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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Notes, January 2026
A raw, reflective journal from January 2026: navigating global disillusionment, memory, fatherhood, and the quiet return to film photography after burnout. Honest thoughts on decency, presence, and making art in a fractured world—by IJM Photography. Read more
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Never Complain, Never Explain
A raw, reflective post on seasonal depression, creative silence, and recovery. The IJM Photography blog explores acute depression, Franco-British identity, and the healing power of film photography. Honest writing about mental health, resilience, and returning to art—one frame, one word at a time—amid winter’s weight and the quiet journey back to self. Read more
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Nikon FE Review: Features and User Experience
My Nikon FE—bought from my HR director—has accompanied me from Nantes’ cobbled streets to Lourdes and the Pyrénées mountains. This 1978 aperture-priority SLR rewards deliberate, unhurried photography. With its tactile dials, viewfinder aperture display, and M90 battery-free mode, it’s the perfect companion for film shooters who value feel over function. Read more
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致我在中国的读者们：一封感谢信A Letter of Gratitude to My Readers in China
一颗蜜橘，一杯茉莉茶，一场跨越语言的音乐会——2024年末，中国给了我最温柔的冬日记忆。如今，越来越多来自中国的读者走进我的摄影世界，我想亲口对你们说：谢谢。 Read more
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AI Isn’t Magic — It’s a Tool.
AI isn’t magic—it’s a tool. In a world rushing to automate creativity, I use the A.C.T.D. framework to stay in control: clarifying who AI should act as, grounding it in context, defining the task, and prompting deep thinking. This keeps AI useful without letting it overwrite my voice, vision, or craft. Read more
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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
Featured Projects
- The UK Chronicles
A solo journey through Britain with the Fujifilm X100F — Northumberland in late summer, the coast at Alnmouth, light coming low off the water. Traveling light enough to actually notice things. - The Film Archives
Black and white film photographs made before this blog existed — Nantes, Clisson, and the Vendée. The negatives had been sitting in binders for years. This is where they finally got out. - Photography Philosophy
Not technique. Not gear. The question underneath all of it: why does any of this matter, and what are we actually doing when we press the shutter? A series of essays without easy answers. - Inside the Orchestra
Three years photographing the Symphonique des Bords de Loire — rehearsals, concerts, and a tour to China. The quiet moments before the music starts, and the ones after.
About the Photographer
A photographer, ever so slightly stubborn, analogue at heart and digital when needed. I’ve been developing my own film since the 1980s. I built this blog in 2019, not for followers, but for focus.
I shoot what moves me, and I hope, sometimes, it moves you too.
Stay in Touch
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