2021 - A Year In Review
Happy new year folks! I was hoping to get this newsletter out between Christmas and New Year but I’ve spent half of my week off work painting the house and the other half enjoying the outdoors (there’s been an unusual, but very welcome, warm spell for this time of year).
I know I say it every year, and it’s a total cliché, but this year has really flown by.
I’ve taken a lot more photos this year than last year. In 2020, I took 850 photos and in 2021 I took nearly 3000. You may have noticed that this increase in work hasn’t really been reflected in what I’ve shared online. I think the type of photos I am enjoying making these days are quieter in their approach and lack the punch required to stand out in an endless instagram feed - instagram just doesn’t seem like the right place for them. As I get older I am less inclined to care about this and have just about given up with trying to keep up with the social media machine. Despite a few bursts of activity, I kind of got out of the habit of instagram posting and so in all honesty a lot of the time I just forget to do it.
Having said all that, I’ve spent a lot of time riding my bike and in the back end of the year I started a new blog and Instagram account so as not to keep boring you lovely photo folks with bike related posts in my insta-stories. I’ve been very cautious that I don’t attempt to turn my cycling into a project in itself and create a need to feed the algorithm on a constant basis. Cycling is a very relaxing way to spend my recreational time and I’d like for it to stay that way. For the last couple of months, I’ve been restoring and modifying this beautiful blue 1974 Raleigh Wayfarer (as you can see above). If you’re into riding bikes for fun and adventure (rather than speed or competition) then feel free to check it out.
(Blog: The Cottered Crank | IG: @thecotteredcrank)
Aside from cycling, I’ve spent a fair bit of time amongst the trees. Being amongst nature is such a balm for the soul and we’re lucky enough to have a few woods and forests quite near to our home.
Spending time in the woods has naturally led to me taking photos there and I’ve been slowly building up a body of work that will likely form a published project at some point in the future.
It’s still very much in the research/gathering phase so I haven’t set any time frames for completion and I have no preconceptions about how the project will evolve as it grows. If my track record is anything to go by then you can expect a release somewhere around 2027 (haha).
Speaking of unfinished projects, I’ve finally completed editing on my series of photos from Korea. It’s been nearly five years since I made my trip out there in 2017 and the pile of unedited photos had become a bit of a weight around my neck.
As some of you will know, my grandad died whilst I was away on that trip. That, along with the way I handled the months and years that followed, heavily coloured my relationship with the work, to the extent that I could barely even look at it.
Now that I’m in a much better place in terms of my mental health and sobriety (long may it last), this year I finally managed to complete the edit and I’m aiming to release a zine in late spring/early summer (marking the five year anniversary of grandad’s passing).
In the summer, after lockdown was lifted, I attended a week-long Buddhist meditation retreat in rural Wales. It was a first for me, and it was an experience that I find very difficult to put into words as it has affected me on so many levels. Needless to say I absolutely loved it and have been wholeheartedly recommending it to anyone that’s asked me about it since. I managed to use my spare time on the retreat to make some photos and I will be editing this work into a small zine, hopefully for release toward the back end of 2022.
After much saving, Faye and I got our own campervan this year. His name is Cliff and he’s a converted Ford Transit. Amongst a number of weekend trips closer to home, we spent a week north of the border in Scotland. I’ve never really seen that much of Scotland and wow, it’s really something beautiful.
We covered about 1000 miles all-in-all, starting at Loch Lomond (after a short stop in Glasgow) before heading around the coast of the Kintyre Peninsula accompanied by Paul McCartney on loop before heading north to Glencoe and back home via Sterling and Edinburgh. Continuing with our trend of spending time in nature, we camped wild for almost the whole trip, staying by the coast or in forests and bathing in the lochs. We loved every minute of it and can’t wait to plan out more trips for 2022.
Some Recommendations
I know everyone loves a list, so I’ll leave you with some stuff I’ve enjoyed in 2021 (note: some of this stuff was not necessarily released in 2021). I always enjoy getting recommendations from family and friends for TV shows, music, books, movies, etc so if you’ve seen/heard something good please feel free to let me know so I can check it out!
Photobooks I’ve Enjoyed
I don’t buy all that many photo books, but this year I added quite a few. Here are the ones that I really enjoyed - you should still be able to get most of them. They are in no particular order, but the ones nearer the top really affected me.
Christmas Day, Bucks Pond Road - Tim Carpenter
Golden Apple of the Sun - Teju Cole
The Entrance to our Valley - Jenia Fridlyand
Time Passes - Robert Adams
Meloni Meloni - Gerry Johannson
The Pond - John Gossage
Black Was The Black River, You See - Dan Wood
Encampment, Wyoming - Lora Webb Nichols
In Plain Air - Irena Rosovsky
Healing - Dave Rothschild
Lust to Thrive - Bob Price
Sleep Creek - Dylan Hausthor and Paul Guilmoth
Books I’ve Read (or listened to)
I do a lot of my ‘reading’ via audiobooks these days. It’s easier to digest whilst I’m doing the dishes, vacuuming, walking the dog, etc. The few marked with an asterisk(*) were read as a physical copy. Again, no particular order aside from the ones near the top being particularly affective.
Wandering - Herman Hesse*
Beauty in Photography - Robert Adams*
Why People Photograph - Robert Adams*
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Second Place - Rachel Cusk
The Sense of Wonder - Rachel Carson
Calypso - David Sedaris
Gypsy Boy - Mikey WalshJust Ride: A Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike - Grant Peterson*
Sing Backwards & Weep; A Memoir - Mark Lanegan
The Way Home: Tales from A Life Without Technology - Mark Boyle
Mudlark: In Search of London’s Past Along The River Thames - Lara Maiklem
Wabi Sabi For Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers - Leonard Koren*
So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed - Jon Ronson
Them: Adventures With Extremists - Jon Ronson
The Body: A Guide for Occupants - Bill Bryson
Music I’ve Heard
Triorität - ALGO
The band describe this album as ‘metal fusion dance floor jazz’ if that helps you. Trippy psychedelia that gets your head bobbing.
Marisa Anderson - Music of The Future Played By Machines of The Past
I’m not sure how I stumbled across the work of Marisa Anderson but I’m so glad I did*. She’s a finger style guitarist based in Portland, Oregon. She has a really emotive style of playing that just seems to flow out of her in waves of varying tempo, attack and volume. All her recordings are great and there’s a bunch of live shows on YouTube - her NPR Tiny Desk Concert is worth a watch, and check out her collaboration with William Tyler too (he is also an incredibly talented player).
* I might have found her after going down a YouTube rabbit hole that started with the the fantastic Stagefright by Dave Evans.
BJ Nilsen - Massif Trophies
As recommended by Ron Jude in this YouTube video. Primal sounds evocative of the landscape, mountains and rumbling tectonic shifts. Headphones recommended.
Morimoto Naoki - Kuuhaku & Sui
Quiet soundscapes and field recordings from Japan. The artist released two albums this year and they’re both great. Headphones recommended.
Muggsy Spanier - 1939-1944
I’ve been listening to a lot of 30s-40s jazz lately. Don’t ask me what it is but there’s just some gritty magic in these old recordings that you don’t find in modern equivalents. If you’re feeling blue then there’s some really bouncy uplifting numbers on this album that are sure to put you in a better mood.
C Turtle - Computer Violence
Lofi musical project of photographer, Cole Flynn Quirke (@devils_point). The jaunty playing, relaxed timekeeping and and the rough-around-the-edges recording is precisely what I love about this record. Also check out his band Truckstar.
That about covers my review of 2021 - I could go on, but I’ll leave it at that. I’m conscious that my experience has been overwhelmingly positive and that for some of you this might not have been the case. Rest assured that my thoughts are with you and that I’m sending good vibes across the airwaves and I hope that 2022 holds better prospects for all. May you happy and well in 2022.
Much love,
Matt
PS. If you feel inclined to, please feel free to write back, I always enjoy hearing from you :)