Busy bee ..

She broke her little finger playing 'walking netball' last week, but that hasn't stopped her rehearsing carols with a choir so that she can go and entertain residents in old folks' homes this Christmas. Add to that her constant knitting for charity, her little business making hand-made cards, her cooking for more 'old-folk' in her block of flats, her membership of the Women's Institute, her organising of day trips for numerous other societies ..

Oh and, by the way, she's 81. Love ya, Mum ..

Just remember ..

I went to a funeral this week, the first I've attended in France. I'd only known the lady for 18 months but there was still sadness and a sense of loss, knowing that I'll never see her again. I can't imagine how that felt when multiplied by the tens, the hundreds, the thousands, the millions that died in the First World War ..

All we can do today is think about it, mark the day, take a moment.
Just remember ..

A Christmas present .. for the future!

It's October 25th so ... Ho Ho Ho!

Yes, ONLY two months to go until Christmas so, in true keeping with the capitalist meaning of it all, it's time to start plugging my Portrait Photography Gift Vouchers. I'm really pleased I'm able to do it this year, now that I'm up and running again with a studio, and my Christmas wish is that it really takes off in 2019. I also hope I can gain a reputation as a quality restorer of old photographs.
Spread the word, folks. Spread the word ..

Sun down ..

From our garden I get a great view of every sunset throughout the year. I also get a great view of a huge mast, which was added to the horizon in Spring to measure whether it's breezy enough to warrant building wind-turbines on the site. Two nights ago the sun had moved far enough over to set right behind the mast and, like a giant 'solstice' marker, I feel that we are now 'on the other side' and winter is on its way. As an interesting aside, I photographed the next night's sunset with my camera-phone (or is it a phone-camera?) and was amazed to see how much the earth has turned in just one 24 hour period. The sun set completely to the left of the mast. The blown-up quality is rubbish, but you get a good idea of how far over it has already moved.

With the clocks changing this weekend this will happen just after 6.30 in the evening. The dark nights have definitely drawn in ..    

Be realistic ..

You'll have to indulge me in this blog as I revel in the fact that, today, I mark exactly forty years as a professional photographer. Forty years! OMG ..

Yes, this day in 1978 I turned up - 18 years old - for my first day with Messenger Group Newspapers in Sale, South Manchester .. and I haven't stopped clicking since. I well remember that day, which started with me being taken to choose a motorbike (I hadn't yet taken the driving test) and ended with me photographing the captain of Manchester United. And boy, the famous people certainly racked up over the years, as did the list of amazing events and places the job took me to. I was once chosen as the sole photographer to cover The Queen at an event in London, and have met people as diverse as Mohammed Ali and Margaret Thatcher, Jimmy Saville and Max Clifford. Assignments have taken me from Altrincham and Runcorn to Sri Lanka and Libya and I've covered countless parties, celebrations, launches, gigs, show-openings and book launches. It's been amazing ..

You can click on a few images of the teenage O'Neill, including an 18 year old me with Princess Anne - my first Royal job - and, one of my favourites, me up a 300 foot chimney, scaled without ropes or any nudge towards safety whatsoever!
Those were the days ..

My school careers teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I left school. "A press photographer," I said. "Be realistic," he replied. So glad I proved him wrong ..


  

Stars in your eyes ..

The night sky is one of the most amazing things about living here in France. On a cloudless evening I can look up and see The Milky Way stretch right over our house - something that was impossible to do in the light-polluted skies of the North West of England. In fact, constellations are actually harder to recognise here because of all the extra stars I can see. It's amazing ..

Last night I thought I'd try to capture some of the magnificence but, not being a technically-minded astro-photographer - or a technically-minded anything, come to think of it - I took the simple route to star photography by laying an old camera on the ground and pointing it upwards.
Folks, this is the result ..

Merry Christmas, everybody ..

Cars!! Aaaaagh!! And road-works!! Aaaagh!! And effing Christmas!! Aaaaaaaagh!!
Oh boy, am I glad to be back in rural old France ..

I nipped over to the UK this weekend to see family, have a swift Guinness or eight with my pals and do a spot of er, plane-spotting. There's a pub at the end of the runway at Manchester Airport which I've been going to since I was a teenager in the 70s. It's the best place to get close to planes short of actually boarding one, and it was great to be back there after a year away. Getting to the pub, however, was a different matter. There are bloody roadworks everywhere! And cars. There are cars everywhere! From my bedroom window alone I could see 18 cars parked up. The roadsides are full of them, the pavements are full of them and there's a never-ending stream of them up and down all day long. And Christmas! Christmas is everywhere! Bear in mind it was still September at the weekend, so what a shock it was to see Christmas displays at the three large shops I went into.

Do you know the only thing that wasn't there? Seeds. I went into Wilmslow garden centre with a long list of seeds we'd like to plant in our garden. There were none. They'd all been "put away" to make way for the Christmas displays. So God help you. Do not go into Wilmslow Garden centre for seeds. You will be thwarted!

Oh boy, am I glad to be back in rural old France .. 

The write stuff ..

Well, there's a first! I went to a creative writing workshop this morning, where I was urged to put down a few words as often as I could.
Hang on, that's like writing a  ..

Anyway, in a blatant plug (Now there's a first, Martin) I wanted to show you these photographs. They're from back in the summer and one of the first shoots I did in my new French studio. I've not been able to say anything until now as the pictures were part of a surprise gift to the parents. I'm so pleased with how the studio is working, and delighted with the results I'm getting. Of course, it does help that I was working with two of the most charming little sisters in the whole of Paris. I've now done eight family portrait sessions and was asked last week to book in another one. I was also asked if I could photograph another Wedding next summer. Woohoo ..

Chapter two

 It was a dark and stormy night and, as the wind blew against the  ..

Sorry, just getting in a little writing practice ..
 

Living our dream ..

"Do you fancy living in France?" ..

I couldn't believe it when Lesley asked me that. France? Why would I want to go and live in France? How boring would that be? "Well, I've been looking at houses" she said. "Why don't we just go and visit for a week?

And now we've lived here for a year!

I can't tell you how great it feels to say that. Our first anniversary. Bugger me, we've done it! ..

Yes, a year ago today Lesley and I were making our way down from Calais in a little two-car convoy, both vehicles stuffed to the hilt with books, pans and cocker spaniels. A year on, and we feel completely at home. What we couldn't know as we drove down was that, not only did we buy a house that's perfect for us, but we chose one in a most amazing area. The countryside's fantastic and the people here are brilliant. We've made so many new friends - both French and English .. oh, and American (Hi, Arthur!) - and everybody has been so helpful as we've knuckled down to setting up home here ..

And so much else has happened, too ..

It's great to know what a full four seasons can throw at you over here, having experienced a winter that hit a low of minus seventeen and a scorching summer that seems to have gone on forever. We've had storms that have made the gîte roof leak, followed by a really busy season full of guests. We've converted our garden from a big patch of nothing into a plot with flower beds, hens and sweet corn; we've celebrated a Christmas without commercialism and brought in New Year at a party with pea-shooters (great fun); we've had dinner with the mayor and so many fun nights at our village bar that we've lost count; we've seen chateaux, been canoeing, watched the fields of sunflowers come and go and become contributors to our local monthly magazine. We've both got into the tax and health systems and are picking up more of the lingo every day. Lesley, in fact, is practically fluent and even sings in French at one of the three choirs she's joined. Or is it four? Can't keep count. I know she works at the library and never seems to stop baking and cooking now she has the time. I've put my hand to DIY, and realised I'm quite a dab hand at laying flooring. I've opened a photography studio, written my second book and even shot a wedding here. I cycle practically every day, and our walks around this beautiful countryside are bliss. And did I mention the friends? Our lovely, lovely friends ..

Anyway, can't sit around. I've got window-shutters to paint and a shed roof to repair. I also need to get ready for a slide-show I'm giving on Friday night. Then we're playing croquet with friends this afternoon and we need to get down to catch an annual week-long photography exhibition before it closes on Sunday. We've been invited to a 'do' on Saturday, and on Sunday we're throwing our own little bash to mark this 'momentous occasion ..

Boring it ain't and yes, Lesley, I do fancy living in France. So, let's do another year, and then another, and then another. Living the dream. Lesley's dream? ..

OUR dream!..

    

Sunflower fall ..

The weather always seems to change, right on cue, as August comes to an end. It's like a switch. And even though the thermometer will hit the high 80s again today, it's somehow a different heat - a less fierce, cooler heat! In England I would now be looking at my garden and noticing subtle changes in leaves, and seeds bulging from flowers gone over but, from now on, I'll forever associate the beginning of Autumn with the end of the sunflower season in France. All around are fields and fields of sunflowers  - or, at least, the blackened, shrivelled husks of a former summer splendour - all with their heads hung low as if in sadness at the loss of their looks. And now the farmers are moving in to chop off their heads. It's a hard life. See you next year, you beauties ..

Ps: Right on cue, the farmer cut down the flowers in the field right next to our gîte. The flowers seem to be bowing in submission. I'm reading too much into this. More gin, vicar?

I ain't going nowhere ..

We're in the middle of La Rentrée - the big return to school and work - and, as everyone heads home again, we in the countryside get a sense of things definitely quietening down after the summer. There are certainly fewer English-registered cars in the supermarket car park and Facebook is filling up with posts - already nostalgic - as people look back on their holidays in France ..

Today marks two years to the day that we first set eyes on what was to become our new home and it is as hot here now as it was on that already distant day - the grass as brown, the sun as bright. We were to have many a 'rentrée'  of our own over the following year as we worked to set up home; lots of heart-wrenching 'goodbyes' as we set off for England after brief snatched stays here, but now we have the most wonderful feeling to know that we are going nowhere. We are staying put. We live here. We can have as much France as we want. It is wonderful ..





   

An unexpected arboretum ..

I had an hour to kill yesterday, having left my car for two new tyres in a nearby town called Melle. I walked out of the garage and, barely 200 yards up the street, turned straight into an absolutely stunning arboretum. What an unexpected oasis of calm, and how educational that all the trees were labelled. The scents were delicious, the colours amazing, the dappled sun warming through the leafy canopy. I had the place to myself, which was blissful, relaxing and special. I took a few photographs .. and then I went to Aldi !

A year ago today ..

Well, I know what I was doing this time last year .. I was at the fab Great John Street Hotel in Manchester photographing the Wedding of Emma and Chris .. the last time I ever photographed a Wedding in the UK! Three weeks later we were off to live in France, and it's lovely that that chapter of my life closed on such a lovely high. The August Bank Holiday will forever be associated with that landmark moment and later today I'll raise a glass to the happy couple's first anniversary. I know I've done a hell of a lot of things since that busy Monday but, wow, where did a year go?

Praying hands ..

These hands, seemingly in prayer, are the perfect picture to go with today's blog. The shot was taken exactly two years ago today on the cross-channel ferry that Lesley and I took for our first foray into France and you can be sure that, having hardly ever been to France before, I was definitely saying a little prayer inside ..

I'm now praying hard that the Brextit sh*t storm pans out right or we're all in trouble. Who knows? Our prayers have been answered once ..

World Photography Day .. apparently!

It's World Photography Day, apparently! Not that I'd notice the difference, 'cos it's always World Photography Day where I am! As in, I think the world of photography and photography has taken me round the world. Let's face it, photography is my world. Has been since 1974. How lucky I am that my school started a camera club, and how lucky I am that I didn't listen to my careers teacher when I told him I wanted to be a photographer. "Be realistic," he told me, a pitying tone to his voice. It's 40 years since I became a professional photographer. Thanks for the encouragement, Mr McBean ..

Today's shot? Glad you asked. It's my little doll Minnie, atop a marker post at the equator about 3am during a bus-ride through Malaysia. One of the shots from my forthcoming slide-show ..   

In the spotlight ..

I love taking photographs, and I love to have them seen. Photography is all about communicating, after all. It's also, for me, about entertaining, which is also why I love to write and why this blog has been going so long. I can tell how successful any piece has been because the 'system' offers me statistics - amazing facts about the numbers of readers, and their locations, and what they had for lunch. (Maybe not that last bit!) With photography it's a little bit harder. If I put a photograph onto Facebook - which I do with relish and great regularity - I generally have no idea how 'viewed' it is. Unless I get a 'like' or a comment I have no way of knowing if it's been seen - or enjoyed (or worse). It was a real delight therefore to have a lovely chap I know (Hello B) come up to me yesterday and say, out of the blue, how much he loved seeing my photographs online. "Do keep putting them up there," he said. I certainly shall B, and thank you so much for giving me such a vote of confidence ..

It's my old modelling partner Minnie who's back in the spotlight next. I'm delighted to have been offered an evening at our village 'salle de fête' - or community hall - to give a slide-show of her trip around the world. It freaks me out to think it's 27 years since she and I went back-packing together but lovely to give her another chance to show off her holiday snaps. Here she is, the old sun-worshipper, on the beach in Tahiti.

September 21st, if you're knocking about ..  

It gladdens an old man's heart ..

I had yet another photo-shoot in the studio this morning, and went into it with a spring in my step. The reason? A family I photographed recently chose this image as the picture they wanted for their wall. It gladdens an old man's heart to have something a little more 'quirky' selected by a client.
I hope it happens more often ..

Simpler times ..

This photograph is getting on for 45 years old! It was my idea of art when I was 13 or fourteen years old. Taken on a Kodak Instamatic that I think may have been forgotten about in my Mum's sideboard, it shows my brother and sister being 'held' by one of our friends from down the street. I was at the start of my interest in photography and just five years from getting my first job as a professional photographer. The gorgeous cherry tree on the left is now cut down, people have paved over these gardens and now, instead of the one car you can see, the street is chock full of them. We knew who lived in every one of the houses you can see here, and played marbles and football and conkers and hide and seek with no knowledge of supposed 'perverts' or danger of hurting ourselves or fear of being run over. We even played on the railway banking that can be seen behind the houses at the rear and I can still hear the sound of the grasshoppers that lived there in the summer. And the lad in the middle? Dead from drugs a mere 15 years later. Innocence gone. RIP KC ..

The swing of things ..

I shot my first ever Wedding in France yesterday. In French!..

It went really well and my mixture of stuttering lingo and lots of pointing meant I left last evening with 1, 200 images under my belt. It's been almost exactly a year .. a YEAR .. since I last photographed a Wedding, so it's lovely to be back in the swing of things at last. I'm also swinging round to a house near Poitiers later this week to photograph it for an estate agent, and then I'm swinging back to my studio for another family photo-session next weekend. Je suis très content!!..

New Day Dawns ..

It's New Year's Day for me! For years I've used an academic diary to plan my days - and their year finishes on July 31st - so it was a funny old morning as I closed the book on 2017/18 and opened my new brand new 18/19 diary this morning. I say funny when I actually mean nostalgic, because 'last year's' diary opened onto a month that was full of preparation for our move to France. It's fascinating to look back and see what we were up to as we packed our lives into cardboard boxes last August ..

There was excitement, and nerves, and a mega sense of things rushing towards us. At the same time as we were gearing up to leave the UK, I was trying to get my house in order to enable me to rent it out. There are one-word entries like 'Carpets' and 'Skip' and 'Burglar alarm' .. (ok, that's two) as I got everything ready for tenants, and there are entries like 'Phone Tristan' (French plumber) and 'Book Rob' (French TV installers) and 'Speak to Emma' .. the last bride whose Wedding I photographed in England. Yes, it was manic ..

And today? New Year's Day? Bliss! 30 degrees, and a leisurely day getting the gîte ready for tonight's arrival. (They've just arrived, by the way, and what bloody lovely people they are.) Who'd have thought it would all settle down so quickly? This afternoon I was working on a few pix ('Cos it's far too hot to go out!!) when I got an email saying we'd had a gîte booking - for three weeks - next summer. The lady has just been over to France and was so keen to get her next visit sorted that she went straight online and booked a trip. All this as I dust off my f1.8 because .. I'm photographing a Wedding on Saturday! Oh man, who'd have thought?

Yes, it looks like it's definitely going to be a 'Happy New Year'! Season's Greetings, one and all  ..

 

Going back in time ..

Another whole week spent working on my new (French) website, and I'm delighted to say I've finally got my 'Archives' page up and running. I'm really proud of this collection of documentary shots, taken mostly with an Olympus XA 35mm camera in the early 80s. We went everywhere together, that camera and I ..

Anyway, take a look. See what you think ..

He's back!

Just when I thought I'd retired .. I launch a brand-new web-site and start offering photo-shoots and beautiful prints for sale. Well, ya gotta have a project!..

Yes, I'm back in business as 'Photography In France' and have a great new site for everyone to check out. (Click here to do just that!!) I'll be selling images from my Florescence series, as well as from my black and white archive and my music photography. I'm also offering a photo-retouching and restoration service, and a new series of landscape photographs ..

Also in the mix is the offer of a free portrait shoot, now that I have my little studio up and running at last. I've already shot my third set of family portraits, with another two bookings in the diary for next month. Ah, it's just like old times ..

It's all coming back to me ..

This weekend was my first visit to the UK since November of last year, and it seems that nothing changes. I was going to write a blog about some of the things of which I was reminded .. you know, all the .. er, overweight people, all the tattoos, the self-checkout tills that tell you to 'wait for assistance' and all those orange-faced girls with false eye-lashes .. but I decided I wouldn't bitch and just stick with my old favourite ..

So, yes folks, it seems it is still not the done thing to drive on the inside lane of an English motorway. Oh England, I've not missed you ..

A very Bon Weekend indeed ..

It's a habit I cannot kick, so this weekend saw me back at RAF Fairford for the annual Royal International Air Tattoo. The fact that, this year, I actually had to get there from France, with all the driving, flying and bed and breakfasts that involved, didn't put me off one jot. It was another great show and scorchio weather made it all worthwhile. I even made it back to a bar in Poitiers in time to catch the second half of France's victorious world cup match. All that and it started to rain once I got home, meaning I didn't even have to water the garden. Bliss. Ah, if Carlsberg did weekends ..

(Click to see larger shots ..)

Bumpkin!

How do you know when you live in the countryside? When you can take these two shots, one after the other, from exactly the same spot on your back porch! Not bad for a 'townie' from Eccles!

Happy Birthday, Dad ..

I always used to think I looked like my Mum, but putting these two shots together has made me realise I might have been wrong. Here's my Dad - aged about 45 - and a shot of me - er, just a likkle bit older - that was taken yesterday for a National Library Day event here in France. I've turned into my Dad. Good grief ..

I was looking for a shot of good ol' Joe as it's his birthday today, and I wanted to mark the moment. Happy Birthday Dad .. you'd have been 85 today, you old fart!

(Ps: I'm the one on the right!)

Oh, baby ..

It's been a long time since I wrote about portrait photography, so I'm delighted to be able to show you this photograph and say  .. my new studio is up and running!

Some friends popped in yesterday for a quick shoot  .. and a chance for me to get my bearings again after a gap of so long. I thought it was appropriate that my first photographs were of a new-born and I'm really happy with the way things went. Oh, baby .. it feels good!

A quick plug ..

A picture paints a 1000 words, and this one says it all. There can be no clearer sign that we're here to stay in France than this pile of old UK plugs, electrical timers and extensions leads, photographed just before I dumped them all at the tip. No need for any of these any more..

There's been no end of helpful information when it comes to places to visit in our new home country. People are very forthcoming with advice on what to see and where to go. But, do you know what? It can all wait until next year. Next year we'll head north, we'll drive south, we'll eat there, we'll go and see that cathedral but, for this year .. we're staying at home. Staying at home and enjoying our very first full summer in France. Staying at home and tending our garden. Staying at home and welcoming new guests to the gîte. Staying at home and enjoying parties with all our new friends, both French and English. Staying at home and taking photographs in my new studio. Oh, have I mentioned that already?
Oh well, there's nothing wrong with another quick plug.. 

Stand by, studio ..

I have a new studio! I'm finally up and running in France, ten months after I closed down in Culcheth. My new place is a tad makeshift, I grant you, but has everything I'll need to shoot portraits over here. In fact, it even has a 'stand-free' overhead main light, something I never managed in the old studio. I'm so pleased to be able to shoot with controlled light again, and delighted that I'm now able to offer studio tuition to any budding photographers who rent the gîte. Say fromage .. !
 

The longest day ..

The sun's gone down on the longest day of the year yesterday, and I couldn't resist shooting as the low back-light lit up our plants. It's fantastic to think we've now been in France for both the winter, and the summer solstice, and it won't be long until we're marking our first year here. There is, however, one other thing that really makes me feel that I've settled. I'm getting junk-mail. My own, personalised junk-mail .. in French. Oh mama, I've arrived ..

To Dad!

Today's the day we think of our Dads .. not that I ever stop .. and there's no finer way of remembering mine than with this shot - circa 1980 - of his beloved Bell's whiskey and lemonade, served up in the kitchen we used to share in Eccles. I can still see his ice in the glass.

God bless ya, Dad. Nine years gone and still missed like buggery!

The Photographers ..

The times, they are a'changing ..

I had an email yesterday telling me that a domain name I owned has lapsed. The name? Martin O'Neill Wedding Photography. Imagine that! I no longer need a web presence that involves Wedding photography. It's now ten months since I last shot a Wedding and, keep this to yourself .. I don't miss it. It's the end of an era and I've moved on ..

Having said that, I'm knee deep in dust as I clear out the barn to put in a permanent studio. My lights and reflectors have sat in a box since we moved here last September and it's time to get them out. It's ten months since I last shot a portrait and, keep this to yourself .. I miss it. It's the start of a new era and I'm moving on ..

Ps: Dit fromage! Many thanks to the photography studio in Cognac whose sign I photographed last week.

Write on!..

How exciting. I've just received a Royalty payment for a book I've written.

If you're not up to speed, I wrote an adventure story called 'The Boy who missed Next Year' and sent it off to a large and varied selection of publishers and agents in the UK. However, for some bizarre reason (!) not one of them wanted to publish it, so I decided to 'self-publish' on Amazon Kindle ..

Well, I'm now pleased to say that I've finished a second book* and am already on track to have this one turned down by just as many publishers. So you can imagine that getting an email telling me I'd actually earnt some money from my first effort was a jolly old boost to the creative ego. I just don't know what the hell I'm going to do with that £1 and three pence!

*The Sun was Sad, by Martin O'Neill. Available very soon on Amazon Kindle. Probably!

Down to earth on D-Day

It was fascinating to see this person's memorial to D-Day - a series of WWII photographs stuck to a door outside their house - and incredible to think what was happening here in France exactly 74 years ago today.

Somehow the war always seems closer here, bearing in mind France was an occupied country. Memorials always proudly fly flags, and anniversaries are marked by civic events, such as the recent VE Day commemoration.

I feel closer too because, daft as it sounds, every time I dig in the garden I'm aware that I'm digging in the same earth as the tommies in the First World War. Really brings you down to earth ..

A quick catch-up ..

Not had much chance to blog lately .. real life's been getting in the way! We've been busy with the gîte and garden and I've been form-filling to get myself into the French tax system (Oh, goody!) ..

Like England, we've had lots of heat and thunder lately .. which has kinda slowed down my plans to paint the outside of the gîte .. but I'm back on track and should have it finished by the end of this week. (Gosh, that's interesting Martin!) ..

Not a lot to report on the photography front, other than to say I'm shooting a lot of landscape and flower pictures. Oh, and sunsets! From our garden we get a great view of the western sky, and I'm usually to be found out with a camera at sunset in the hope of adding another cracker to my collection. So where was I when this one occurred? In the bar, of course! I should add that I was there enjoying one of mein host Jean-Marc's fab 'Apero' evenings, which he throws on a regular basis. The key here is that it's important always to take the photograph, even if the positioning isn't the most perfect (Lesson over!) ..

Speaking of socialising, we were invited to dinner the other evening .. in our gîte! A family who've stayed there in the past returned again for a fortnight, and invited us round for a meal to say Thank you. A lovely evening, and we didn't have to wait for a taxi home. And, not only that, but we've taken our first booking for June. That's June 2019. (Hurrah!) ..

I'm in clover ..

Today is another Bank Holiday in France  - VE Day - and, driving through the glorious French countryside yesterday, my attention was caught by a bright red field over in the distance. "Oooh, poppies," I cried "Look at all those poppies", and I decided to pop back there last night to get some shots for today's blog. The poppies turned out to be clover! But, my God, how beautiful! I've never seen anything like it, and the setting sun really brought out the detail in the flowers. I vowed that a picture from the 'shoot' would be the theme of today's blog regardless, but then what happened? Sunrise happened, and today's second picture appeared like magic from our garden. There are gorgeous photographs to be had everywhere! 
 Man, I am in clover ..

Jets ..

We're right at the heart of the French countryside and when the street lights go off at night there's no sign of another human being visible from our house. However, as the sun went down last night, I was reminded that the world we live in these days is a small one. I counted no less than 12 jet con-trails overhead. You're never that far from anyone, anymore ..

Ma première exposition ..

'Small, but perfectly formed' is the best way to describe my first ever exhibition in France, now open at a punk club called El Doggo in the French city of Limoges. I've only managed to squeeze in eight pictures - it's a small bar - but it will give visitors a taste of my Joy Division photography and, hopefully, lead to more shows in my new country.

You might be seeing a trend here. As I sat down to write this blog, Facebook flashed up one of those 'Your memories on Facebook' things from three years ago. It was a blog about the opening of a Joy Division exhibition!..

May Day, May Day ..

My Mum used to tell us that if we washed our faces in the dew on May 1st then we'd have great complexions in later life. Obviously, it didn't work for me but, as a mist rolled over our garden this morning, I couldn't resist going out to photograph the new month's cool freshness. It's the first day of May, our first May in France, and the first time I've ever celebrated a Bank Holiday 'Tuesday'. Yes, the French do things on the day, which means a lazy day for us and a chance to make sure everything is ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow is another first - my first exhibition in France. Ok, it's more like 'hanging a few pictures in a bar', but it all counts and I'm so pleased to be getting my Joy Division shots out to a new audience. They'll be on show all month at a Punk club called El Doggo in Limoges. Hope you can make it ..

Ps: I washed my face anyway. It's never too late ..

ABBAtastic ..

I clearly remember watching ABBA win the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, and it's true to say their music's been a constant in my life. I even took a girl to see 'Abba The Movie' on my first ever date. (It featured a photo-call with the group on the steps of Sydney Opera House and was the first time I'd ever seen a group of press photographers 'at work'. I was so into it that I took my poor date to see the film again the next night!)

Anyway, I'm as excited as anyone to hear they're releasing new music later this year, and look forward to hearing it. Having the group back in the news reminded me of one of my favourite jokes.

Which is my favourite from Abba? The blond, but I wish he'd shave his beard off!!

I thank you ..

Everything's vine ..

I was once bought a pair of vines as a 'Thank You' gift by a young couple whose Wedding I'd photographed. Little did I know that, within a few years, I'd be tying those vines into those we've 'inherited' at our house in France. So it was that, yesterday evening, I spent time training a red and a white variety of grape into the established hedge at the back of the garden. The sun was setting, a kestrel hovered in the air above and the latest residents in our gîte tell us they are "astonished" at how good it is. Yes, I'm delighted to say that everything's going vine ..

Saint George ..

It's St. George's day today - he being the patron saint of Belfast, as any fule kno. I was lucky enough to photograph the great George Best on two occasions, and am pleased to say I asked him for his autograph. It says a lot that I neglected to ask Ryan Giggs for his! Such a shame that Best's life went the way it did but hey, the man enjoyed himself and you can't say more than that.

Despite my claim to be uninterested in football, I'm delighted that Man U are back in the FA Cup Final and I look forward to watching them beat Chelsea in a few weeks time. It'll be the second time I've watched the Cup Final from 'abroad' .. I remember getting up at about 2am to watch the 1991 final from New Zealand .. a few of us 'Brits' huddled around a tiny TV set in the reception area of a backpackers' hostel in Auckland. Great memories. They're the best!

Over to you, La Galerie ..

I thought I'd hand today's blog over to La Galerie, our gîte in Loubillé, France .. and it can let you know how it's getting on. (What do you mean, a gîte can't write? I'll have you know our gaff does its own 'Gîte Tweets'! ..

'Hi Martin, and thanks for letting me take over your blog today. It's a great opportunity for me to tell you how busy I've been lately. At the moment I have an English family staying with me - they've been here for quite a few weeks now as they're in the middle of buying their own house in France. It's been lovely to give them somewhere to call 'home' whilst they get everything organised, and such fun to host their pets, as dogs are always welcome here. Next week I have a French family staying with me. A couple from Normandy are staying for a week with their parents from La Rochelle. Really looking forward to meeting them, and I'll soon be buying wine, bread and other goodies to make up their Welcome Basket.

I've had a bit of 'tarting up' done in my front garden, and now have a lovely private gravel drive for my guests to park on. A new set of garden furniture and a lick of paint on my walls and shutters is on the cards too, now that the weather's perking up. (It's going to be 26 degrees later this week. Good job I have a cooling ceiling fan in my spacious lounge!)

Yes, spring is making itself known all around me. At the moment I'm surrounded by gorgoeus fields of yellow rape-seed, and buds, blossom and fresh lime green leaves are appearing everywhere. It won't be long until I'm back to my full summer loveliness. Lots of wildlife is reappearing, too. Hundreds of cranes flew over my head on their way back north, and a hoopoe called in yesterday. I have goldfinches, skylarks, black redstarts and long-tailed tits twittering above my head and birds of prey hovering in the fields around me. The swifts and house martins are back and, for the last two mornings, I've heard a cuckoo calling from the nearby woods.  I often spot deer and hares in the fields, and lots of butterflies are starting to enjoy my garden.
 
My friend 'Entre-Pote', the local bar in the village, has thrown some great party nights recently, to which my guests are always welcome. They do a great line in lunchtime meals, too. I'm so lucky to have this lively place just around the corner.

My owner (Yes you, Martin) had a busy day recently when he staged a 'Photo-Walk' around the village, teaching keen amateur photographers how to use their cameras. The photographs here are some that my owner took yesterday. Don't forget he offers One-Day camera workshops for anyone that stays with me. What a great way to spend a day of your holiday.

I'm lucky to be surrounded by some gorgeous chateaux, and they're all busy dusting down and opening up after their winter breaks. The cycling's getting good too, now that the weather's improving. If you don't want to bring over your bikes, don't forget I can organise 'wheels' for you when you're here. 

My bookings are looking good for the summer, although I still have some dates available. Check out my web-site for availability.

Thanks again, Martin. Maybe I can give you another update in the summer? Ciao for now. La Galerie x'

Brilliant. Thanks for the update and yes, catch you in the summer. Have a great Spring!

A boy named Mo ..

A lot of my friends know me as 'Mo'. It's a nickname I've had for almost forty years, from when my old photographic manager used to mark up the office diary - to allocate jobs to each of his photographers - and wrote what he thought were my initials next to the jobs he wanted me to do. So how lovely to see 'my name' in lights - or at least in old metal framing and a blossom-covered bush - when we went for a walk yesterday. Yo Mo, how's it hanging?..

Take another road ..

Another Monday morning, another day to do whatever the hell I like. I'm really getting the hang of this retirement mullarkey. I say 'retirement' because - despite my trying to dress it up - it seems I really have retired from work. I've come to accept that there's no realistic chance of me shooting weddings or PR over here and, to that extent, I've stopped promoting myself as a photographer. The frenzy of 'real-life' is over, and now I'm quite content to potter in our garden, or to see new friends for beer or a meal, or to simply sit and watch as our first French Spring unrolls in front of us. I've had time to re-edit my book, 'The Boy who missed Next Year', and have even started to write two new stories. Yep, as much as I loved the rush and the adrenaline of photography, I'm now quite happy to sit back and let the world wash over me. I've taken another road. It's bliss! 

Walk this way ..

I was delighted to lead a Photo Walk around our little village yesterday. Delighted too that I gave practically all of it in French, thanks to a little .. er, a lot .. of help from the DeepL translation app! I'm chuffed to bits that I got the turnout that I did, and chuffed to bits that everyone was so enthusiastic. The afternoon was a taster of the Shoot 'n Tutor One-Day Camera Workshop I offer at our gîte here in France. Thanks to all who came along. We'll do it all again soon ..

What joy ..

Thirty nine years! That's how long it is since I shot my Joy Division photographs at Bowdon Vale Youth Club in Manchester. Thirty nine years ago today, as a callow 18 year old junior photographer just 5 months into my career. Now I wouldn't normally have mentioned this anniversary, but ..

Tomorrow I'm off to meet with a chap in a town near here to discuss an exhibition of my pictures, and I was literally taking them out of storage this morning when today's date dawned on me. Funny how things work out ..

Moreover, I had an email last weekend from a Blogger, asking if he could use some of these photographs to go with a piece he was writing. The fee to me? Zero. My answer to him? No, you can't! Funny what people for free expect these days ..

Also last week, an email came from the Visitor Centre in Macclesfield - Joy Division's home town. I'd had some prints and booklets for sale there but the Tourist office has decided to return them to me. They weren't "selling well enough"! What joy ..

(Just as a matter of interest, today's shot shows an original scan of a strip of negatives from the gig. Interesting to see that, in those days of shooting film sparingly, four out of those five shots were selected for the exhibition!)