Update / Downdate
Hello again and I must start this blog with apologies for the huge gap in writings, sometimes life comes at you hard, then you need to prioritise and concentrate on other things which in this case means that, unfortunately, the blog took a brief hiatus. Part of the reason for this, as you may or may not know is that I lost my Dad last month, this was following on from losing my Mum the year before, I’d taken some time to look after them and then took a little time for myself, but I feel that I’m starting to come back now so easing myself into the work slowly.
As with all returns it’s always a good idea to touch base on the outcomes, reasons, identity, aims and progress you’d like to make, in thinking about this, I believe it’s best to start with a recap of where NathanPhoto is at, the changes over the last 5 years have hit NP the hardest, the reason for this are many but as there has been a major shift in work from ‘commercial’ to something more academic/research based. This has had quite the impact, and if you add in the changes from market forces, personal changes and those trips around the sun, they’ve all contributed to hit NP the hardest.
This has all created the need for a revaluation of exactly what NathanPhoto is, and what it will be going forward. This is a process which I’m not sure has been fully completed as of yet, but before I start that in earnest, then maybe there is a need for a bit of history and to take a small step back to remind people what the origins of NP are?
NathanPhoto was set up (roughly) in 1990 when I started working as a photographer, the working landscape was very different back then, I started work as simply Nathan, it was only really when the internet started that I seriously used the name NathanPhoto1. NP was my vehicle for the commercial side of photographic work, by commercial I mean earning a living via making pictures for payment, thus supporting myself, these two factors are intrinsically linked and shaped a lot of the work I made and in its identity of making images for pay. I worked for a wide range of clients in the editorial, portraits, music, entertainment and gig economy with a notable mention of moving into photographing nightclubs around 1992, if memory serves me correct…
The average day-to-day aspects consisted of photographing people, places and things. It turned out that I would be asked to photograph so many different subjects in many different ways, that it created a need to increase my skill set so I learnt flash on camera, flash off camera, classic studio skills, lighting on location skills, darkroom work, direction work, computing skills etcetera as well as all the usual stuff of running a business such as cashflow, invoicing, networking, maintaining business relationships etc.
This continued on for many years and resulted in working for many high-profile clients and was also coupled with some lower profile ones too, needs must when earning sometimes, although my morals never slipped to unmanageable depths. The advent of digital started the sea change, as many have stated but more so I would say was the acceptance of the differing types of photography as standard, some of these images would not have previously been allowed by the gatekeepers so a mellowing due to financial constraints i.e they didn’t have to pay for them which brought in more profit, this for me saw in more change than the digital revolution, but that’s a whole ‘nother story2.
This brings me up to about 2015 where I took a job in academia and started a somewhat teaching career3. This started a slow in my day-to-day work of making images for pay, then the pandemic struck in 2020 which really put an end to most freelance work especially while l concentrated on the 9-5, making sure my Mum and Dad were looked after and keeping it together. Moving on from the pandemic I’m now working photography in the health sector, while still doing the ‘occasional’ freelance work as well as making images for fun and making images for stock plus the large task of going through the vast archive. As you can imagine the last 30+ years has left me a hellva an archive, which needs sorting into manageable chunks, mainly for when I’m gone, for my kids to hopefully make use of in the future.
There you go, that is a vastly condensed version but hopefully gets everyone up to speed. TBH I’m never sure of the validity in these types of pieces but feel that it is important to take stock of my position as the NathanPhoto identity looks like it will change considerably in the coming years. When I previously blogged, I had a strict structure with one containing an archive piece, one containing a #NPMonthlyWord, one with my large-scale project update etc, but the market has shown that there wasn’t much value interest in these pieces. Not to be completely dictated by market forces though I will continue the blog as I feel its importance is to leave some hooks, some words, some feelings behind as a trace of what NathanPhoto is all about…but I will continue them with a less harsh structure, less of a strict output schedule, so expect more ‘apologies for not writing sooner’ type posts.
I do see this as restart but it’s a shame that in doing that I’m wiping clear some ideas for previous blogs, I have many that would have fitted in that time frame but writing after the fact feels a little forced and contrived. Hopefully the ideas behind some of them may or may not see the light of day, I’m sure they will resurface in other places, which ones, will be interesting to take a note of.
I realise that part of the non-engagement of this blog was partly due to the fact I didn’t really share so much on socials, I’ve all but given up on Facebook, Instagram has been a bit hit and miss with engagement, I’m not sure about threads and I’m waiting to see what direction ‘X formerly known as Twitter’ is going, but I will endeavour to do better.
Speaking of socials, I’ve noticed that my cheesy images of places in Manc gets more likes on Insta than my other things, I think I’ll drill down into that a little more (thinking like a modern day Atget possibly?)
Expect more of that going forward as l attempt to share more on my socials and in this blog.
And there you go with the update for the last few months.
Thank you for reading. If you have any comments, thoughts or suchlike that you’d wish to share then please get me via the usual channels.
#LifeasNathanPhoto #myBlogReturns #photographies #photographywriting #Havepodcasttakenoverblogs #Idontwanttodoapodcast #preferwords #andpictures #inapost #posts #manchester #colour #images #squareformat #hashtag
Notes:
1.The reason why I ended up on the internet as NathanPhoto can be quite funny if not a little coarse!
2. Short story is that it turns into a bit of a rant which ends with the question, “But when did yu last buy some photography?”
3. I loved teaching and technician (ing) and currently looking for more work in this field if anyone is interested in a 50-year-old open minded photographer with a wealth of experience and knowledge?