The Amateur Photographer

I’m really fortunate to have had the creative influence of my mother growing up. I always remember her lugging around her camera bag, stopping us for photo ops & making us trek a few extra miles to pose at a viewpoint. We were taught the rule of thirds, subject composition and how to focus images correctly – and as a result, our family outings always resulted in highly competitive photography feuds. Whilst at times I may have resented the persistent photo nagging as a camera shy teen, I am forever grateful that I was introduced to photography from such an early age.

Photography often captures more than the eye can see, and I found myself seeing more through the eyes of a photographer. What I mean by this, is that I would often forget to really look at my surroundings, to notice the smaller details, the tree lines, the cloud patterns, the people walking by – as a photographer, I started to take a closer look at the world around me, finding beauty within things that I previously had overlooked.

My Top 10 Favourite Photographs

Having taken photography at GCSE, I can find my way around a camera pretty well – I can’t pretend to understand ISO settings anymore, don’t carry a tripod with me ever, and admittedly tend to leave the camera in auto, but I seem to be getting the swing of things again…and besides, the photos still come out pretty well. When I travelled to Tuscany last October, my mum kindly trusted me with her Canon EOS 70D, which I had a lot of fun playing around with. I’m convinced that you can make anything look good with a professional camera, so naturally, I ended up taking a photograph of everything. But to save you the hassle of scrolling past my every footstep, I’ve narrowed down my favourite top 10:

10. Nosedive

If you take a walk around the city of Livorno, I guarantee you’ll see a lot of plastered pictures like this one scaling the surrounding buildings. This one in particular caught my eye – I think it’s quite symbolic of contemporary living and the overpowering nature of humanisation: a boy diving into a concrete jungle.

9. Shutterstock

There’s something about the textures, the patterns, the shadows of this image that I can’t help but love. I love taking photos with dramatic contrasts and irregular shapes – this image forced me to look away from what I’ve grown accustomed to, to look above my eye-level and appreciate the beauty in the details above me. You wouldn’t realise that below what you can see here, was a bustling high-street of shoppers. No, this image is eerie, it’s quiet, it’s distant from the world beneath it.

8. Miniature Models

This photograph doesn’t really feel real to me. I image a giant hand swooping down to repaint one of the figures, to add more gloss to the seafront or reposition one of the rocks – I imagine this to be one of those highly professional miniature model sets.

7. Ragnarök

Having taken a module in Old Norse at university, I was immediately drawn to tales of Viking mythology when I gazed upon this sunset. The lightening bolt streaks that paint the sky, the fiery hues, the deep cool blue of the ocean – there is no denying the existential intensity of this image.

6. Don’t Lose Your Footing

I really like how busy this image is, yet, the focus of the photo is the man hanging the bunting on the lights. I love how the lights on the bunting catch the sunlight and that the reflections of the boats are rippling in the water.

5. The Secret Garden

The moment I saw this old, rusted, bent iron gate guarding the entrance to one of the most stunning views of the Tuscan hills, I had to take a photograph. The gate was part of an old castle ruin in San Gimignano, one of the most idyllic, quaint Italian towns I’ve visited. I just thought it looked so magical and intriguing, like something out of a period drama novel.

4. Rough Terrain

This picture has so many layers, from the urban ceramic tiles, to the agricultural vineyards to the distant hills. I like how the wilderness feels so distant and out of reach, but the human influence is just at the tip of my fingers – it’s rare to find natural spaces untouched by human beings, but this image makes me feel hopeful that it’s sitting there, just out of reach.

3. On Your Bike

When people walk past, or are sat beside you in a cafe, or stood next to you in a queue, you may not always notice them, but sometimes you do – the pace is just right. When people cycle past, I rarely take notice, in a flash, they’re usually gone. I didn’t intend to photograph the boy on the bike – I actually liked the look of the flag and the signs adorning the buildings. But nevertheless, just in time, he cycled through, and I think it makes this image all the more special.

2. The Magic Wishing Well

The twisting vines scaling the buildings already makes this image look as if it’s been painted in an edition of Rapunzel. But the most enchanting part of this photo is the little girl peering down the wishing well, as the whole world around her is preoccupied with everything going on around them – it’s almost as if she’s seen something that no one else can see & and whilst for her, time seems to have stopped, everyone’s else’s world keeps turning. This image made me nostalgic, remembering how magical I thought wishing wells were when I was younger, as they were only ever pictured in fairytales.

1. Spot The Difference

This is my favourite photo from my Tuscan tour – I like how the background is slightly imperfect, with a building under construction and barely visible rolling scenery. I like how despite its obvious flaws, there is a beautiful, silken, shimmering dog bouncing round the corner, a bright red leads length away from his silken, shimmer shaven owner. They just don’t feel as if they belong to the world around them, as if they’ve travelled through time from the 1960s, after packing a bag for their travels.