IJM Photography — Blog & Projects

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

  • Good morning Dear Reader…

    Good morning Dear Reader…

    I seem to have a thing for old fashioned, black and white, low key portraits and as I evolve as a photographer it seems to be my “new thing” to learn about. The person who says he knows everything and no longer needs to learn is wrong and probably has his head up Where the… Read more

  • Barber shop portraits

    Barber shop portraits

    The author reflects on their return to photography after a hiatus, sharing experiences of capturing portraits at a barbershop. They discuss overcoming introversion, building rapport with subjects, and experimenting with lighting. Despite initial apprehension, successful portraits were captured, highlighting the essence and personality of the individuals. The equipment used is detailed, and gratitude is expressed… Read more

  • Sorry

    Sorry

    Hello Dear Reader from a rather sunny corner of France! My mood is like the weather. Warm and blue skied, and my disposition as sunny as you could wish. I have had it said to me that my last few posts have been far too inward looking and intopestcive. So if you’re reading this then… Read more

  • Blue Monday

    Blue Monday

    Saw a quote that said, “Be the adult that you needed as a child” and it has changed my whole perspective. Anon A friend has shared that on Instagram in his stories and it did strike a certain chord.  As somebody who has had a certain amount of baggage to deal with, especially as a… Read more

  • Vocation

    Vocation

    This can sound something like a strange word nowadays, but as a Catholic, it was omnipresent during my youth, or at least I thought so. When I was at boarding school, the monks taught us about the monk’s life and how one could become a monk. The local parish priest when I was younger was… Read more

  • Happy New Year?

    Happy New Year?

    Happy New Year Dear Reader, and thank you for continuing to read my twice monthly drivel that spews forth from my  obviously damaged mind. Maybe it’s reassuring for you to have somebody madder than yourself?  Or maybe I just admit it and embrace it! I think at the beginning of any year we always look… Read more

Featured Projects

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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

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