Brockwell Pat

Brockwell Park - 6th June.2025

I made a flying visit to Herne Hill to visit my friend Pat on Friday. 

We met at Polytechnic in Hull many moons ago. Pat originally hails from Tipton, in the West Midlands, referred to as the Black Country. Now he lives close to Brockwell Park in the leafy borough of Lambeth..

I remember speaking to Pat about my teenage years living in South London. It must have made an impression as he consequently moved here, an area that is a short bus journey from where I used to live (Streatham) in the 80’s. 

The locality of the station is not what I remembered however. The area is firmly gentrified and very middle class these days. I think I counted three parent bicycles within the first few minutes of exiting the station (the ones with the big box on the front, intended for a couple of infants and a waitrose bag or two). 

After a stop at Gail’s, for two coffees, a smoked ham and cheese croissant and two (most excellent) cinnamon swirls (£22.50!!), we headed to Brockwell Park to walk off the swirls, continue our conversation and possibly find a location for a photo or two. 

Brockwell was partially sectioned off due to the numerous summer events going on there - a subject of much discussion in the local community, as it can be noisy and the footfall has dramatically increased in the last few years. 

Brockwell Park with Pat, under a Cedar of Lebanon. (Thankfully no pidgeon droppings!)

We walked up the hill towards Brockwell Hall, which dates back to 1811. There’s some nice pathways with covered benches (the sort you sometimes see in seaside towns) and one became a location for a couple of photos. We talked about getting older, health issues (including a trapped thumb in a door), friends we hadn’t seen for a while, family, pets, music bands we want to see, the Derby (horse racing).. All the important and not so important stuff basically. A funny and sometimes serious conversation that made meeting up special and reminded me that I need to make the effort more often, as I really enjoyed it. 

We took some more photos near a temporary security fence, and near an old victorian horse watering point. The locations lent themselves to the conversation and the subsequent photographs, which can be found on the portraits section of the portfolio. These are digital b/w (ND780) with a combination of 85mm and 50mm lenses.

Clapham with Matthew

Clapham Common - 21st March 2025

Catching up with old school friends is not an everyday activity, and something that needs planning. Matthew and I had traded text messages and I was excited about the two of us meeting-up. It’s a little difficult to get hold of Matthew these days as he has intentionally limited his exposure to social media platforms. 

We arranged to meet in a gastro pub near Clapham Common. It was a pleasant space, quite big with lots of natural light flooding through the big pub windows to the front. It was really quiet however, so I felt a little conspicuous being the first to arrive. The light could be really nice for a couple of photo sketch portraits I thought... but in the end I decided against it. Better to relax and discuss the possibility of taking some portraits later, and where to do them. 

I have known Matthew since 1978. We met at secondary school in Fulham. And now, here we were catching up again,.. like it had only been a few days ago. 

I’ve always found it very easy speaking to Matthew. He has a real openness about him. To me, he seems to really wear his heart on his sleeve. And what an incredibly strong and inspiring sleeve and heart combo that is! 

We had a tasty lunch, chatted some more, and then decided to head over to Clapham Common, as the light was still good and I wanted to get just a few head shots at the very least. He wanted to purchase a birthday card on the way, so we ambled and chatted as we took the detour. 

We walked until a park bench presented itself. The light was a little soft by now, with some drifting fluffy clouds and the light kept changing and this potentially might make the photos more interesting. I had to change my angle and height a few times, and moved around him. Matthew was completely at ease with me and we chatted idly, giving him time to reflect on my questions and allow those feelings to be in his eyes and expression. 

Looking at the photographs now, I can see the conversation in his face, the cheeky smile in one shot, the subtle tilt of his head and the expressiveness of his eyes in another. I was pleased with the photo’s I was taking, and after about 20 minutes we wrapped it up and headed to the station. 

We agreed not to leave it so long until the next time, and with a hug and a deep breath of lifelong friendship we went our separate ways.

(More photos from this session can be found on the portfolio pages)

Max McGonigal (c)2025

Newcastle

Newcastle - 14th March 2025

Heading up to Newcastle for the weekend was a nice activity. 

The fact it was a Friday and I took a day’s leave and put my ‘out-of-office’ on, made it even more special.

This was a planned trip to see my old friend Joe, whom I’ve known since April 1994. We met in an old school film editing facility in Wardour Street, which was run by Tom (whose passport job description was “Movie Mogul”... but that’s another story and not relevant here). Tom had a rostrum camera in the basement and I was employed to use it on pre-production animated commercials called ‘animatics’. 

Joe was freelancing for the company at the time and showed me the ropes. Since then, we’ve spent a lot of time together both professionally at different times and long story short, we are very much lifelong best friends.

This was a trip to go up and discuss a film project that Joe is planning, but also a good opportunity to spend a little quality time together. We only see each other 2 or 3 times a year and that is often as part of the larger group of ‘old fellas’ so this was a nice change. I also wanted to pursue an idea I have recently been cultivating; a portrait project of lifelong friends. I started this a few weeks back, with a visit to Ipswich to see another old and dear friend, Piers. Mike (another lifer) came along and some of these photographs appear in the portfolio pages.

Similar to Piers’ house, there is a lovely big dining room window at the back of the 19th century terraced house and the light from the afternoon sun was just perfect for some informal conversational photographs. 

I ended up taking more than 250 over the space of about 30 minutes. I was super excited, particularly as I’d taken some the day before and the light was a little disappointing and I kept messing up the exposure. This second set was just great, as I pulled the exposure to create deeper shadows and it seemed to work! What also worked well was Joe’s movements and the inclusion of his hands in many shots. I am trying to include hands where I can, as they lend a lot to the expressiveness of the images. 

Anyway, the whole situation seemed to work and some of those results you can see on my portfolio pages. 

I’ll be up again to see Joe in the summer and hopefully a second sitting will take place :)

Sheen and a Vinyl Cycle

Mind, Sheen - 1st March 2025

“Do you fancy heading to Sheen on Saturday morning?.. about 8.30? The Mind shop is doing a vinyl sale and it’s probably going to be quite good”. So said Mike, and we had a plan. It was a gorgeous foggy morning with the sun trying to burn through. As we cycled over Kew Bridge the fog lifted and everything was bathed in that lovely morning light that you only get in early March. When we arrived at the charity shop there were already a couple of regulars, waiting. “Hello Mike!” (Mike’s done this trip many times). And a friendly bit of conversation started.

It’s amazing really, how the pursuit of old and sometimes obscure vinyl is a such a joy to so many. After only 10 or so minutes there was a queue outside and an air of excitement. I took a few snaps on my camera and, as I’ve become accustomed to, it isn’t always popular.

The shop assistant asked me, in a rather curt manner “are you from the press?! Why are you taking pictures?!” I assured her I was nobody she need be concerned about, and with some assurance from Mike. “He’s alright, he’s with me”

I was able to look through some boxes of vinyl and picked myself up some great music for the month: Public Enemy - It take a nation.., The Clark / Duke Project, and Richie Havens - Mixed Bag.

Oh, and I got a couple of nice photos and a heart pumping 15k ride. Hoorah!