For a few years I have been going in the opposite direction. Of course I have used digital cameras, but analogue photography has been calling to me more and more. And I believe it’s made me a better photographer, freer to make mistakes and create images not perfectly executed.

I think of certain images by the late German fashion and portrait photographer Peter Lindbergh that are slightly soft and it lends them both nostalgia and a romantic edge. Like Lindbergh’s famous close up of Helena Christensen smoking, captured for Vogue Paris in Spring 1991. Not sharp, but deeply arresting.

Slower Shutter Speed

Another technique that I love is introducing motion blur by slowing the shutter speed. I use it sparingly, but when I experiment, it can offer some really interesting results.

I recently bought a copy of Fragments, a book of inspirational photography by the Ivorian-French photographer Alex ‘Très Cool’ Dobé. He has been lauded for his vision and style in the fashion world. He deliberately uses a slower shutter speed to capture movement on the world’s catwalks.

If you are not familiar with his work, I suggest you have a look.

85STYLE #002

Near Brighton - 29.1.2026

I photographed S on a winter’s morning by the coast. The light levels were low and I thought, why not try a walking shot with a reduced shutter speed. This was at 1/15th of a second.

I like the atmosphere here. I can feel the movement, and for me, the moment comes alive. It takes some experimentation, but isn’t that a cornerstone of anything creatively satisfying?

So I intend to take more chances, and keep more photographs that might not be sharp. Maybe this is especially important in today’s world of increasing AI imagery.

“I think perfection is ugly. Somewhere in the things humans make, I want to see scars, failure, disorder, distortion.”

Yohji Yamamoto.

For the foreseeable future I’m going to photograph people I encounter on the street using one camera and one lens: a Canon 5D Mark IV and an 85mm f/1.2.

I’m calling the project 85STYLE. I’m excited to share the idea behind it with you here.

The idea isn’t really street fashion, although clothes are where it begins. I’m interested in the small things that make somebody visually arresting: the way a coat hangs, an unexpected combination of colours, a pair of shoes, a silhouette, someone’s posture, the way they carry themselves.

Sometimes it might be obvious. Sometimes it might be nothing more than a person walking past who, for a fraction of a second, looks completely right.

The 85mm is an important part of this. It’s not the obvious street-photography lens. It’s relatively long, and it forces me to see differently. I can’t simply stand in the middle of a scene and photograph everything around me. I have to look, wait, isolate something, and make a decision.

That’s what I’m interested in finding out. What happens if I stick with one focal length for a long time? What does an 85mm make me notice?

And perhaps most importantly: what kind of photographs will I make when I stop worrying about what I’m supposed to be doing?

I’m deliberately not going to turn this into a gear project or a photography tutorial. There will be no YouTube channel. No endless discussion of cameras and settings.

No promise that I know where this is going.

I’ll just go out with the 85mm lens, really look at people, and photograph the things that catch my eye.

This is the first one.

Let’s see where it leads.

85STYLE #001

Brighton - 1.10.2018

Our paths only crossed for a brief moment in the centre of bustling Brighton, but there was something about the kindness in these eyes that made me stop in my tracks.

I remember thinking…wow, there’s real individuality here.