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winter | diy business retreat / more writing / work updates / black river returning???
Hey gang,
Somehow, it’s March already. Not only that, it’s mid-March and spring is springing. When did this happen!?
It feels like only a few weeks ago it was the Christmas holidays and I was winding down for the year before flying to Tenerife for my first ever solo Christmas and New Years. I booked a stay at a coliving space on the island (a shared accommodation for remote workers). It was my second time doing something like this and I once again had an incredible time with lots of new friends and productive work days. I also planned to do a DIY business retreat in the first week of January and had so much fun experimenting and playing around with the retreat, going over the past year, reviewing, journalling, and then the fun part of dreaming up what I want 2024 to look like, as well as my long term future.
Then, I came back home and it has been balls to the wall since I landed back here mid-Jan, and I’ve had hardly any time to action any of my plans and dreams. I’m grateful that it’s been busy with paid client work in a normally quiet period, among a time that’s been rife with redundancies and lost clients – unfortunately I didn’t escape completely unscathed and lost a long-term and regular client late last year. My schedule has been packed, but the cost of living crisis is biting hard, and really, I shouldn’t have gone on holiday. But it was a much-needed break which helped so much with motivation and productivity, as well as the good old day-dreaming. It was worth the leaner beginning to the year, mostly.
This year, I’m going to be experimenting with the line between my writing business and photography business as they’ve developed alongside each other in the past years. I'm excited that I was able to start the year with a local social media campaign production job where I got to combine the two, and I’m hoping to do more of this over the rest of the year.
One of my other big ideas for this year is potentially bringing back Black River in a new format… a self-sustaining model where I can also pay contributors. Watch this space.
Lastly, I miss personal writing. I had so much fun writing Notes on Freelance, my first ever pop-up newsletter, and I’m thinking about turning this into more of a personal essays newsletter with updates on my work every so often, something a little more exciting than simply updates on what I’m doing.
These ideas are all brewing away, and in the meantime here’s what I’ve been up to in these first three months of 2024 (THREE MONTHS ALREADY, as if!?)
Cheers,
A x
‘Mum & Magpie ii’ to be published in AND 2023
One of my favourite photographs and most popular prints is being published in Then There Was Us’ AND 2023 – “an annual selection of some of the best up and coming influential documentary and portrait photographers from across the globe, showcasing in this heterogeneous collection of poignant and inspiring imagery. This diverse collection presents compelling and inspiring photography, reflecting a dynamic response to the evolving culture and transformations in the production, sharing, and consumption of photography. This is THEN THERE WAS US ones to watch of 2023.”
So pleased to be in the company of almost 80 mad good photographers and artists 🖤
Crocus Valley featured in British Journal of Photography
Pleased to see my photobook Crocus Valley featured in the latest British Journal of Photography in the bookshelf section!
ICYMI: Crocus Valley is my love letter to Croydon, a purposefully unexpected glimpse and romantic view of this cultural and generational patchwork quilt of a place that’s supposedly empty of such romance. Scenes that are rarely, if ever, depicted in the media or spoken about.
Bramley Studio takeover
I was recently invited to do an Instagram takeover of the Bramley Studio account and had a lot of fun! I always enjoy the chance to look over past work and think about future projects like this.
Commission for Hyphen
I started the year with a commission from favourites Hyphen Online with Dr. Hina Shahid, GP and chair of the Muslim Doctors Association who spoke to Hyphen on the future of the NHS.
“Since I qualified in 2008, things have got progressively worse. I think the strike action is reflective of the strength of feeling that something needs to be done. The current climate in the NHS is toxic. I’m seeing colleagues leaving to work in the private sector, transition to non-medical jobs or move abroad. Lots of junior doctors are concerned about what a career in the NHS is going to look like. We are facing an exodus. The NHS is haemorrhaging staff every day and it’s going to get worse unless the government does something to reverse the situation.”
New in 2024
From last month with the local City Commons team who looks after some of the conservation grazing in Croydon. Calving has been happening over the past couple of months, and one morning I met this new baby boy, only a few hours old here. I have some exciting plans in the works for a potential continuation of my Rural Croydon project!
Sirius turns 16
How could I not share the best photoshoot of the year so far?
END NOTES
I found the film Minari via the popular song on TikTok / Heartbroken to hear of Benjamin Zephaniah’s death late last year / Obsessing over this painting / Noreen Masud’s A Flat Place is on my to read list / And so is Alycia Pirmohamed’s poetry collection Another Way to Split Water / Baking plans this month / Love the look of this documentary photography platform I came across recently / The duality in this photograph by Janani Venkateswaran / Manifesting more sheepy moments like this in 2024 / This photography series by Stephen Gill for the bird lovers / “Sorry I was so glum. I’m in a cursed mood and can’t bear the human face…” Enjoying ‘Letters of Note’, a new follow on Instagram / Can’t get over the texture in these macro film photographs made with plant-based developer by Chloë Tibbatts
A bit about me
Hey! I’m Ameena – a writer and photographer based in London. I love to tell stories about adventure, the outdoors, and our relationship with the natural world. Find me on Instagram.
What a great commission. Alli and I went to see Adam Kay a couple of weeks ago and he said very much the same thing about the NHS, but also mentioned the high suicide rate amongst doctors. It is absolutely terrible what has happened to it. Both my parents worked in the NHS so I'm a passionate advocate for it. I blame the Conservatives.
Also, your reading taste is very much aligned. 'A Flat Place' is on my book list also.