UK 2024: Formula 1 Exhibition

Mountain peaks, colours and textures from the French, Swiss and Italian Alps, mostly from la Route Blanche the Simplon Pass.

December 2012

The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is a world wonder that truly lives up to its reputation. A set of memories rather than a great set of photos. I'd not slept in around 72 hours, was struggling a bit physically and once I set foot on the wall was suddenly hit by the realisation that I no longer had a job, was actually at a place I'd dreamt of since I was a kid and at the start of a grand adventure. What a place to start it.

A late afternoon walk around the Estonian city of Tartu.

After three solid days of walking the city, I did something I don't usually do and took a ride on one of those hop-on, hop-off tourist buses that tend to be found in the big city.

I tried my hand (with a lot of assistance) at batik painting in Kasongan, Indonesia.

A walk around Kew Gardens at night, guided by Christmas Illuminations.

It's the second time I've been here and the second time I've come away feeling a bit uninspired. I feel it shows in my photography. Looking online at other peoples images, the best take a very low angle with an ultrawide in courtyards and either a closed venue or a hell of a lot of digital erasure of other visitors. Of both my times in Morocco, this is the place I've struggled to capture.

I wonder how much Beijing has changed since I was there. There had been rapid development which made parts unrecognisable from the scenes in '80 Days Around the World' what would have been filmed around 20 years before I visited. Coming up on 15 years since then, how different is it now?

A night in luxury aboard the RMS Queen Mary. A once proud jewel of the oceans reduced to a floating hotel. She may have been grubby and crumbling in places, but the charm and beauty remained.