A Look Back at 2024
I’m terrible at choosing my favourite images, when creating images is your job you have an awful lot to choose from!
But images you create are so much more than the final ‘picture’. The preparation, planning, atmosphere and everything surrounding the creation of a photograph are contained in the one image, and for me, the best photographs contain some of that environment.
The Tour de Flanders passes us on the Oude Kwaremont
Taking a moment in Girona, Spain
Mathieu van der Poel heading to victory at the Tour of Flanders
Kimbal Mackenzie scoring for the Leicester Riders during the 2023/4 Season
The day-to-day commercial work
Milan, Italy
Bexy Dew racing up Ramsbottom Rake at the Tour of Britain
Grandmother, teahouse in Nepal
Heading ever higher into the Himalayan mountains
The Oude Kwaremont at the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) has been a bucket list item to tick off for years.
Arriving early, as the atmosphere built and more and more people arrived along the short section of rough cobblestones, climbing up the hillside, we soon found ourselves part of an amazing atmosphere, fed mostly by Belgian beer. News of the race filtered down through the crowd from the big screen further up the hill, the distant circling helicopter the first sign of the race arriving and then, absolute pandemonium as the race passed by.
Standing slightly higher on a bank and getting a great view over the whole scene, I captured this image on my 35mm film camera, hoping it caught a sense of being amongst one of the greatest sporting experiences.
Photography is all about timing, grabbing opportunities as they arrive and, more often than we might like to admit, making the most of our luck!
This is a well known staircase in Girona, Spain and I wanted to find a unique view as we climbed up. I was delighted this lady took a seat halfway up and opened up her laptop, providing a much needed and unusual focal point.
Film photography has been a major theme for me this year and something I’m determined to develop further in 2025.
I’ve only just begun to explore the limitations and boundaries of analogue against the complexity and pace of digital. Shooting Mathieu van der Poel, eventual winner of the Ronde (see image 1 above), with a vintage camera and roll of black and white film was quite a feat, fighting a boisterous crowd and the deteriorating weather.
Receiving my film from the processing lab a week later, and discovering this shot, was a real highlight of my year.
Another analogue over digital moment, and carrying on my exploration of the potential of film photography. Shooting a fast paced sport under limited, artificial light is something you naturally steer away from with film.
The limited dynamic range, grain and motion blur, not to mention the limited processing, give these shots a unique look.
I need to include some of my day-to-day commercial work in my list, and shooting beautiful properties and selling multi-million pound houses remains a specialism and a privilege.
Whisper it quietly but Milan isn’t my favourite Italian city to visit and photograph, it has it’s highlights but, for me, Florence is more beautiful, Turin is more atmospheric and, I still need to explore the south of the country…
An early morning walk, before most people are awake, brings out the best (views) and gives you chance to discover the beauty, in any city.
Definitely my image of the year, working with the cycling team again this year has provided some amazing moments and fantastic photo opportunities, the Tour of Britain the highlight.
To be working with the team, alongside the very best riders and teams in the world, and watching them perform at that level, was encapsulated in this one moment as Bexy Dew climbed the Ramsbottom Rake in torrential rain.
Another analogue photograph, I’d hardly dared to hope my 35mm films had survived our trip to Nepal.
We met this lady in a tiny village high in the mountains as we stopped at a tea house. She’s rocking her 6 month old grandson to sleep in his covered wicker cot.
She was happy to have her photo taken, if a little self conscious initially, and I was keen to capture the scene on film. Her traditional dress was stunning, with a beautiful silver belt buckle and her smile is something else.
Our trek to the Himalayas offered endless opportunities for photos but this image sums up the spectacle, drama and aching beauty of this incredible destination, and the trip we took.
Have I chosen well?
What do my images of the year say to you?
What are your images of the year?
Leave your thoughts and observations in the comments below.