2020 is over... 2021 to begin!

Well first of all, I wish you all a Happy New Year! A time for us all to put 2020 behind us, and head into the new with optimism and hope that with the vaccines being rolled out, normality isn’t far away.

So… 2021! Personally glad to see the back of 2020. Photographically it wasn’t very productive. Weddings were cancelled and my drive to shoot was diminished. I did however continue to document my family for my ‘Home’ Project.

The first lockdown here in the UK back in March was very alien, but I made the most of shooting my family at home and on our daily walk. One of my images even made it on to the ‘Rankins 2020’ show on Sky Arts and is in the published book, so that was a pretty cool thing to happen. Helped lift my spirit!


I was fortunate to have been able to shoot a Wedding in December that still went ahead. It was a stunning day and stunning location… The couple were amazing and let me shoot the way I approach anything. I am so grateful I was able to do this for them… And very pleased to say they loved the images produced.

In the UK, at the time I write this, and when this wedding took place, there is a maximum of 15 people who can attend. You’d have thought, it would be easier to shoot… But it actually made it a little more challenging to create work that didn’t all look the same. I enjoyed this though as it made me think more as to what I was doing.

Hopefully in the near future, weddings and celebrations will be able to continue as normal.


Visual Noise Collective

2020 for the collective was very quiet… With everything going on, we all had to deal with life and make best of what we could. This meant that project work didn’t happen. Its a shame, but on the scale of things… Its no biggie, far more important things going on.

However, its now 2021 and we all want to get working on projects again so keep an eye on social media to see whats in the works or coming soon!

Instagram: @vncollective
Twitter: @VNCollective

Not sure what may come yet but we are in discussion about our future projects!


Personal Work

2021 for me and my personal work will be much the same as years gone by. I will continue to shoot for my Home project… I’ve started to edit down the work, while adding to it each week… Kind of counter productive I know, but I will eventually produce a book for members of my family.

I wrote a while back, about creating a photographic list… This is something I am also going to commit to doing more so… This will create a few projects from itself so I’m also looking forward to seeing how that progresses.

Again, Happy New Year to you all! I really hope it is a better one for everybody.

Take Care

Lewis

Photographic Idea List

So before we start…

Get a pen and paper…

And write down everything you find interesting!

Why?… I’ll me tell you why I do


It started for me with a tweet basically asking for some project idea’s… I was going through a phase of no inspiration at all. I was shooting my family, but that after 3 months of lockdown was getting too much.

I had a message from another photographer who shared the idea and concept of writing down a list. This list can be comprised of anything you shoot, find interesting and drawn to.

What they shared blew my mind really…. And to be honest couldn’t understand why I hadn’t done something like it before. I’ve written down hypothetical project idea’s before, but they were written down before I had ever shot anything like it before…. A few of them never started and after reading what was shared I realized why… No interest in that particular subject, only the belief it might be what others would like to see…


I sat down for 10 minutes with pen meeting paper, and I had my list… Its allowed me to go out anytime, shoot what ever I want and in a roundabout way, build multiple bodies of work.

Already, going through my work since then… I am already seeing a pattern & narrative in my work.

What I didn’t do consciously when writing my list is how connected they all are… If I just keep shooting how I do, I will have a pretty good body of work.

Its also helped me learn more about myself… Maybe it will for you too.


If you have read this far, then good for you… This isn’t the most interesting blog post, but I felt it to be important because ultimately, what are you trying to achieve with your photography?

Are you in it for the likes and 50k followers? Are you in it as a way to make money?…

I started photography because I thought my old mans new canon 7D was cool… Since then I’ve shot everything… Models, landscapes, wildlife etc to where I am now, and finally happy with it.

In that time I have come to see that my work is me… Its everything about me… I shoot to document my time on our planet, where I live, what I love and how I see the world before me…

I see things differently than you… and you see things differently to me.

The fame and fortune, likes and followers don’t mean anything… I’d still shoot without social media. My work is personal to me and I hope yours is too


I think I have ranted on long enough now… But I encourage you to write down your list… then get out and just shoot… You may be surprised by what you can achieve… And I really hope you might see yourself in the work.

Where’s my list you ask? For my eyes only… I don’t want to make you think my idea’s are what anyone should shoot.

Out!