England's Dreaming // Bump Books
In early 2025, David Solomons, founder of Bump Books, approached me about collaborating on a new publication. Having admired the Bump Books series for years—and the incredible range of photographers they’ve featured—I was excited by the opportunity to contribute to their growing catalogue of street photography zines.
David proposed focusing the project on my work made across England, my adopted home. It became a chance to revisit years of archived images and reflect on the evolution of my photography over time. While the zine includes photographs from across the UK, the work centres primarily around Manchester—my hometown—as well as London and the North East.
Although much of the publication sits firmly within the tradition of street photography, it also felt important to include work that reflects my more recent shift towards New Topographics and industrial landscape imagery. Looking back through the archive also revealed recurring themes I hadn’t fully recognised at the time: quiet moments in public space, changing industrial environments, and the subtle ways people shape and inhabit the landscapes around them. Although the photographs span different years and approaches, there is still a consistent thread running through the work that feels deeply connected to my experience of England itself.
One of the aspects I appreciated most about working with David was his approach to editing and sequencing the zine. For the first time, I allowed someone else to take the lead in sequencing my photographs, which proved to be an incredibly valuable experience. As photographers, we often carry a deep personal context and attachment to the images we make, and that inevitably shapes how we edit and connect them together. Having an external editor approach the work with fresh eyes removes some of that internal narrative and can lead to unexpected and surprising choices.
In many ways, it allowed me to see the photographs differently myself. Certain images gained new meaning through their placement alongside others, and the final sequence revealed connections and themes I may not have recognised on my own. It was a genuinely refreshing process, and one I would highly recommend to other photographers working on long-term projects or publications.
More than anything, the publication feels like a meaningful addition to my growing list of printed work. It also gives a renewed life to photographs that might otherwise remain forgotten at the bottom of a hard drive. Seeing the images reproduced and printed with such care has been especially rewarding.
In many ways, the zine feels less like a retrospective and more like a map of my relationship with England over the years.
The photozine is available now via Bump Books, and I’d highly recommend exploring their wider catalogue, which features an outstanding selection of photographers and projects.
