Four decades behind the lens. Six years of sharing the journey.
Welcome. I’m Ian — photographer, horn player, and writer living in the Vendée, near the Loire-Atlantique border. This blog has been running since 2019 and shows no sign of stopping.
You’ll find black and white film work, travel essays, orchestra photography, philosophical digressions about why any of us bother pressing the shutter, and the occasional camera review written by someone with strong opinions and a perhaps unreasonable attachment to grain. No algorithms chose what appears here. No agency wrote it. Just forty years of looking, and six of writing it down.
Start anywhere. Stay as long as you like.
Latest from the Field
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Accident de travail
After tripping at work and becoming a “human pancake,” I survived SAMU’s “breathe fine → fractured ribs” decree. Tramadol brought mercy, not highs. My car died; my wife drove; my ribs still ache. Yet: 1 star for the rest. Darkly funny. Deeply human. No pain-positivity. Just DNA on office floors and quiet grace. Read more
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NORTHUMBRIAN SUMMER PART IV
A heartfelt father’s day in Edinburgh during festival season—magic shows, St. Giles Cathedral, Greyfriars Bobby, and a geek bar surprise. Northburiian Summer, Part IV blends travel, faith, family, and memory in a moving personal essay about parenting, loyalty, and the quiet magic of being present with your children. Read more
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NORTHUMBRIAN SUMMER PART III
Father-daughter memoir: Edinburgh 2025. After years splitting time between three kids, a dad gives his 15-year-old daughter solo “Dad time” in Scotland. She rejects H&M’s body-shaming, claims a tartan étole, and chooses a claddagh ring—right hand, heart free. A legacy of belonging. Not travel writing: who we become in places we’re given. Read more
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NORTHUMBRIAN SUMMER PART II
Lyrical UK travel writing meets documentary photography. Preserving Northumberland’s soul through M&S sandwiches, pub pints, and the sacred “incense at mass” of smoked fish. Read more
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NORTHUMBRIAN SUMMER PART 1
Back in Alnmouth, summer takes a slower shape. A walk with my dad, a hello in the village shop, an espresso and muffin at Scotts. Nothing dramatic, just small rituals that somehow mean everything. This is Part 1 of Alnmouth 2025—a story of home, family, and quiet moments. Read more
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Summer 2025 Part IV. What I Gave Them at the Grotto.
A father reflects on one final family trip to Lourdes in What I Gave Them at the Grotto, a heartfelt essay about faith, fatherhood, and the quiet moments that shape a child’s soul. As his children grow older, he grapples with what it means to pass on belief—not through preaching, but through presence. Set against… Read more
Featured Projects
- The UK Chronicles
Light, minimalism, and preparation.
Shot entirely on the Fujifilm X100F during a recent solo journey through Britain — a deliberate exercise in traveling light, seeing deeply, and preparing for the sensory overload of China. - The Film Archives
Memory in monochrome.
A vault unlocked: black and white film photographs from Nantes, Clisson, and beyond — captured long before this blog existed. Grain, patience, and timeless moments. - Photography Philosophy
Why do we do this?
Not a tutorial. Not a gear guide. A quiet exploration of purpose — the “why” behind the viewfinder. For those who photograph not to post, but to feel. - The Orchestra Visit to China
Culture, chaos, and concert halls.
A visual symphony from the road with the orchestra — temples, trains, backstage glances, and the electric silence before the first note.
About the Photographer
I am not an influencer. I am not a brand.
I am a photographer, ever so slightly stubborn, analogue at heart, digital when needed, and fiercely independent. I’ve been developing my own film since the 1980s. I built this blog in 2019, not for followers, but for focus.
I do not outsource my editing. I do not chase trends. I shoot what moves me, and I hope, sometimes, it moves you too.
“Commercial editing offers and unsolicited partnerships will not be published or replied to. This space is sacred; for art, not advertising.”
A Note from a Reader
“j’adore… il y a des jours avec, et les jours sans….”
— A kind visitor, September 2025
Stay in Touch
New work drops weekly — never spammy, always sincere.
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IJM Photography 
j’adore
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il y a des jours avec, et les jours sans….
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