STOP

"Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life," Oscar Wilde, 1889

My career as a professional photographer has spanned over 40 years, which could be classed as over exposure. The same principal can be said in my silver-based film photography where I over-expose my black and white, Ilford HP5 film.

Recently, my teaching career has ended after only four years, which includes the one year of PGCE training, which can be classed as under-developed. Again, this mirrors the next stage of my silver-based practice whereby I would under-develop the roll of HP5.

Therefore, at the age of 60, my life is on hold, or stop, for the time being. This, once again, mirrors the next stage in my silver-based workflow whereby the film is placed in a Stop bath to arrest the development.

So, what happens next? I’m sure all my photographic industry friends will correctly be saying the word ‘fix’! Yes, I need to find a fix to my situation, in the same way I would need to put my roll of HP5 into a fixing bath to stabilize the images and make them permanent.

As to what the fix will be, my life is still imitating my art, and just like my roll of film, I will be keeping you in the dark until after the fix has progressed.