Carefree Mia

Talking to her friend, Mia says: "In a couple of years time I'll be four and I'm going to have a butterfly birthday cake." Aware of me she sometimes glances over and offers a smile but for the most part she is focused on serious playtime. What a pleasure to work with!

Sentimental

I remember looking at this photograph time and time again and never getting bored of it. Fascinated with it because of the idea of someone taking a picture of someone else taking a picture - I always wondered what the other one looked like? Who was in it? Where is it now? And who ever owned two cameras at one time? Did it belong to a friend? Is the boy only pretending? Or is he really taking a picture too?

The boy is my dad and the car in the background was my granddad's much loved Packard. We're assuming that it was taken in Bloemfontein in the early 1950's with my granddad being the photographer.

John Daubney

I've put my watermark on it to protect our "family heirloom".

When I googled "Pictures of people taking pictures" I came across a song by Jack Johnson:

Pictures of People taking Pictures

Pictures of people taking
Pictures of people taking
Pictures of people taking pictures

I pictured us at the end of time
Holding up a camera to our eyes
I took a picture of you took a picture of me
In the background of the picture
Was water running to the sea

So I pictured us standing there
Staying away from time
Watching it like a river
As it slowly washes by

And now
Pictures of people taking
Pictures of people taking
Pictures of people taking pictures
And now
Pictures of people taking
Pictures of people taking
Pictures of people taking pictures

The feed back loop
Is closing is so tight
Surrounding ourselves
With satellites

So I pictured us standing there
Staying away from time
Watching it like a river
As it slowly washes by

And now
Pictures of people taking
Pictures of people taking
Pictures of people taking pictures
I pictured us at the end of time
Taking pictures of nothing

The Travelling Gnome Prank!

I watched the movie Amelie with my aunt while she was studying French. Not being a fan of subtitled movies I was reluctant to watch but sat down nevertheless. Somewhere at the start of the movie Amelie sticks her hand into a barrel of dried beans and I'm sold! Watching it I can feel my own hand going into the beans and the massaging sensation that goes with it.

Gillian Gamble, an illustrator and photographer based in St Andrews, requested submissions of pictures celebrating tea - in order to raise awareness for Tea People. My inspiration came from the movie Amelie and the Travelling Gnome Prank!

Tea People is an exciting social enterprise, founded to support the primary educational needs of the children of tea workers across the Darjeeling region.

Their aim is to support social and educational projects in underprivileged rural areas through the sale of high quality and environmentally friendly teas.

They believe that, with a little effort, creativity and innovation, tea can become a powerful medium for social change.

A revolution is brewing.