A Triangle of Sadness

The old railway line offers a way to walk all the way from Finsbury Park to Highgate. You never have to see a road and the path is littered with amazing pools of light filtering down through the forest canopy. Tunnels also provide an opportunity for creative play with the light.

Katherine and George were on their way to see friends for a BBQ. They had a wonderful youthfulness about them, something I felt I could aspire to and be inspired by. The brief engagement was hugely rewarding, not least when George immediately cottoned on to what I was trying to achieve with the light.

‘It’s the triangle of sadness’ he commented when I referenced Rembrandt.

Mozza & Sparky

Mozza & Sparky

A large punnet of strawberries, a bottle of Prosecco and a strong sense of bon homie. Colourfully dressed and similarly expressive, Mozza and Sparky were effusive and clearly deeply in love.

Puck

My friend from the allotment, feeling Puckish and playful with his freshly harvested purple sprouting broccoli.

Kenny

Tall for his age; he could easily be mistaken for a teenager, but I could see his vulnerability and gentleness from a hundred metres away and guessed he was much younger than he looked. Asking permission first of his auntie and then of him we made this picture. He is the same age as my youngest.

Kenny

Gangsta

I could hear his music from several hundred metres away: old school hip-hop generating quite a bit of attention from the other river walkers. I didn’t need to ask him to be photographed. He collared me as soon as he saw the camera, commenting enthusiastically on it being medium format.

He was colourful to say the least, his language a rich mixture redolent of east/west coast hip-hop rivalry and what I can only describe as being some sort of camp Freudian slip into his own rich take on Polari. He was at pains to reassure me of his ‘gangsta’ heterosexuality, peppering his speech with regular N-Bombs and acknowledging how ‘fine’ the girls looked as they walked past, but I was not convinced.

Scott and Isabella

If any theme emerged in the day it was dad’s with their daughters. I didn’t try to conceive it that way, it just sort of happened. Any dad is interesting to me because the value of fatherhood is so woefully overlooked by society. We are largely ignored, especially amongst photography projects, most of which seem to focus on celebrating and raising up motherhood, which is laudable of course but it’s curious how the role of fathers seems to be largely overlooked.

Scott & Isabella

So meeting Scott and Isabella, having already met Lexi and Olly, was a joy, Under a bridge, by the Lea Valley canal, shaded from the high burning midday sun, it was a simple moment on an otherwise wonderful day.

Lovely to have met you both.

Angelica & Kyra; Lea Valley Navigation.

I initially walked past Angelica and Kyra. They had immediately grabbed my attention but the patch of land they were hanging out in was exposed and drenched in direct sun and it was obviously not going to work. But just beyond there the trail dips beneath two low bridges set almost consecutively but with a small gap between them. The structures acted like a break to the direct light, creating a natural spot lit pool. Perhaps that could work.

Angelica & Kyra; Lea Valley Navigation.

An almost hubristic willingness to engage almost ended in disaster as Kyra’s skates got the better of her during the transit. A short decline in the path to the location overtook her and she spiralled out of control, only regaining composure when she bailed to the floor. I felt a sharp pang of responsibility, but the hilarity of the moment broke the ice.