photographer, Emyr Payne, Wales.
CJ; Do you find it easy to ask people when you would like to take their photo?
EP: I knew I wanted to take pictures of people very early on but I didn’t know how to do it. I’m a shy person and really struggle with social anxiety, although lots of people might not realise it because I have learned how to mask this over the years.
Generally, the idea of socialising with other people, making small talk or just being in a room full of people is really challenging for me. So I can imagine people might be surprised that I have ended up going down the street portrait route with my work. But I think it works for me because there is very little planning involved so I don’t have time to really overthink the process, and when I approach a stranger for a portrait, I am in control of the social interaction from the outset which makes it easier for me. I know what to say and how to say it. I think my day job has taught me the skills needed to make people feel at ease when I photograph them. I have always worked with people, as a support worker with adults with learning disabilities in my 20s and as a nurse later on, so my bread and butter has always been about understanding and responding to need. I think people feel that, whether they know it or not when I take their picture. I don’t pose people. I don’t direct them. I’m polite and tell them what and why I’m doing what I’m doing. For the person I’m photographing, I don’t think it feels like they’re being photographed by a photographer, I think it just feels like they’re doing a bloke with a camera a favour, and I think that works to make that moment between us. And I take the picture quickly. Picture first, small talk second. I’m all about the picture.

Holyhead / Caergybi
Photographer, Emyr Payne, Wales.
CJ: What do you get personally out of taking photos, and creating portraits?
EP: When I started taking pictures I stayed away from people. I was nervous about being on the street with a camera, but like I said, I knew that people interested me the most, I just didn’t know how to do it. I remember watching stuff online about Martin Parr and Bruce Gilden and seeing them run into strangers’ faces with a flash on the street and I thought there’s no way I can do that. I read something Bruce Gilden said once about how you should be honest and upfront with your camera because if you try and take pictures more stealthily it makes you look guilty, so I kind of felt like taking pictures of people wasn’t going to be an option for me. I didn’t have the knowledge of photographic history or practice behind me at the time to know what to do. I wasn’t particularly enamoured with traditional portrait photography either so I knew that avenue wasn’t for me.
Then somewhere down the line, I discovered Niall Mcdiarmid’s photography and that changed everything. I didn’t like it at first, because the pictures weren’t 100% candid, but somewhere in between. But the more I saw of his work the more I went back until something clicked. I watched or read something about his work where he said that capturing the awkwardness of the encounter somehow works for him, and that he works quickly, taking a few quick shots and moving on. And I remember thinking at the time, okay I can do that. That feels comfortable to me. So, I did that. I just went out, saw somebody that caught my eye and asked them to take their photo. The first time I did it I was absolutely paralysed with nerves. My heart was beating and my mouth was dry. I still find it hard now, but it gets easier. The more I do it the easier it gets. And the buzz I get afterward is unparalleled. I think with street photography there are no rules, and you just have to find your own way. I think if you are true to yourself, you can find an approach to photographing people that works for you. Take Bruce Gilden for example, he has an abrasive personality so he can pull off taking pictures the way he does it, and the results speak for themselves. But I have a much quieter, more low-key personality, so I had to find a different way. If you are true to yourself, and your approach matches this, the people you photograph will accept you.

Bangor, North Wales, Photographer, Emyr Payne, Wales.

Bangor aye, 2022 @hellaburrows
Instant natural in front of the camera - I didn't have to say anything, just click the shutter and hope for the best (which worked on this occasion)
Photographer, Emyr Payne, Wales.
**EP:** I am artistically ambitious about my photography but I have no economic or career aspirations to do with photography. Tom Wood is my idol, both photographically and in the way he chose to approach his work: working a part-time job and spending the rest of his life photographing on his terms. By going to the same place over and over again he has a body of work which not only includes stand-out photographs that work on their own, but are also a document of a time and a place which, without his pictures, we would know much less about.

Danielmechanic from Caernarfon used to work on the Snowdon railway but left because of the impact of smoke from the coal on his health. Taken in Bangor, North Wales, Nov 2021 Photographer, Emyr Payne, Wales.
EP: My ambition photographically is to continue photographing the North Wales area, focusing primarily on Rhyl and Bangor, so that when I am old and grey I will have a body of work that documents this place and its people over a long period of time. And then maybe I can think about what I want to do with the work in terms of exhibitions and books. I also want to carry on photographing Anglesey and revisit my landscape work in Snowdonia. But for now, it’s all about Rhyl and Bangor. There’s just an energy for me about those places. And of course, so many colours and unique characters that make the pictures more interesting.

Jonathan, Colwyn Bay April 2021
Photographer, Emyr Payne, Wales.

Just outside Maes G, Bangor, North Wales, Photographer, Emyr Payne, Wales.

Photographer, Emyr Payne, Wales.
Follow Emyr Payne on Instagram

Caernarfon, Photographer, Emyr Payne, Wales.

Photographer, Emyr Payne, Wales.

Follow Emyr Payne on Instagram
BOOK / ZINE 'Coming Up For Air' published by @admpublishing
**EP:** Photography for me is a way to be creative, see more of the world, and meet like-minded people. It has been a gift for me in so many ways, and I see the act of a stranger allowing me to take their picture as the best gift of all.
Thank you so much, Emyr for all your words and allowing me to feature - keep going. CJ

Rhyl, Wales. Follow Emyr Payne on Instagram
BOOK / ZINE 'Coming Up For Air' published by @admpublishing

Source: https://www.lensculture.com/emyr-payne

CJ: FEATURES : Wearable coat made out of collected rubbish - Inspired by 'SOMEONES RUBBISH' made by Kiko Townsley

January 23, 2025

Sometimes when I open my emails, I find a lovely email from a student contacting me about my creative work and 'SOMEONE'S RUBBISH' with lots of questions about the photos I make, like why and how I come up with ideas, etc. Recently Kiko contacted me with some questions, and I replied and asked her some questions back, I’m also interested in why they focused on my work, how they found it, what their creative world looks like what kind of work they are making. I find it inspiring, their way of looking in on my work, it also makes me look at mine in new ways. When Kiko emailed back with what they had been working on it made me smile so much.

Kiko came back with this.

In response to your question about what my course entails, we’re just wrapping up our major component 1 which allowed us to research our own personal group of artists and respond to them with a large outcome. I looked at Sophie Calle, Candy Jernigan, and Mary Kelly’s work alongside yours, looking at themes of documentation. This ended up manifesting itself as a wearable coat made out of collected rubbish (the rubbish was personal to the model who wears the coat). I’ve attached photos with the email if you would like to check it out! Thank you so much for your help. I love the idea with your artwork where you mentioned how the work is still forming and the concept is still forming, that’s very interesting to me, especially as someone who sometimes struggles to figure out what my overall thematic “question” is". Kiko Townsley

I love this idea so much, and the fact that the rubbish is the model’s own too, they are wearing a document of their life, a slice of a moment in time in this life.

In was way it’s almost like a portable storage album.

Thank you, Kiko. keep doing what you do. CJ

https://www.chloejuno.com/someones-rubbish

https://nearesttruth.com/episodes/ep-396-chloe-juno-monuments/

Wearable coat made out of collected rubbish (the rubbish was personal to the model who wears the coat). **Kiko Townsley**

CJ FEATURES : BANKRUPT - JOHN BOLLOTEN - DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY

July 17, 2024

I came across this photo ‘BANKRUPT’ in John’s collection, for me it’s an image that represents a sign of our times, past and present. John is making some fantastic work looking at life in Britain now and I would highly recommend visiting his website and investing in some of his publications. He has pushed forward in the photo industry making work that’s true to his life experiences, what he sees, and the people he knows. It’s not work that has been easily embraced by a small group in the photo community but has been embraced by many others, and John works hard at making sure his work is seen.

It’s work that I feel is raw and represents elements of real life that might not be the most comfortable to look at because it might feel removed to some, but we should see more of it so people don’t feel so detached from one another. We live in communities layered with different existences and experiences. ‘BANKRUPT’ is one of John’s more still photos, he's often bang in the middle of some action, very people-focused, but this photo is fixed in my head, I see so much movement in it. I see all the human energy in a space, and what this building may have meant to the people who once worked there, the business owners, and all the customers over the years buying their new dream sofas and beds.

When I saw ‘BANKRUPT’ it made me reflect on the photos I am taking, because an element I am thinking of is the cost of living in Britain and seeing how over the last 10 years my hometown of Brighton has declined.

Some publications, where you can discover more about John

https://www.thentherewasus.co.uk/archive/a-human-approach-to-documenting-society-with-john-bolloten

https://www.huckmag.com/contributor/john-bolloten

John is in the process of making a new book ‘ THIS IS NOT A LIFE, IT’S JUST AN EXISTENCE’ follow on Instagram for updates John Bolloten

You can buy a print from John - https://www.johnbolloten.co.uk/Shop.html

A4 signed C-Type photographic print on Fuji Crystal Archive paper or similar. 100 years of archival protection. If you would like to buy a print, then send me a message John. https://www.johnbolloten.co.uk/Contact

CJ: FEATURES: BARRY LEWIS, GULAG, NEW BOOK, KICKSTARTER WITH FISTFUL OF BOOKS

October 20, 2023

I have been aware of the work by Barry Lewis for years and his work at Network Photo Agency

Network was an independent cooperatively-owned picture agency founded in London in January 1981. It grew out of a desire by a group of young UK-based freelance photojournalists to work collectively in a non-competitive environment.

Networks’ aim was to produce socially concerned work documenting the world around them and to retain control and ownership of the material.

Since sharing ‘SOMEMONES RUBBISH’ on Instagram I have met Barry virtually and had some interesting conversations about photography and he recommended a great little book called TRASH all about the world of other people’s rubbish. I’m backing this Kickstarter, he has nearly met his target but every backer still helps, publishing photo books has become more expensive because paper and production costs are rising. So take a read below and hop over to the FISTFUL OF BOOKS Kickstarter. Fistful is a brilliant independent small publisher of some really good photobooks and zines, publishing John Bolloton, Zak Waters, Peter Dench,

Syd Shelton, and many more!

GULAG provides a rare glimpse into a dark corner of Soviet history. The fact that Vladimir Putin's Russia has returned to Stalinist autocracy with those who oppose or protest being imprisoned gives this book of photographs and interviews from over 30 years ago a tragic relevance.

In the last months of Mikhail Gorbachev’s period of reform and his policy of ‘glasnost’ (openness), photographer Barry Lewis was allowed to explore, in 1991, the Gulag regions of north-eastern Siberia and speak with survivors.

“We have to squeeze everything out of a prisoner in the first three months - after that, we don’t need him anymore.”
Camp commander Naftaly Frenkel, The Gulag Archipelago

GULAG

www.kickstarter.com/projects/fistfulofbooks/gulag

A journey into the darkness of Stalin's Siberian prison camps with photographs by Barry Lewis

Asir Sandler, an 80-year-old doctor who I met in Magadan where he still lived 40 years after spending eleven years in a prison camp for carrying a book of ironic poems ...some of which joked about Stalin. Initially, he received the death penalty but it was commuted. In the course of our conversation, I mentioned I was visiting the old Magadan prison, now unused apart from storage. "That's where I was taken when arrested," he said and I asked if he wanted to join me. By a strange coincidence, his cell was full of the old arrest documents and we managed to find his arrest sheet. I then took this photo of him at the entrance to his cell... it was a very emotional moment! Asir Sandler, in the entrance to his old cell, holding his original arrest papers, file no. 2-5469, from 60 years earlier. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fistfulofbooks/gulag

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fistfulofbooks/gulag by Barry Lewis

He looks at his fingerprints, his shaved head, at the summonses for his special interrogation, 35 small purple slips of paper. He now remembers what he had with him when he was brought in: a tie, a bar of soap, a tin of toothpaste powder, a kangaroo fur hat. He remembers what he weighed: 70 kilos when he was arrested, and 42 kilos three months later. He can once again read copies of the verdict, which he had, at the time, torn into cigarette papers and smoked within two days. “Only curiosity,” he whispers. “No more sadness.” Sandler was arrested at the age of 30, transported, and sentenced to death for treason in 1941 for carrying a book of forbidden poems. His death sentence was commuted to 25 years in the camps, his wife divorced him, and he never saw his son, who was later executed for manslaughter.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fistfulofbooks/gulag Photographer Barry Lewis

After 11 years he was freed prematurely and returned to Magadan where he was exiled. By 1991 he was 80 years old and had learned to become a doctor inside the camps. “It was the best university in the world,” he exclaimed, “every intellectual was sent there!

” During his time in prison, Azir documented his experiences by tying knots on the string as a secret code since writing materials in the camp was forbidden. The knotted string was kept in rolls under his bunk and after being released he wrote a book, “Knot for Memory”, on his prison experiences written during his exile in Magadan. Barry Lewis https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fistfulofbooks/gulag

CJ FEATURES: JODI ROGERS : STREET PHOTOGRAPHY, BRISTOL, ENGLAND, 2023

March 21, 2023

JODI ROGERS

I love street photography and it’s one of the genres of photography I’ve really enjoyed discovering more of online, finding people based all over the world who are recording life on the streets in their own unique way. I personally feel it’s really important to keep street photography alive, along with people from the streets who are photographing their everyday life.

I talk a little about it in TRUTHS AND LIES See Publication CREATIVE REVIEW DOCUMENTING THE NOW by Mark Sinclair

CJ: One person to seek out is JODI ROGERS We had a chat!

CJ: Hi Jodie, how are you : ) When did you start making photos?

JR: I’ve always been interested in taking photos and remember really enjoying messing around with my mum’s point-and-shoot cameras when I was a kid. It wasn't until around 2015 whilst staying with a friend of mine in France that I started to think about photography in a different way and take it more seriously. My friend was a photographer and I remember her being really encouraging about me getting more into photography, she showed me some Magnum DVDs she had and something just seemed to click and I guess it all started from there really, so shout out to Charlotte.

CJ: Did you study or just decide to give it a go?

JR: Ha, that’s a funny one, I've never actually academically studied photography although I did get accepted onto a photography MA at UWE a few years ago but wasn't able to fund it, so unfortunately, couldn't accept my place on the course. If money wasn't an issue I would love the time and resources you get to access through studying photography at university. That said I feel like I did study photography in my own way through the physical act of just getting out there and doing it repeatedly and obsessively watching videos, looking at other people's photos, and asking other photographers I looked up to relentless questions.

CJ: Relentless is needed in our world! I think some of the conversations we have online with other creatives on social are a little like a peer group at college or university.

CJ: Same thing in a way with me Jodi, I was meant to study for a BA at NEWPORT but because of money worries and terror /confidence issues due to dyslexia, I didn’t stay on the course. I had previously studied HND Media Production, and a year working as a documentary photographer working for Plymouth Museum. I had an offer of some work in London so I weighed up the money side and decided to leave at the start, money was a big factor in this decision too. I agree with you, the physical act of just getting out there making work has been the best course for me too. I do still toy with the idea of studying and having that focused time to make work, but I have to keep working full-time.

CJ: How do you feel when out and about taking photos? I get a super focused fuzzy buzzy feeling when zoning into a still-life rubbish photo. Like I’m hyper-focused on the detail nothing else matters at that moment. What feeling do you get out and about photographing people, like a physical feeling?

JR: It kind of depends, to be honest, it’s a bit of a mixed bag of feelings and really varies depending on the interactions I have on the street. I think like a lot of people you have to get into the zone and really focus which is not always easy but when you do, it’s one of the best forms of escapism you can get, helping to push out the intrusive thoughts that go around in your head on a daily basis. I grew up skateboarding and can relate the same level of focus required to skate and learn tricks to shooting on the street and how it brings a certain level of peace at that moment, helping to shut out the everyday worries of life.

CJ: I find it’s the best form of escapism, in fact, the last 7 years of making ‘SOMEONE'S RUBBISH’ photos have helped me by giving me something to direct my energy into, in times of stress.

CJ: I can see the skateboarding influence as in the angles etc in your photos, the composition and movement.

CJ: Can you remember the first photos you have seen that you really loved and maybe inspire you in life or photos?

JR: I can't really remember a specific photo but I think I was heavily inspired by all the old skate photos in magazines as a kid and used to analyze them for ages scouring every little detail.

With regards to street photography, I obviously love photos by all the greats but was equally inspired by endless street photographers especially shooting flash whose work I would come across on Flickr and then Instagram, there are so many underrated yet mind-blowing photographers out there. One photo that always sticks in my mind though is the shot of the dog on the cover of Koudelka's Exiles book, too good!

CJ: I love the power and contrast in your photos and the use of flash, some people argue this type of work is too harsh to the person in the photo, I guess like the Bruce Gilden debate around permission and consent. But what I like about your work and others who work in this way is that life sometimes feels like this, well to me anyway, like when I’ve been on nights out or making my way through a city at night. The mixture of lights, the intensity of city life, the colors on faces and the hard street lights bring out the detail of people’s faces. Life is hard and intense at times.

JR: Ha, yeah thanks, I’m not the most confident of people when it comes to social interactions so it was funny that I was drawn towards street photography and initially really into using flash which is obviously pretty intrusive and can create all sorts of reactions from the subject from good to bad. One thing I never expected to get out of my photography was that it really helped my confidence in interacting and dealing with strangers. I know a lot of people have opinions on shooting flash or close-up candid street photos and potentially it’s too harsh but I always try to approach my work with empathy and never want to show anyone in a bad light or prey on the vulnerable. At the end of the day, people are always going to have an opinion and you have to stay in your own lane and work within your own morals, ha..if it’s good enough for Bruce then it’s good enough for me.

CJ: I noticed you don’t have a website, you mentioned juggling money life, and work. Has this got in the way of making a website? It did for me in the past. I think you should find something super simple/free/cheap and get the photos up big and singing so people can see what you do on a big screen. Just aim not to overcomplicate a website.

JR: I think since switching from shooting digital to film has slowed my whole process down and maybe if I had continued shooting digital I would have done a website by now. If I’m honest I always feel like I need to take better photos and so probably keep putting off showcasing them on a website until I have a load I’m really happy with. That said, you're right that money and life do play a part and I should have sorted out a website and thought something simple might allow me to get my head around it a bit more. I think that's really good advice and will endeavor to get one sorted soon, thanks, Chloe.

CJ: My really good friend Soley said to me years ago, “Just get the work you do on Tumblr. Don’t get too worried about how perfect it needs to be, just start it. Begin”. She was right, and it really helped me.

CJ: I’ve always enjoyed your photos and sharing them on Documenting Britain’s Instagram stories, so thank you for that! Do you still enjoy Instagram?

JR: To be honest obviously Instagram is great for looking at photography on a superficial basis but I would much rather go back to the days of Flickr which is a far better platform for viewing and interacting with photography and its communities. If it wasn't for my photography I would definitely think twice about having an Instagram account.

CJ: Are all the photos made in Bristol?

JR: A lot of my photos are shot in Bristol due to living here but there’s a lot from other places too, I’ve been going to London and other cities a lot more recently with my friend Jacob whose also a street photographer which helps to make the missions much more fun.

CJ: Funny question, are you he or she or they/them, I guess whilst I’ve been looking at your work I wondered re your name, and I am sometimes intrigued about how many men/women are out working the streets taking photos in the way you do, in the end, we are all people.

JR: Haha. I’m a he. Thanks for showing interest in my photos Chloe, much appreciated.

CJ: You were one of the people on my long list that I wanted to feature on Documenting Britain but didn’t get around to it, due to time and resources, so it’s great I can now : ) I am tackling the list now.

CJ: Do you have any memories from one of the photos? Like if you can remember something that springs to mind.

JR: Memories (eye patch lady shot) After taking the photo of the lady with the eyepatch and cigarette I noticed she was with what looked to be her son and he started walking towards me. I thought he was going to have a go at me about photographing his mum but instead said that she had just told him I had taken her photograph and it had made her day. He then asked if he could see the photo but I told him it was film and I couldn't show him but could send him the picture once I had paid to develop it etc. We briefly discussed the price of film etc and he said not to worry about sending it over as his mum was just happy to be photographed but as I was about to walk away he gave me a fiver and said put this towards the developing costs.

CJ: That’s lovely re the cash!

JR: Hope that's cool and not too much...let me know if you need anything else.🙏

CJ: No it’s great thank you, yes brilliant, it’s been great to chat and thank you again for allowing me to feature your work Jodi, keep doing what you do, get that simple webpage up and your photos out there for the world to see. CJ X : )

CJ FEATURES: PRESELI PONY, MOHAMED HASSAN : Photos and impetus, incentive, motivation, stimulant, guidence , agitator and strength.

February 22, 2023

Mohamed Hassan

PRESELI PONY

CJ: Hi Mohamed, a while back you sent me a beautiful print of ‘Preseli Pony’ thank you, I love it.

Over the last few years, I have been working through some personal life changes and at times felt really low, your little white pony has been sitting in the frame and every time I looked at it, the white pony acted as a reminder to keep on pushing through. It literally stimulated my senses which helped me feel stronger. It’s been like a therapy photo for me. A big dose of photo medicine!

This experience got me thinking more about how images can do this. Preseli Pony has a very powerful presence in my life and healing journey, so thank you for that. I know you could have never known it would have this effect on me, I think we as image makers, hope our work stimulates a person in some way.

I would love to hear from other photographers if they have a photograph that literally moved them forward. Images that motivate and agitate, ones that create a feeling for personal change and help with mental health, to then act.

CJ: Any photos that influenced you, on a personal therapeutic level.

MH: That’s a hard question maybe one or two photos.

CJ: Yes, it is hard, I have a couple of my own photos that trigger a feeling but yours has been the only one that I would say helped me through a really hard time.

MH: I had really bad anxiety when I made this photo ( MARLOES ROCKS ), every time I look at this picture it feels like I have re-charged my battery again.

www.medhassanphotography.com

Mohamed Hassan is a Welsh Egyptian artist whose photographic practice focuses on themes of identity and belonging.

His work explores the lived experiences of people who are considered ‘different’ and marginalised due to structural inequalities relating to race, sex, sexual orientation and disability. He has a special interest in the arab/north African diaspora. His work draws on both people and place as factors that shape our place in the world. Hassan’s work also incorporates autobiographical elements reflecting his own cultural and social change in attitude and behaviour.

“In a portrait by Mohamed Hassan, who was born in Alexandria but now lives in Wales, a Sudanese worker sits alone in a drab room in Cairo. The migrant’s name is given in the title: Salih. Also, a Welsh term is appended, hiraeth, meaning something like longing and sadness. The colours of the photo are amazingly sophisticated and remind me of modern beauty captured in photos of sleazy southern locations by William Eggleston in the 1960s and 1970s. His trademark is beauty that appears to come from nothing. Hassan achieves that effect in a photo that is also remarkable for its studied narrative richness.” Matthew Collings, Evening Standard – reviewer of Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize.

Originally from Alexandria in Egypt, Hassan is based in west Wales, he holds a 1st class honours degree in Photography and is currently working towards an MA in Documentary Photography at the University of South Wales.

Hassan has been shortlisted for several awards and competitions and his work has been exhibited in Wales at the prestigious Glynn Vivian Gallery, Ffotogallery Cardiff, Mission Gallery, the Waterfront National Museum in Wales, Oriel Davies Newtown, Nova Cymru touring exhibition. and the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Internationally, he has exhibited in the ‘Facing Britain’ exhibition touring museums and galleries in Germany and Poland and has had solo exhibitions in Cairo in his home country of Egypt.

Mohamed is making some really good work you can also find him over on
Instagram @mohamed_hassan.photo

Twitter @m_moro1

CJ FEATURES: KISS IT! ABBIE TRAYLER -SMITH / THE BIG O / NEW BOOK / KICKSTARTER

October 4, 2022

ABBIE TRAYLER SMITH - KISS IT

Kiss it! New photo book by Abbie Trayler-Smith

An intimate photographic portrait of Shannon, who has been the central

inspiration for her long-term project The Big O. www.thebigoproject.com

KISS IT is Abbie’s first photo book an intimate portrait of Shannon (now 26) who has been a central inspiration for her long-term work The Big O examining the issue of obesity in school-age children and young adults. I wanted to feature Abbie’s and Shannon’s work as I have been watching this project grow also it’s a subject that’s really close to the bone to me, my mum was bulimic for a short time and I remember her making herself sick down the toilet, she was always worried about her weight laying on the floor squeezing into jeans and if her legs looked thin in leggings and all the different diets. I also tried the whole make oneself sick thing as a teen, you could buy lose weight speed pills from a random place in my home town to and had boyfriends say you are beautiful but if you just lost a bit of weight think how even more stunning you would look. Which actually makes one feel shit. This is something that so many of us experience and it’s a long conversation that sadly is still going strong, back this brilliant, sensitive collaborative project and help this work become a book. Keep the conversation about body empowerment and nurturing a sense of strong self-esteem alive, I feel Abbie and Shannon are brave, we still live in a world where this should not be the case.

www.kickstarter.com

“Please don’t patronise me with eat less and exercise more, walk in my shoes for a day and then tell me what you think.” - Shannon, age 15 from a poem by the class from Shine, an after-school weight management program, detailing their needs to the professionals.

“Shannon has fearlessly allowed me into her life, with absolute candour, over many years. Through the document of her experiences, I hope that we might be able to gain a more resonant view of what it actually means to be fat”. ©ABBIE TRAYLER-SMITH
www.kickstarter.com

“The global rise in youth obesity is critically misunderstood. Worldwide, we now have 124 million school-age children classified as either obese or overweight. The sheer scale of the challenge has depersonalized our response, collectively and individually. It often feels impenetrable as a topic, robbing us of the capacity to care. But the everyday reality of struggling with weight and self-image remains”. ©ABBIE TRAYLER -SMITH
www.kickstarter.com

KISS IT! ©ABBIE TRAYLOR - SMITH
www.kickstarter.com

“We can see the ways in which Shannon’s life is changed... and maybe more importantly, the ways in which she refuses to allow it to be changed”. ©ABBIE TRAYLER -SMITH
www.kickstarter.com

“In the photographs of her extraordinary, ordinary life, we see not only *her* story, but the story of anyone who has grown up feeling as though they are somehow different”. ©ABBIE TRAYLER - SMITH
www.kickstarter.com

KISS IT! ©ABBIE TRAYLER - SMITH
www.kickstarter.com

“Her brave, relentlessly infectious energy, gives us a window of empathy and understanding into a subject which requires it more than ever and which isn’t going away.” ©ABBIE TRAYLER - SMITH.
www.kickstarter.com

©ABBIE TRAYLER - SMITH
www.kickstarter.com

KISS IT! ©ABBIE TRAYLER SMITH
www.kickstarter.com www.thebigoproject.com Twitter

CJ: FEATURES; STEFAN BYROM : DOCUMENTING LIFE IN ROCHDALE / MANCHESTER / ENGLAND 2018-2022

July 19, 2022

One of my favourite accounts on Instagram is @es.bee he’s making really good work/photos eyes firmly fixed looking at his home ground. We chat on direct message every now and then about life and keeping creative with all the challenges that life on planet earth chucks at us and how to be able to keep on keeping on. Whilst juggling. money, work, and photography.

We chatted a bit last week on Instagram DM

CJ: How long have you been making photos?

SB : I’ve been photographing coming up to five years and I think the photos on this feature are mostly from the last three.

CJ: I featured your work on Documenting Britain around the time I first found your work I think, I was excited to see the images you are creating. I was drawn to your eye for colour and how you make a place that’s a little rundown look so beautiful, as it actually is, our every day. That most of us experience! Did you go to college to study photography?

CB: No, just picked up a camera and started taking photos, I’m not educated in photography I studied IT

CJ: I didn’t sit my GCSEs and went via an access course in media that’s where I found photography and I really enjoyed street photography. My Uncle and Dad both studied it, so I guess it’s always been around me. I struggled with dyslexia, so it was a joy to find.

SB: I’ve suffered from depression and had bad anxiety a lot, so it started with giving my brain something to think about. I love my town and have a lot of admiration for the make-do approach to life that working-class towns like Rochdale seem to have, so I attempt to show an honest representation of that really, does that make sense. I’m a bit dyslexic too. I also like nostalgia.

CJ: Do you have any memories from the photos here like the man in the van with all the carcases and the man with the dogs.

SB: When I take photos, I always imagine them on someone’s wall as I am taking them that’s how I compose every image. The man with the dogs is one of my favourite characters, he walks with a hunch, and he’s always looking at the floor.

CJ: Sounds like me with ‘Someone’s Rubbish’ photos without the hunch.

SB: He’s always gathering scrap metal and I have another photo of him having a yard sale.

CJ: I can imagine the ‘NO VANCANCIES’ / vase of flowers looking fabulous as a print on someone’s wall over a mantelpiece. Constant all year-round flowers!! I would like an A0 print.

SB: The no vacancies is one of my favourite images its actually a photo from a larger project focusing on the hotels and motels of Blackpool there’s just something about them that throws me back to when I was a kid and I would go away with my family to Blackpool and they would never book anywhere it was a bit harder then maybe. So we would be driving around trying to find a place to stay and you would be looking out of the window for the vacancies sign aha but I just love how dated and tacky they are they are so nostalgic for me and I think for a lot of people in the north who have been to Blackpool as a kid too it’s a proper working class holiday destination. The meat man was the first real photo I took where I felt confident and that I had taken an image I liked. He wasn’t as happy though.

CJ: Why wasn’t he happy?

SB: I think it was the fact he caught me taking a photo and it probably caught him off guard maybe he thought I was environmental health I’ve had that a few times, and he just gave me this stern look.

CJ: ‘The Fire’ what’s happening there?

SB: The fire I nearly missed funnily I get tip off’s, sometimes people see things and think I might like, usually mattresses or a rude spray painting on someone’s wall. Luckily someone told me to look out the window because it was only round the corner. It was a huge scrapyard on fire some kids had started it. The photo looks like it’s the end of the world.

CJ: It really does!! When taking photos do you get a feeling like a physical one, funny question I know, but I get a connected buzzy rush like a feeling of total focus and peace. Just walking, looking and exploring.

SB: Yeah, I do always feel like I am really lucky.

CJ: I forget other things at that moment, yes lucky to see stuff, be alive. I feel like I have just landed here, with new eyes etc. Feeling lucky is a lovely feeling, isn’t it? Especially if we feel bad and have to manage depression, anxiety just general life stress. It can change one’s focus. It’s like channelling new energy.

SB: I think once you become a photographer you start noticing things and moments. You never see the world in the same way.

CJ: 100 per cent!! I’ve always noticed detail to the point it’s bugged me and the photos I take I think are an outlet for that. You become an observer of your world. I personally think I have always been like that, and I think many photographers are. The camera is a great excuse.

SB: Even now family and friends have looked at my work and things and they start noticing stuff themselves and it makes me laugh that a bedsheet for a curtain on someone’s window has caught their eye when they would not have thought twice about or maybe a couch for garden furniture.

CJ: Love that! I saw a 3-piece suite in a garden on an estate and thought of you and your photos. It’s the little details that tell more of a story of us now. Life now! My mum used to say constantly never lose the wonder of the everyday.

SB: there is nothing wrong with sheets for curtains or sofas in the garden, you make do with what you have and that’s how I grew up.

CJ: I grew up like that too Stefan, I think elements of us, our childhoods come through in our work especially when we are looking at our hometowns, the places we know so well, they will trigger so many memories and make connections back to our lived experiences.

SB: I completely agree it’s definitely what drives a lot of my work. I grew up on a council estate and I see the same people around town as I did when I was a kid and a lot of them haven’t changed, they are still unapologetically themselves, I’m sure every town has those characters that never change, I love watching them adapt to the present and the conversations I have with them about how things are so different but at the same time so familiar like the struggles of life.

CJ: Loved chatting with you Stefan as always.

SB: No problem enjoy the sun : )

www.esbee.squarespace.com

STEFAN BYROM

Blackpool by Stefan Byrom www.esbee.squarespace.com

Todmorden by Stefan Byrom www.esbee.squarespace.com

I work on many projects and I’m always looking at work being made out there, so if you would like to be featured or for me to see your work too keep you in mind.

Send a preview / documentary photo projects / chloejunocj@gmail.com

WEDDING PREPERATION, BRIGHTON RECREATIONAL CLUB: BRITISH RAIL WORKING MENS CLUB 2022

May 9, 2022

When I am out and about exploring looking for ‘Someone’s Rubbish’ to photograph, sometimes I discover places in Brighton that are completely new to me even though I grew up in the City. A few weekends ago I briefly popped my head into the old British Rail Working Men’s Club, which now acts mainly as a snooker hall, bar and events hire space. I had a drink and chatted to the barman/chairman about the long history of the place and how different the venue was back in the day. They were laying the tables getting ready for a wedding reception and let me have a quick look around. I will be going back………….

BRIGHTON RECREATIONAL CLUB: BRITISH RAIL WORKING MENS CLUB 2022 by Chloe Juno

ALAN GIGNOUX TALK AND BOOK SIGNING AT THE PHOTOGRAPHERS GALLERY LONDON

April 26, 2022

For the last seven years, I have been busy working in the world of photobook making, self-publishing, design, editing, researching, and sequencing documentary photography with Alan Gignux / GIGNOUX PHOTOS Studio. Looking at ways to tell documentary projects in an interactive way, so it’s a more intimate immersive experience for the reader. You can read a brilliant book review by Douglas Stockdale at The Photo Book Journal

We are launching Mountaintops to Moonscapes at The Photographers Gallery on Thursday 5th May

FREE TICKETS EVENTBRITE

The ancient mountain forests of Appalachia are being felled. What remains is an eerie, barren, and lunar landscape of rough-hewn rock. Alan Gignoux witnesses the devastating effects of mountaintop removal in America’s coal heartland. Appalachia: Mountaintops to Moonscapes features photography and interviews with activists and local residents. https://gignouxphotos.com/projects/appalachia-from-mountaintops-to-moonscapes/

Alan Gignoux will be launching his new photobook Mountaintops to Moonscapes with a special talk and book signing event at The Photographer’s Gallery on May 5th.

Alan will talk with curator Jenny Christensson about his experiences making this body of work and a related photography series, Oil Sands, which looks at the bitumen mining industry in Alberta, Canada. Oil Sands was self-published as a photobook in 2018 and won first prize in the Los Angeles Center of Photography Photobook Journal competition in 2019.

This will also be a rare opportunity to hear Chloe Juno and Emily Macaulay of Gignoux Photos explain how these unique, hand-made books were created, drawing on both the grassroots tradition of the low-cost zine and the artisanal tradition of Japanese photobooks.

Guests attending on May 5th will have an unmissable opportunity to purchase signed editions of Mountaintops to Moonscapes and Oil Sands with a special 10% discount + free limited edition Gignoux Photos tote bag with each purchase.

Thursday, 5th May from 6.30 – 8pm

The Photographers’ Gallery Cafe

16-18 Ramillies Street

London W1F 7LW

Book FREE tickets at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/alan-gignoux-mountaintops-to-moonscapes-book-launch-and-talk-tickets-317565666457

With thanks to The Photographers’ Gallery Book Shop.

Emily Stanley hand binding ‘ Mountaintops to Moonscapes’ Video Curtis James www.stanleyjamespress.com

APPALACHIA, MOUNTAINTOPS TO MOONSCAPES by ALAN GIGNOUX
Mountaintops to Moonscapes: Mountaintop Removal Mining, Wise County, Virginia, 2012, copyright Alan Gignoux

MOUNTAINTOPS TO MOONSCAPES by ALAN GIGNOUX / Video Chris Kemble www.gignouxphotos.com

Mountaintops to Moonscapes: Main Street, Town of Appalachia, Wise County, Virginia, 2012, copyright Alan Gignoux

Mountaintops to Moonscapes: Jane Branham, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, Wise County, Virginia, 2012, copyright Alan Gignoux

Mountaintops to Moonscapes: Give Jesus a Try, Wise County, Virginia, 2012, copyright Alan Gignoux

Mountaintops to Moonscapes: Mountaintop Removal Mining, Wise County, Virginia, 2012, copyright Alan Gignoux

Mountaintops to Moonscapes: Much Less Dust Thanks, Wise County, Virginia, 2012, copyright Alan Gignoux

FRAMELINES MAGAZINE: SOMEONES RUBBISH SPOTLIGHT FEATURE; STREET PHOTOGRAPHY AND DOCUMENTARY: ISSUE 2

April 20, 2022

Someone’s Rubbish has a brilliant new spotlight feature alongside some fabulous photography in a new street photography magazine ‘Framelines’ Edited By Josh Edgoose and Shane Taylor It’s so good to see ‘Someone’s Rubbish’ in print.

I love having ‘Someone’s Rubbish’ featured inside a magazine with a shot of Brighton on the front! All the rubbish photographs are made in Brighton and Hove and I have spent lots of time exploring around the pier and beach. Thank you, Josh and Shane, for the feature : ) I took the magazine to a local bookshop, and they loved it and said if I make my own book they would be happy to stock it. It would be fun to see if any local people spot rubbish that belonged to them!

Featured Photographers

Joshua k Jackson, Billy Dinh, Polly Rusyn, Stephen Leslie, Sam Bohorquez, Aiyush Pachnanda, Mark Moran, Chloe Juno, Brandon Ruffin, Justin Jamison, Clem Ono. Jeremy Perez-cruz, Julie Hrudova, Oritta Gelardin Spinola, Josh Edgoose and Shane Taylor

Packed full of interviews and photography Get your copy here https://frame-lines.com/

FRAMELINES MAGAZINE

FRAMLINES MAGAZINE ISSUE 2 Cover Photo Brighton Beach by Josh Edgoose @spicymeatball

FULL ON. NON-STOP. ALL OVER by MATTHEW SMITH, NEW PHOTOBOOK IN THE POST!

March 31, 2022

TRIP PUBLISHING Full On. Non-Stop. All Over - a photography book capturing Human Rave Behaviour between 2000-2005.

Photography by Matthew Smith

I love photo books! I’m busy making them, developing book concepts for clients, reading them, and dreaming of buying ones I can’t always afford, and this beauty came in the post from Matthew and Trip Publishing. It’s a joy to hold and look through, a visual assault on the eyes in a good way. So much colour and people dancing off the pages. Having spent years at parties and raves it has the bonus of taking me back and if the dance culture is new to you, it will take you right into the middle of the party. The overall design and binding, weaving florescent thread through the spine is spot on. Matthews's photography makes me feel like my eyes are his, taking me right into the thick of it.

Buy https://trippublishing.myshopify.com

At the turn of the millennium and after a decade of dedicating his life to producing free party community and culture, photographer Matthew Smith decided that it was time for a change.
Working out of Bristol; Matt traveled the length and breadth of the country, capturing events of every genre and culture and the results are an intimate snapshot of UK club culture; unknowingly sat wide-eyed on the verge of the digital age.

Specs:
192 pages
Section sewn with exposed spine using fluorescent threads
X2 6pp laminate softcover, printed with x4 fluorescent inks to 200gsm tatami white paper 
285x200mm portrait 
180pp text printed CMYK throughout on 150gsm tatami white paper

Published by TRIP. Designed by Alfie Allen. Foreward by Simon Reynolds. Essay by Matthew Smith, Edited by Davy Reed. Publication Printing by Push.

Photo by Matthew Smith Book Published by TRIP PUBLISHING

SOMEONES RUBBISH: TESTING A0 PRINTS, RUBBER BAND BALL, BUTTERFLY AND ANT, 2015-2022

January 19, 2022

I’m testing print sizes and different types of cheaper copy paper because I would like to get the photos up onto some walls. It’s so exciting to see all the detail and to get my work off-screen. ‘Rubber Band Ball’ colours are so vibrant, I can feel the tension and see all the tiny tears, it looks like it’s about to explode off the paper / off the road. I love ‘Butterfly and Ant’ all huge, a giant butterfly, big eyes looking at the ant the size of my thumb. The Butterfly looks beautiful against the background, I spotted it on a glass panel that covers a basement flat’s window, its body is all crushed but the wings are still intact and all soft. Seeing ‘Someone’s Rubbish’ big takes me back to the sharp focus I have when I kneel down on the floor in the street and spend time photographing the object, zoning in, focusing on the rips, marks, scuffs, scratches, and the general state of the thing in front of me. I’m displaying some photographs out and about, info coming soon!

Someone’s Rubbish, 6 years of daily photos looking at life now via the objects we discard in Brighton and Hove, England. Life stories, the cost of living, objects often overlooked and destroyed. Building a street museum, a section of Brighton, England, 2015-2022.

Rubber Band Ball, Someone’s Rubbish, Brighton and Hove by Chloe Juno

Butterfly and Ant, Someone’s Rubbish, Natures Rubbish, Brighton and Hove by Chloe Juno

CJ: FEATURES SAMUEL FRADLEY, WINDS OF CHANGE, DEVON, PANDEMIC BRITAIN

January 12, 2022

I’ve been watching Sam’s projects develop over the last few years and had fun featuring ‘Handshake with a Martian’ over on Documenting Britain Instagram he’s spent 2021 away from social media, to make work and sort his life out. A few days ago ‘Winds of Change’ his new project landed in my inbox, a beautiful and poignant selection of photos made in his home county of Devon. There were restrictions due to the lockdown’s so Sam stuck to an area not far from his house. The pandemic, politics, technology is forcing us to experience change and I can relate to Sam’s feeling of anxiety about how things will look in the future and how will we survive now, what will affect my family, friends, work and what will the future look like. What do we need to do to adapt!

“Winds of Change reflects on a difficult and uncertain time in Britain’s history and my own personal fears and anxiety about not only Britain’s future but the future of the world and its effects on those close to me.”

“The old world is dying, the one that we knew has gone. As echos of 1930s Europe engulf Asia and the United States, it has become clear that the balance of power and future of humanity has changed. Where Britain belongs in this new world is yet to be found.”

Read more on CREATIVEBOOM

Samuel Fradley is based in Torbay and runs South West Collective of Photography

www.samuelfradley.com

*Winds of Change, Devon, England, by Samuel Fradley*

TEN YEARS OF THE PHOTOCOPY CLUB EXHIBITION, 2021, LONDON: SOMEONES RUBBISH

December 9, 2021

Excited tonight my Rubbish will be included @thephotocopyclub 10-year anniversary exhibition along with 237 other brilliant photographers. It was lots of fun creating the prints and submitting to this and has made me think of new ways to get ‘Someone’s Rubbish’ out there. It’s a good start! I love the whole idea behind the photocopy club, making opportunities like this available to photographers, taking some of the financial concerns away, cheap prints, and up on walls.

Curated by @luckygoldteeth thank Matt!

Tonight 6pm / 9pm. The theatre courtyard, Green Rooms, 36 abatement Row, London, EC2A 3HH. RSVP via link in my stories. https://thephotocopyclub.com/

@thephotocopyclub TPC has exhibited at the LAABF and the NYABF as well as OFFPRINT London and the Berlin Miss Read Bookfair. They have worked with The Photographers Gallery, Magnum Photos, Tate Modern, Photoworks, Woohoo Space, Joberg Photo School, Adidas, UCA, John Doe, Margret, Dr. Martens, Doomed Gallery, Hart Club, Giant Triplets, and a variety of photography festivals through the world.

#someonesrubbish #eggs #lockdowneggs #myrubbish #costofliving #photocopyclub #chloejuno #someonesrubbishchloejuno #streetmuseum #lifenow

https://thephotocopyclub.com/
**The Photocopy club** started as a simple idea. To exhibit photographers work at as low a cost as possible for the photographer.
With Photography submission programmes having high entrance fees, we wanted come up with a way that levelled the playing field and made exhibiting photography accessible to everyone.
Starting in 2011 in Brighton, founder Matt Martin came up with the idea of people submitting their work as Black and White Photocopies. No theme, no size restrictions. The work just had to be printed on a photocopier in Black and White.
We started with 6 bi -monthly exhibitions between Brighton and London, with the first in Brighton in November 2011. The project exploded, with photography being sent from across the globe. The 1st exhibition received over 300 photocopy photographs from 60 photographers.

Make it stand out

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

SOMEONES RUBBISH: FEATURED OVER ON MNNGFUL

December 2, 2021

Very excited for ‘SOMEONE’S RUBBISH’ to be included on MNNGFUL

'“Carefully curated documentary stories by independent photographers & journalists three times a week in your inbox. Every day we dig the web for unique photo documentary stories to select the strongest and deliver to our Members. With this newsletter in your inbox, you will see the delighting examples of independent photodocumentary work covering any imaginable topics”.

We as citizens often walk so hurriedly from A to B that we don’t look at the people and buildings around us, let alone at what’s under our feet — many of us function on autopilot the majority of the time. It’s exactly there though, on the pavements and the streets of our cities, that we can find the most remarkable objects and traces. They are nuisances, trash, littering our beautiful surroundings, yet they can tell us so much about who we are as a community, what we desire, what we value, what we choose to keep and what we discard. Why was it acquired initially? What was the reason why it is no longer considered of value and worthy of keeping? These are some of the questions which prompted Brighton-based photographer Chloe Juno to turn her camera downwards. Words by ZAK R. DIMITROV

Someone’s Rubbish, Photos Chloe Juno, photos taken daily, 2014 - 2021

Diamanté Silver High Heels, Someones Rubbish, Brighton and Hove, 2020.

October 14, 2021

One of my favourite rubbish photos, it triggers certain memories! I’m working towards a pop exhibition, looking for a venue, and looking at affordable ways to make loads of big prints. Looking back at all the images I have created my head spins. The work is going to look amazing printed!

I tested the shoes, they came out really well, which means I can print a big batch of rubbish prints. The guys in the shop loved how the shoes came out and were fascinated by the rubbish pile. I spotted these shoes whilst in Lockdown on one of my walks. I love how they are trashy, glamorous, cheap, tatty, beautiful and I can imagine them being worn, in fact, I would wear metallic high shoes. They represented to me the feeling of zero nights out in lockdown. They were outside a hotel that housed people made homeless in lockdown, a bag of clothes scattered outside in the rain. The crazy thing is I can remember so much about all my finds. I hope to make a book! just looking for a way to do it.

Photos created every day 2015- 2021

If you would be interested in helping/working with me to turn ‘Someone’s Rubbish’ into a book take a peep here. I’m sharing new finds every day! CHLOE JUNO

I will be hand making a small run of zines to coincide with a pop-up exhibition.

CJ: FEATURES; DANIEL MORGAN, SWANSEA HIGH STREET, WALES

October 3, 2021

I spend hours on end looking at photographs and reviewing submissions, some images jump out at me for personal reasons. Years ago I worked in hairdressing, lots of good memories, like practicing lots of hairstyles on mannequin’s heads, everyone getting ready for nights out, and then shutting up the shop on a Saturday night. Dan’s photo of a hairdresser’s shop front taken on Swansea high street takes me right back. I love the colors, the old ceiling, and the wicker lights that look like chandeliers creating a glitter and glam vibe, all that pink!

Dan’s image is popping with mood and atmosphere.

CJ: Why do you take photos, Dan?

DM: Taking photos started for me after my late Father died, it felt like a way to connect with him because he’d always have a camera in hand, but shooting felt natural and people always seemed interested in the sort of thing I’d decided to stop and photograph, the things that stood out to me that many people would pass by.

Follow Dan on Instagram

Swansea, Hight Street, Wales, 2019 Copyright Daniel Morgan

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