All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on  –  Havelock Ellis  28mm; ISO 2000. 10 seconds at f16. Flash with incandescent light balance  

More important than the quest for certainty is the quest for clarity  –  Francois Gautier 50mm; ISO 2000. 10 seconds at f4                

The most powerful force on earth is the human soul on fire  –  Field Marshall Foch (adapted) 85mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f16        

 Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.  – Dalai Lama 50mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f8. Flash; incandescent light balance  

Life will bring you pain all by itself. Your responsibility is to create joy – Milton Erickson 50mm; ISO 2000. 80 seconds at f11. Incandescent light balance        

Make the best use of what is in your power and take the rest as it happens –  Epictetus 85mm; ISO 640. 1 second at f16. Flash; colour balance 10,000 deg K

Volume 2 of the Pocket Book of Men’s Wisdom has just been published; the title page is shown above. Ably compiled and produced by Hannah Samuel, the quotes are from New Zealand men in support of the mentoring organisation Big Buddy. As with Vol 1, all the photos are mine; they showcase my daylight work […]

My meditations, my musings are never more enchanting than when I am able to forget myself.  –  Jean-Jacques Rousseau NEWS: My 2013 Night Visions calendar has now sold out. The NIGHT VISIONS book is still available direct, at $40 post-free (signed copies, with 4 x greeting cards as a bonus). The book has had some […]

I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive. – Joseph Campbell 85mm; ISO 1000. 5 seconds at f11. Flash  

All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town. – Leo Tolstoy 85mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f6.3

I mused for a few moments on the question of which was worse, to lead a life so boring that you are easily enchanted, or a life so full of stimulus that you are easily bored. ― Bill Bryson, Lost Continent: Travels In Small-Town America 85mm; ISO 2000. 15 seconds at f16. Sodium vapour light […]

 Monotony collapses time; novelty unfolds it … Creating new memories stretches out psychological time, and lengthens our perception of our lives.  –  Joshua Foer 28mm; ISO 2000. 1/2 sec at f5.6. Sodium vapour light balance

Those who are willing to be vulnerable move among mysteries.  –  Theodore Roethke 50mm; ISO 2000. 15 seconds at f9. Incandescent light balance; flash  

Still round the corner there may wait / A new road or a secret gate And though I oft have passed them by / A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run / West of the Moon, East of the Sun.                                                                                                             – J.R.R. Tolkien 85mm; ISO 2000. […]

For the joy of the angels lies only in obedience to God’s will, and with equal joy they would lift a Lazarus in his rags to Abraham’s bosom, or be a chariot of fire to carry an Elijah home.  –  John Newton 28mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f13

Miracles occur, / If you dare to call those spasmodic / Tricks of radiance miracles. / The wait’s begun again, / The long wait for the angel, / For that rare, random descent. – Sylvia Plath 50mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f9. Incandescent light balance

 Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift. – Albert Einstein 85mm, ISO 2000. 1 second at f8. Sodium vapour light balance

Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week. –  Spanish proverb 85mm; ISO 640. 8 seconds at f5.6. Sodium vapour light balance

 Light tomorrow with today. – Elizabeth Barrett Browning 28mm; ISO 400. 30 seconds at f16

Great things are not done by impulse but by a series of small things brought together. – Vincent van Gogh (attrib) 85mm; ISO 2000. 15 seconds at f11  

The fate of your heart is your choice and no one else gets a vote. – Sarah Dessen, This Lullaby 28mm; ISO 1000. 15 seconds at f8. Light balance 2500 deg K  

 I really believe there are things nobody would see if I didn’t photograph them. – Diane Arbus 85mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f8

The new calendar for 2013 is now available for sale. See the page alongside for details and the special offer of free greeting cards from our new range, for direct purchasers. There is also a bonus offer of new cards for direct orders of my new book, detailed on its own page at the top […]

Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?  –  Mary Oliver 85mm; ISO 2000. 30 seconds at f6.3

With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy? – Oscar Wilde  85mm; ISO 2000. 1/400th second at f4