Here is a selection of photographs from Strike Action in Hastings on Feb 1st. Hundreds of striking teaching staff, cleaning staff, DWP & NHS workers and more came out joined the rally from Hastings Pier to the Observer Building, to ask for better pay and conditions.
Read MoreSuch a pleasure to experience and photograph the absolute joy that is Alabaster dePlume aka Gus Fairbairn in a little pub in the town I live in. Alabaster’s music is uplifting, funny, spiritual and healing, yet not at all devoid of edge. Songs like Be Nice To people and Don’t Forget You’re Precious, are like mini manifestos. It’s kinda like the 60’s hippy scene mashed up with punk and jazz. It’s stunning. Apparently he mixes up the musicians that he plays with, which I think leads to a freshness and newness among all of the players on stage - like they’re all just experiencing Alabaster dePlume for the first time too. I liked the way he acknowledged that the crowd make the experience as much as he and the musicians do. It certainly felt like the whole room was in it together. Thanks for the after-gig portrait Gus.
Read MoreAugust was a particularly good time for bass and 140 music in Hastings and St Leonards.
Read MoreIt was being in and around one spot watching people of all ages walking and running past me, or sitting on near by benches that I enjoyed the most; a group of young people sitting chatting about COVID, a toddler attempting to join their conversation, before being swooped up by their mum, an older man taking photos on his phone, kids being kids and of course the obligatory dogs and seagulls that are just as much part of the community as the humans.
Read MoreOn December 11th, the Hastings community came together to show solidarity with refugees, migrants and asylum seekers. Hastings is a coastal town overlooking The Channel - the treacherous bit of sea that many people cross or attempt to cross, often in small dinghy’s. It’s an issue that is often in the news, due to the tragic deaths of many people as they try to cross the channel, but also due to the attitude of the UK government towards these crossings, and towards migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in general. I went to the rally to show my support, but also to document some of the MANY people in the town, that are also in solidarity with refugees. The message is clear, Hastings supports refugees!
Read MoreFOR THE TIME BEING is a series of images taken throughout the various lockdowns we’ve had here in Hasting, some of which you might have seen on my Insta or in a previous blog post. Hopefully the series gives you a sense of the stillness and sometimes emptiness of this peculiar time, plus the new kind of intimacy with home and locale that so many of us had.
Read MoreLockdown 2.0 started for the South East of England (including Hastings) last week.
While I took quite a few photos from the last lockdown and even got featured on the brilliant Shutterhub, this time I’m aiming for greater discipline and consistency.
So I’ve set myself a challenge to take & post at least one photo per day from my camera (not my phone) throughout Lockdown 2.0.
Hastings is good to me. 2 years in and I have an exhibition launching with Vanessa Farinha this Sunday at Cake Room Hastings as part of the indomitable Coastal Currents festival!
Read MoreHere, Jack In The Green, Hastings annual celebration of the coming of summer, sits next to the crowning of the May Queen as apparently the two are related. It’s a busy time of year for the Morris Dancers of Hastings, as well as the various community groups and societies in the area. It’s all nature and community and community and nature, generally framed and buffered with a whole lot of music, dancing and merriment - making it feel all that more normal and familiar for a girl that grew up with the dancing, merriment, music and community of events like Notting Hill Carnival.
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