Two Towns, Ten Years Later

Behind the Lens

One of the more interesting, if slightly disconcerting, aspects of photography as you get older is the anniversaries of projects or just images that come along. It is a strange blend of nostalgia and disbelief that so many years have gone. And yet here I am writing another post to celebrate an old project. In the case it is the The Two Towns iPhone photography project shot in Edinburgh in November 2015.

Considering that the photography largely came about without a big plan, the project has a special place in my heart. Little did I know it, but it would document the last elements of a life with both of my parents. Within just over a year, I’d lost my mother to cancer and things wouldn’t be the same anymore. Old life and new life. Old town and New town. The images reflect both aspects of change; in front of the lens and behind it.

Onto the Page

The next book will take the images from the project and create a book detailing the photography. Originally the book was supposed to come out for the tenth anniversary with the page layouts completed and the photographs all in place. The only thing left to add is the text which I always find the hardest element to add to any book. The words need to flow correctly and reflect my thoughts about a very personal project.

An addition I’m considering is adding some of the colour images to the book to make The Two Towns a ‘definitive edition’ of the project with everything there right from the start. I’ll have to see that that works and maybe it will only be a small selection of colour work makes it into the book, but it is worth experimenting with the images and the book format.

Ten Years After

The plan is to finally get the book put together and released within the next six months. Once finished, It will complete a trilogy of iPhone photography books that started with the release of ‘Sea, Sand, Sky and Street’ way back in 2011. Looking back, I enjoyed the experimentation with iPhone photography and the resulting projects. As with the other books, it’s a snapshot of a time with a new technology producing new opportunities to create images easily without being too noticeable.

This project was great to shoot, but has been a challenge to put together in book form. Ironically the photography page layouts came together quickly. The text, and what I want to say, has not. I will, however, eventually find the words to complete the book and , who knows, may even find some closure of the events that followed on from that fantastic week long Edinburgh