A British Mile

A follow-up project (and the importance of not overthinking things)

When I moved to England in the fall of 2020, it put a close to the photo project I’d been working on for the past four years. That was partly due to logistics, but it also felt like the work had been done and that it was time to shift my focus to the next thing.

That project is ‘An American Mile’, which I published with Subjective Objective in 2023.

AAM (to keep it short) was the first long-term photo project I’d worked on, and I discovered it as the work was done rather than setting out with a specific plan in place.

It took me about a year of making images in the American Southwest to start noticing a theme. I also started to understand that a project could be an observation of a landscape (multiple states for this specifically) rather than having to be about a very narrow and specific subject.

A Fresh Start in England

When I arrived in the UK, I was excited about the possibility of starting a new project in a new environment with a different approach.

This time, I told myself I wanted to set out with a plan in place and focus on a smaller area, hopefully finding an interesting story that could influence variety in the images.

After several experiments (a.k.a failed attempts) over the first three years, I finally settled on something I’m really excited about—my Slate City project in North Wales, which documents the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog and its slate history.

Projects Can Find You

But Slate City isn’t the only work I’ve been doing.

Over the four years I’ve lived in the UK, I’ve driven thousands of miles, covering much of England and Wales and creating images of anything that catches my attention.

Those trips have largely been for videos I’m making for my YouTube channel—testing cameras, different film stocks, or even going on road trips to explore and share what I find (I’m realising that the ‘road’ plays a large part in my work).

As a result, I’ve built up a decent collection of images documenting the British landscape, much like how I worked in the American Southwest.

Some images made over the years

A Recent Road Trip

A few weeks back, I spent some time on the road, venturing up to North Wales and driving back down south along rural country roads.

I had planned to film a video on this trip, as usual, but instead, I spent the entirety of it focused on the image-making, which was a nice change!

I had an amazing three days of photography, discovering all sorts of interesting places—old car dealerships, abandoned mining operations, and the remains of churches and graveyards, to name a few.

Also, recently, a friend lent me his Mamiya 7ii to test out, which I brought along and absolutely fell in love with. The result was twelve rolls of film shot, which is the most I’ve got through in a single trip in a long time.

And all those things—the road trip, the exploration and curiosity, and the different gear—brought back memories of working on AAM and reminded me that there’s always room for a project that is an observation of place.

A British Mile

I recently got the film back from development and am working through the scanning process. So far, I’m really happy with the results.

Also, it’s encouraged me to revisit older images I’ve made in the UK, and in doing so, I’ve realised that, in exactly the same way that An American Mile unfolded, I’ve been making A British Mile without knowing.

A few recent images

Many Ways To Work

I often talk about photo projects and how finding a subject or theme can help you narrow your focus and bring energy to your work. And, I do still think it’s a good idea to try and define what you’re making before you set out to capture it.

But it’s not the only way to work.

If you’re having difficulty figuring out what to focus on or developing an idea for a project, I think it can be equally as impactful to let go a bit and just have fun.

Give yourself six months, a year, or two years to explore and simply make images of what catches your attention.

Don’t overthink it or rush to understand what it’s all about.

Often, a project will find you as you build up a collection over time.

Moving forward, I feel like I have a newfound energy to make photographs here in the UK and some projects that should balance each other nicely.

I love the idea of eventually releasing a book that will act as a sequel to AAM, creating a pairing of work with a similar approach but in very different environments.

We’ll see how long it takes, but I’m just excited by the project and having fun creating images for it right now.

That’s it for this week. I hope you found this one interesting and that it gives you something to think about.

If you’re interested in grabbing a copy of An American Mile, some are still available through Subjectively Objective. And for all of you who’ve already purchased one, thank you for your support!

See ya next week!