Yoga Flow with Emma @Alexandra Park, Manchester

It is not the first time I shoot with Emma, an incredibly positive and vibrant yoga teacher from Manchester.

First time we met we tried a mixture of indoor and outdoor shots for her website - and I was amazed how easily it was to work with her!

Her classes incorporate a focus on mind and body and she named her brand V-Flow because her favourite style of yoga class is Vinyasa Flow; she also teaches Hatha and personalised private classes, and has some brilliant retreat plans for next summer.

Alexandra Park was sunny and warm; I arrived before her, and ‘scouted’ the area for best places to shoot.

I knew Emma would want something simple but a bit ‘special’ - and I found these really dramatic-looking trees that I immediately ‘projected’ her on, at least in my mind!

Despite not always being the safest of ventures, Emma embarked on this, and embraced my ideas with her contagious enthusiasm and openness. She found ways to balance on different tree trunks, to change poses and to fight the sun when we were in the open.

During the shoot, she told me she had planned to be more in touch in nature this year - and, hopefully, these photos shows how much she actually is - and how much she enjoys it!

The Fire Within Festival @Wigan Galleries

Incredible atmosphere at the launch of The Fire Within, Wigan Borough’s new cultural manifesto, an inspirational five year plan, written by the people for the people. The Festival seeks to engage, challenge and galvanise young people to take centre stage and show us new ways of seeing the world, creating new cultural experiences. Conceived and curated by Wigan based international artists, Al and AL, the entire first floor of The Galleries has been transformed for the Festival, inviting everyone to a series of performances, dance, poetry, as well as art, music and film exhibitions. Delighted to have my photo of Mary Griffiths and her team exhibited as part of this stunning event and exhibition!

Barbara Nicholls @Turnpike

**I am very honoured for having the opportunity to talk to artist Barbara Nicholls who is artist in residence at The Turnpike Gallery, and to photograph her at work. Following a 2-year investigation into the sunken mines, incendiary geology and lost heritage of the region, Barbara Nicholls’ monumental watercolours will be on display at The Turnpike from 11th of May until the 22nd of June. Barbara explained to me how these works emerge through the manipulation of pigment in water and seeing all that happening, right before my lens, was an incredible experience. Cannot wait to see the exhibition preview on Friday, May 10th, (7-9)! If you’re around, make sure you don’t miss this!

Manchester Anime and Gaming Con, April 2019

**Incredible atmosphere and buzzing weekend at Manchester Anime and Gaming Con: it was my first time attending and taking photos, I enjoyed it and can’t wait to visit again. I particularly appreciated the freedom of expression through music, dance, cosplay, etc. - and the friendly chats with many of the people attending who were eager to have their photos taken and pose for me. Thank you! Although I enjoyed listening to the talk on ‘Mental Health in Cosplay’, a real eye-opener and catalyst for an open discussion on anxiety, depression, and other mental issues that youngsters have to deal with. This is how I found out that the participants find their strength in the characters they love - they feel inspired by them, and in emulating them through the costumes, they feel protected, they feel so much better, and closer to themselves.

Catching fog and other adventures

**The day we’ve been really lucky with this amazing early morning fog and glorious autumn colours. No words needed!

The Brave Ones

It took me almost two months to find inside myself the right balance and vibe to write about my photo session with Kat. Because I did not want to write yet another blog post, to show yet just some more photos.

I wanted to write from a place within myself that has become clear, positive, balanced, true; from a place where I can speak from truly about Kat.

I have started my project about people who work out in nature, outdoors, alone or with friends, without too much planning, and I was lucky enough to meet extraordinary people. But meeting Kat was special. Because of the way in which she influenced me, not necessarily as a photographer but as a human - and I am a human with my own challenges. She inspired me in so many ways, and only today I am able to say, yes, after two months of getting MYSELF back on track with the consistent training, healthy eating and positive outlook, I can write the blogpost about our meeting.

I met Kat on August 14th at Clifton Country Park - which was a special day for me as it would have been the birthday of my grandmother, Maria, who died earlier this year; I could feel her spirit joining me in this adventure, and inspiring me with her light.

Kat was smiling a lovely smile and I knew instantly she will be a great subject for my photos. But her story became more important to me than my humble photo recordings:

In 2016, Kat began training for what she considered to be at that time the biggest challenge of her life: climbing to the Everest Base Camp:

“This was the first time I had got back into exercise, other than the occasional jog onto a hockey pitch for a few years. Years of working shifts had always gotten in the way of training or committing to sports clubs. In January 2017, I made it to base camp with my wife and a fantastic group of people, I achieved something I had only dreamt about. On days where I found it hard going, I just focused on putting one foot in front of the next and taking things one step at a time.”

But later that year (2017), she was unexpectedly diagnosed with a Grade 2 Oligodendroglioma, a recurring brain tumour. Kat went through brain surgery and one year of radio and chemo therapy.

“I was told I wasn't allowed to lift weights, had become my passion after training for Basecamp and that I had to limit my exercise and to think I thought I had faced my biggest challenge...little did I know.”

“As you can imagine my world turned upside down, I lost all of my independence and was banned from following my passion and exercising, which by this point had become my form of meditation and catharsis. I started to get very low and began showing signs of anxiety and found adapting to my new condition extremely difficult. As such a positive person, this was a huge blow and in spite of my positive outlook, I struggled to know that my tumour had affected every part of my life. I couldn't drive to work, see friends, the long-term effects have left me with cognitive damage which makes it hard to socialise, focus and concentrate for periods of time, I struggled and still do struggle to filter out noise or distractions.”

“At this point, I began looking at all the negatives as against considering what I did have. As such, I put my bike on a turbo trainer and started turning the cogs. Similarly to the trek to basecamp, I focused on turning one leg at a time and dreamed of being out on the road and the freedom that afforded me.”

“Months later, I am now finally back out on my bike and in the gym, I love to exercise and am passionate about inspiring others to don their lycra or joggers and get outside to keep fit. It doesn't have to be riding for miles, or conquering Everest Basecamp, it could simply be walking further than the day before or going out more often. Find something that gets the coals of your soul burning and do more of it.”

“Believe me when I say, if I can, so can you."

We ended our succinct meeting with Kat smiling as she did throughout our session - and with me being grateful for such an unexpectedly great encounter!

**I have been following Kat on her journey via her Instagram and found loads of inspiration: she is now doing Crossfit and is, indeed, a ‘machine’ of strength and good vibes! Thanks again for an incredible time!

Nikon Pro Magazine

**Quite delighted to see this photo I took at The Turnpike Gallery published in the August issue of Nikon Pro magazine, and a nice summary about the process. 

James Joel Dann

Two years have passed since my first photoshoot with filmmaker and scriptwriter James Joel Dann, and, at the same time, a great opportunity to update on our projects and developments, exchange ideas on visual expressions and contemporary challenges for freelancers in media.

James wanted to wander around central Manchester and Northern Quarter, to take some profile shots, so we did just that. I wanted to photograph him wearing his amazing jacket, purchased from Vietnam - which attracted loads of positive comments wherever we went - but also his red Puma tracksuit which I noticed in one of his short films. The light was really bad - a perfectly gloomy day in Manchester but we tried our best. James is natural and versatile in front of the camera and I enjoy capturing his honest, open and true nature.

**Despite this being an overly photographed place, we had to try and have a few shots here.

**As it started to rain, we decided to shelter inside Chapter One which boosted as always an incredible atmosphere and allowed us to shoot inside. Coffee was amazing, too! Thank you!

James is now offering video services, so if you need a videographer, here is the link to his work: https://swiftvideo.co.uk

The Beautiful People

**Focusing on the ‘everyday' has always been one of my most favourite meditation practices, especially in photography. In a world in which 'the sensational' makes the headlines, the everyday, the simple, clean, non-extravagant tends to be left in the shadow - but I am determined to change that, at least in my part of the world. 

With my new documentary photo project, I want to take pictures of people of all ages and physical abilities who train outdoors, run, jog, cycle, do yoga, - talk to them about their motivation for this journey, and simple document all this with as little intervention as possible.

I think it is important to see more and more that beyond the ‘perfect’ lives (and bodies) that social media promote, there are millions of beautiful people who can be even more inspiring and more authentic in many ways.

I personally feel a crisis of the real in photography - with manipulations, filters and effects distorting not just the way in which we record our realities but our entire perception of WHO WE ARE and who we want to be; a camera is always at hand but not always put to great use; and it affects us so much that we gradually get sick, in our attempts at trying to fit into the standard frames or shapes that the media bombards us with. We cannot pretend there is no connection between these pressures and the alarming increase in the number of people diagnosed with depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia etc (especially very young ones).

There are people who do not fall for this, or who have the courage to stand against it, so I want to meet them all, and see them in action, doing the right thing for themselves, despite mainstream labelling and toxicity; and, hopefully, feeling inspired.

Everybody is welcomed to become my subject, I will come and photograph you, wherever you are! 

**The first to answer my invitation was Emma, a lovely young woman with a sparkling personality and beautiful smile. We took a few pictures at Fog Lane Park in Manchester, speaking a lot about mental health, the challenges and benefits of outdoor running, and the importance of self-love.

Here is the result of our encounter! Thank you, Emma! 

“"I’m Emma and I’m 25 years old. I have a background in teaching and set to start as a Learning Support Assistant in Manchester in autumn. I have depression and anxiety and run my own organisation to help those like me – this can be with local events, 1-to-1 chats or through our online blog www.ecbcmanchester.com. "

“I started running after Christmas when I was feeling low and wanted to start exercising but hated the idea of going to a gym."

“Running in nature has changed the way I look at exercise and has developed my confidence and helped with my depression."

“I would recommend to anyone to try and keep fit with mental health recovery, it can seem daunting but there are local organisations that run together or you can stick with your own goals and set out a plan each week."

It was a lovely morning, and Emma’s smile was such a delight to capture on camera. 

More about Emma and her work at: https://ecbcmanchester.com

The Puzzle Maker

The city is a puzzle and we are its constantly moving pieces; new and old buildings compete with each other for shadows on the pavement, and we let ourselves being caught in this, forgetting to lift our eyes up - where the magic happens.  

But the sky is still out there as well as the human spirit which rides the bikes and honks the horns, and listens to loud music on the earphones - beautified and brutalised, our spirit wanders and learns, carried around by inner mechanisms we are yet to fully discover. 

We want nothing.

We follow the light.

In fact, the light follows us; we are seduced by the way in which it plays with our senses, how it invites and lingers, how it allows us to be ourselves, to shine, to squint, to move slowly, to reveal. 

We have no impatience.

The bridge, the steps, the dust, the length of the embarkment, the walls, the windows, the arcade, the bins, the statue, the metallic facade.

Large groups of school pupils visiting the Imperial War Museum, covering with their happy voices the sound of machine guns. 

Inside is not safe. Security checks. Property. 

So I bend and kneel, and let her rule the city. She is my goddess, I say, but in truth, She is the Puzzle Maker, the missing piece that helps me put everything together in the madness and beauty that the city is.

She punctuates the rapid movement of clouds and cuts up the time. 

When She is sure the fire burns between the worlds, She stands over the city, raises Her arms over it, and fills it with light. 

Look out through my eyes, look out at the things you've made. All things shining.

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Model: Georgia Owen (https://teandtwosugars.blogspot.com)