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Triggered in 1962/63 by the purchase of my first camera, from Woolworths in Princes Street in Edinburgh. It cost either 7/6d or 10/6d and took rolls of 127 film. I didn’t take many photos, film development wasn’t cheap, and done via Boots or a Chemist’s shop. Few photos have survived. The image below is cropped from a photo taken at South Queensferry, the Forth Road Bridge in the background was still under development. My pal Roger and I had cycled from Edinburgh to get some sea water for a school chemistry lesson!

Triggered in 1967 by the purchase of a Kodak Instamatic 25 which took 126 cartridge film and was used to chronicle my life and, in particular, my motor-biking years in Edinburgh (1967-70) - the latter recently celebrated in my first colour zine. This camera was sadly stolen (along with the film cartridge inside) coming back from Paris in 1971. In 2023 I bought a replacement on eBay (photo below) - in homage to the little marvel.

Triggered in 1971 by a birthday present - a Zenith B SLR camera. The Russian-made camera had one design fault, the catch to open the back was too easily triggered, leading to light getting in and images spoiled. The image below, shot with the Zenith, is a time-lapse-attempt selfie taken in 1971 in my student flat in Union Street in Edinburgh. Of its time, the room includes posters of Easy Rider, Bob Dylan and Neil Young; a two-bar electric fire, and a Ferranti 145 radio (ex my parents) driving the Garrard SP25 record deck.

Triggered in 1977 by my purchase of a Fujica ST605 SLR camera from Photomarket in Charles Street, Newport, after the winding mechanism on my Zenith broke on a fell-walking weekend in the Peak District and also my discovery of the wonderful Llanover Hall Arts Centre in nearby Cardiff where I learned how to process 35mm B&W film and produce prints - later doing this at home when I bought a Gnome enlarger and developing equipment from a work colleague.The photo below, shot on the Fujica, was taken on Crib Goch on the interesting route up to Snowdon, now known as Yr Wyddfa.

Triggered in Much Wenlock in 2006 by William, my all-things-techie adviser, who, when asked to recommend something a bit better than a compact digital camera suggested Panasonic DMC FZ bridge cameras, triggering the purchase of a series of these amazingly versatile cameras. The photo below was taken on a DMC-FZ48.

Triggered in 2022 by my chance return to Fuji in the shape of the purchase of a Fujifilm X-E4 mirrorless APS-C camera, the first in a series of Fujifilm X-series cameras. Plus a chance conversation with my piano tuner which in turn led to being invited by Tom to get involved in photographing the Wenlock Olympian Society’s annual Live Arts Festival and Olympian Games. The photo below was taken on the X-E4.

After churning out Photobox albums for many years, #7 was triggered in 2022 by my discovery of the world of zines, and the creation of my first zines after learning how to create them in an edition of the Cardiff-based Offline Journal and involvement in its associated photography community. The zines were constucted using Affinity Publisher and printed by Mixam.

Triggered in 2023 by belatedly discovering the wonderful Albert’s Shed, a live music venue in Shrewsbury. The image below, shot with a Fujifilm X-T5, is Seanie T of the Dub Pistols performing at The Shed in November 2023. I also volunteeed for the LOOPfest music festivals in 2023 and 2024 and thereby met mover-and-shaker Jamie Smith aka Jimmy Kebab, LOOPfest organiser, bass guitariist and gig-organiser at The Shed.

Triggered in 2023 by my first solo photography exhibition (of 24 framed photos) in June at the wonderful Shrewsbury Coffeehouse. The Coffeehouse, run by the equally wonderful Livi and Anika, provides hanging space for local artists, and me! My second solo exhibition was held at the Coffeehouse in May 2024. My third exhibition will be held there in May 2025.