There aren't many things as photogenic as a deserted fairground on a misty morning. I spent a self indulgent morning taking pictures a few weeks ago and thought I'd share some of my wares.
I would love to have more time to just wonder around like this... getting lost in the creative process is such an uplifting feeling. That's something I should definitely try and make time for in the new year... another new years resolution!!
Over the last few years I have been working on a project, Visiting Olive, taking photographs of friend and neighbour, Olive Brown. You can read about and see my project here.
I've been friends with Olive for the last 4 years. We have spent many hours together talking about her life and her collections, her involvement with the community and her friends. During this time she was very keen for me to photograph as many of her treasured processions as possible so that she would have a visual record of them. Her plan was to send these along with her poems and life story to a local archive.
For the last 6 months Olive has been in a care home and unfortunately since then I have been unable to get access to her flat to photograph any more of her things. Despite Olive's approval to do so, the council, who are now dealing with her affairs have not allowed me to go in.
So I'm sad to say that it looks like my project has come to an end.
However, I still visit Olive in the care home on a regular basis and recount for her what's going on locally and on our street. This time is not only precious to her; but to me too.
I can't quite believe how quickly the summer holidays have gone. It's been a fun filled month with lots of opportunity to take pictures of the kids and create some wonderful childhood memories.
Thank you to everyone who shared their wonderful pics of family, friends and childhood memories with Silkie and I in our August hashtag project #thesestoriestold - Childhood. We loved looking at them and have chosen 4 of our favourites.
Congratulations and thank you to @geoffreyandgrace (top left), @helloitsgemma (top right), @saravestberg (bottom left) and @aquietstyle (bottom right)
It's now time to start anew for September, our word is WINDOW. We'd love you all to join in. Share your pictures with us on Instagram #thesestoriestold. Looking forward to seeing them all.
We rented a wonderful villa in Tuscany for a week, 12 Baileys and Bains's, a relatively small family gathering for us. It was perfect (apart from all the mosquitos). The average temperature was 28 degrees with plenty of shade and cool water when it got too hot and some wonderful Tuscan food and wine.... Heaven.
Although my intention was to relax and recharge my batteries after what has been a pretty busy work period, I also really wanted to make use of the location, the beautiful light and my Nikon D750 to take some photographs. Italy was also an opportunity to shoot lots of the kids for Silkie and my hashtag project, #thesestoriestold. They were all perfect models.
Firstly there was the pool........
Secondly there was the beautiful house, which I haven't shot per se; but I have made use of the stunning light streaming into the dark cool rooms.
And thirdly we did get out and about a bit. We visited Pisa, the beautiful hill top town of San Gimignano, the superb Usiglian Del Vescovo vineyard (with the obligatory wine tasting) and finally and more locally, the hill top town of San Miniato.
There was so much more we wanted to do so next time we'll have to book for longer than a week.
Believe it or not Wilderness was my first festival ..... it won't be my last.
We had a wonderful weekend with friends and family, and that mixed with the fantastic weather made it pretty unbeatable. The highlight for me was being able to swim in the beautiful lake, which although a tad cold was so refreshing in the heat of the day. I'm not sure us adults took part in as much as we should, we seemed to just enjoy chilling outside The Folk Barn and watching the world go by, with a swim or two or three in there.... obvs!!
The kids had more freedom than they've ever had before and wondered off in their little gang taking in the sites and sounds but mostly buying pizza. Billie-Jo also wandered off on her own a few times to indulge in a bit of retail therapy.
I've posted most pictures of our weekend on Instagram; but here they are again plus a few more.
JUST START...... that's what I promised I'd do after Blogtacular. So here goes!!
Since meeting at Blogtaular in June, Silkie Lloyd (@rosehippaper on Instagram) and I have been hatching a plan to get us both taking more photographs. We have come up with a project which will have us taking photographs on a chosen theme which will change monthly.
#thesestoriestold is our new baby and we'll be populating our instagram feeds as well as regular blog posts with our best images.
Starting in August our theme will be CHILDHOOD. The summer holidays are now well under way and we will all be spending more time with our kids. So no hanging about any more, NOW is the best time to shoot some great images and create some wonderful memories.
We'd love it if lots of you joined us. To take part hashtag your images on Instagram #thesestoriestold.
We'll post our new theme at the beginning of September. Have a lovely summer and get shooting!
The summer solstice on the 21st June was the highlight of the month and as always it was a complete family affair. We hired a 17 seater minibus and headed down to Stonehenge, en mass.
Here are some of the photo's from the week end which you may have seen on Instagram.
Mollie Makes photos: Piers MacDonald
My busy weekend is now over and I’ve had time to reflect on my day at Blogtacular.
It’s fair to say that I ummed and aahed about attending as I’m not a designer maker and don’t even have a blog. I’m a photographer with a conscience who wants to make a difference in my community and beyond.
However, I decided last minute that I would go and managed to pick up one of the last tickets and I’m glad I did.
I knew it would be overwhelming and as I walked in it seemed that there were rooms full of women attending a long awaited reunion (I know that was not the case for everyone). Despite that I jumped in and introduced myself to a few friendly faces …. conversation was easy.
The day continued in much the same vein, with me nervously butting into people’s conversations with and a bit of lurking inbetween.
However, my reason for attending was not only to meet and be inspired by as many creative people as possible; but to attend as many of the talks as I could, I knew I had a lot to learn. I wasn’t disappointed. I learned so much in such a short space of time and now have to put all of that into action (which has been my problem all along). Particular thanks to Grace Bonney from Design Sponge for her great opening keynote talk, Marte Marie Forsberg for her talk on creativity and inspiration (which made me think I can do this too), all the panel members on the ‘Grow your Audience’ and ‘Instagram’ discussions and finally Lara and Jessica from Mollie Makes. If I could have split myself in two or even three I’d have attended all the talks. I’m looking forward to watching them online.
As the day came to a close with three new friends I walked over to West Elm; with a refuelling stop at Wahaca on Charlotte Street. Here is where I have to say my biggest thanks to Camila Prada, Tip Atkins Moore and Rhiannon Connelly for listening to all my ideas and plans for my current and future projects. One of my biggest concerns had been that nobody would be interested in my work or what I had to say; but their reactions and encouragement were all I needed to motivate me to continue.
I’m not a working photographer at the moment, I’m a print producer and picture researcher, but by getting my work out there I’m hoping that one day I’ll be able to work with charities and businesses to make a small difference.
Over the next few weeks or maybe months I’ll be introducing my projects old and new through Instagram (some work is already there) and on my website.. would love to hear what you all think.
www.fionabailey.co.uk and Instagram: @fionabailey
A wonderful Bank Holiday spent camping at Mother Ivey's Bay in Cornwall with family and friends.
