My 10 Favourite Shots of 2023

2023 was another enjoyable year for my photography journey.

I shot my first music gig, attended the first “Framelines” street photography community meetups, wrote a couple of well received blog posts, completed a six month “1 camera 1 lens” challenge, expanded/rebranded this website to feature more of my work, attended a workshop from one of the masters of the genre Mark Fearnly and also met one of my biggest inspirations Alan Schaller.

These are my ten favourite photographs of the year and a bit of story behind them.

In no particular order:

1 - Keeping an Eye Out

Taken on my spring trip to Venice, I love the dapper look of this Italian waiter and the shifty look in his eye. I tried to incorporate the foreground to frame the image and create a voyeur-like effect.

2 - Upstream Colour

After unboxing my 50mm lens, I went for a brief scenic walk and captured this scene of two rowers down the river. I like the way the waves make the water look like a blue piece of creased paper.

3 - Road Runner

I had a few images in mind before departing on my trip to New York this winter and I was glad to be able to capture this one of a pedestrian running across the smoke covered and headlight-lit road. Not an easy one to capture but an image that you can only get in NYC.

4 - Entrapment

Taken at a temporary art exhibition this spring. A very busy room with a real lack of available light, I was happy to get this shot when a gentleman crouched down in the perfect spot.

5 - Walking Through Hoops

After being inspired on a photography workshop, I was playing around with framing in boring looking locations when I came across this elaborate gate and waited for the perfect subject to walk into the gap. My thigh muscles paid the price, but the final result was worth it.

6 - Brave New World

Taken at the London Science Museum, I loved the design of this room and imagined being on a futuristic space hotel looking down on the earth below.

7 - Venetian Pigeon

I was composing a high contrast shot of the top of St Mark's Basilica in Venice when this pigeon entered the frame and I was able to catch him at the perfect moment about to take flight.

8 - Coronation Boy

King Charle’s III’s coronation was a busy affair with many lining the streets brandishing their Union Jack flags. I spent the morning walking up and down The Mall capturing history and noticed this smart chap in the middle of the bustle. Thankfully, this was taken before the heavy rainfall came and turned the place into a sea of dark umbrellas.

9 - Steps and Boxes

I noticed the minimal and beautiful design of this staircase and seating area in an Apple store in the city. I usually would not like the mess of the bottom section but feel the pleasing colours and original design of these seats, adds to the overall image.

10 - Finishing Touches

For a limited time earlier this year, there was a gigantic statue of the Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama outside Harrods. I went there with the idea of getting an interesting shot of her peering into the store windows at the shoppers but ended up preferring this photo of her painting the shop front.

In 2024 I plan to intentionally shoot a bit more regularly, continue taking street portraits. limit myself to B+W only for a a period, experiment with film again, organise a few portrait shoots, create and print a new low-cost zine and get a photo or project of mine featured on a prominent photography blog.

I guess we’ll see how much of that I can pull off this time next year.

Happy New Year everyone!