Everything starts somewhere

When I woke up this morning, I didn’t imagine that I would have created a Substack account, followed a bunch of photographers I have admired for a long time, and then written my first stack, post, article (what should I call these things?) in which I’m not sure what I would say, or how I would go about saying it.

But then, everything starts somewhere, and few beginnings are ever really expected or planned for, I guess. However it’s 2025 and, apparently, a ‘lot of photographers’ are heading to Substack.

I guess I’m now one of them?

So, by way of introduction. I’m Michael, and I have been calling myself a photographer for around 20 years. I tend to shoot black and white because, right at the beginning of my photographic journey I mixed in with a group of black and white film photographers who loved the work of ‘The Masters’ and I just cut my teeth studying that kind of work. Over time, I began to just love black and white images, and I found myself shooting more and more of it, to the degree that I wasn’t really sure what I would do with colour photography. So I just kept doing what I was doing, and hoped for the best.

Everything starts somewhere.

I live in deepest, darkest Dorset, in the UK, and we’re surrounded by fields, and woodland, and sheep, and more sheep, and cows, and other fields, and quaint small English villages, the likes of which you would probably see on Downton Abbey - all of which are great if you’re a bit of an introvert! It definitely helps if you’d rather not bump into people when you’re lying on your stomach, trying to photography a funny-looking blade of grass. People have opinions about that kind of thing, and I’m not used to people sharing those opinions, if it’s not in the context of a social media platform!

I started shooting a lot of street photography, back at the beginning but, over time, moved away from that as I couldn’t shift the idea of how I would feel if someone pushed a camera into my face, or the faces of one of my kids. It made me feel a little icky, and so I just stopped. Also, I don’t like the idea of having my head kicked in because I aimed my camera at the wrong person, one day. A Bruce Gilden, I am not!

For the most part, these days, I’ve ended up shooting a lot of landscape work, whether that’s in a woodland, or on a hillside somewhere. Essentially, anywhere where people are not! Somehow, though, I’ve ended up being the guy who goes out and shoots mainly when there are foggy or misty days. Maybe I’ve settled into the idea that fog covers a multitude of ‘sins’, and so the majority of my work has an element of fog in it.

Oh, maybe, in trying to use fog to hide elements within my photography I am, on a deeper level, trying to ‘hide myself’ somehow. Imposter syndrome anyone?

Anyway, over time, I’ve amassed what I think is a half-decent body of work, and yet continue to be haunted by the idea that I’m not actually any good, and people are ‘just being polite’ when I proudly show them my latest image of a tree that I photographed one day when I was out ‘making images’. I believe they call it ‘imposter syndrome’, and it seems to be more common than my brain tells me it is.

And so to Substack.

Honestly, I have no idea what I might talk about, or how many of these posts I’ll write. I’m not even sure that what I have to share, anyone would really care about. I can understand the cathartic nature of writing, and just being able to express what you’re thinking is enticing. But much of my experience in photography over the years has come down to a few key points:

• The mental health side of being creative

• The process of making images

• The social side of the work you create

So, who knows. I read work, such as Kyle McDougall’s

Field Notes

, or the ‘ramblings’ of people like

Jon Gibbs

and it inspires me to at least try. And maybe that’s the point behind any of this? It’s the trying, and the starting out on something which may provide a greater value to my online life than the endless routine of doomscrolling, and trying to make some headway online against all the ‘attention oligarchs’. Who knows. (Insert shrugging emoji!).

But anyway, this is me sticking my head above the parapet, saying ‘hello’ and seeing if anyone says anything back. This isn’t my first rodeo when it comes to trying a new platform, so if this doesn’t work out, then that’s cool. Also, if any seasoned Substackers (is that a thing?) has any sage advice, then do let me know.

Everything starts somewhere, after all.

This is the kind of work that I do.

Oh, also…if there’s anyone else that I should be following, then do let me know!

Thanks. Bye.