Haven’t Forgotten About You

I know it’s been quiet here, but that’s just the natural rhythm of accumulating material before bothering to process it properly. Jardin Extraordinaire, Voyage à Nantes, a zoo visit, and Normandy have all given me photographs and notes. New posts are coming soon.

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AI-generated illustration of photography books, tabby cat, Nikon camera, tea mug, Nantes cityscape with bridges, black ink style

AI, Identity, and the Bridge That Doesn’t Exist

I asked an AI to show me what ijmphotography.net looks like, and it gave me back a Parisian bridge that doesn’t exist in Nantes. But it got everything…

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Wooden crate of courges on a Clisson market stall, black and white film, Nikon FE with Kodak Tri-X 400

A Fan Letter to Monochromia

There’s a photography blog I keep coming back to, and I want to tell you about it. Monochromia is a collective — photographers from Chicago, Nuremberg, Rome, Washington D.C., and a village on the Nile, all posting one black and white image at a time with barely a word of explanation. I contribute the occasional shot from France, which makes me biased. It also makes me a better photographer.

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Woman with crutches standing beneath the inverted glass pyramid of the Carrousel du Louvre, Fujifilm XT2, Paris 2020

A Day in Paris with My Daughter: The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and 127 Floors

A day trip to Paris with my daughter Kate in July 2020 — the Louvre, the Pyramide Inversée, and more steps than anticipated. Shot on Fujifilm XT2. Republished six years on.

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Iron mooring ring set in granite quayside stone with shadow, Montjean-sur-Loire, Canon 6D Mark II 70-300mm

Montjean-sur-Loire — The Wrong Road, the Right Place

I had no plan, no destination — just a car, a camera, and an afternoon to fill. I missed the bridge at Ancenis, ended up on the wrong road, and somehow landed at Montjean-sur-Loire with a river wider than I’d ever seen. The Canon 6D Mark II and I made the best of it.

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Triumph of Cross tower from close below, cross at summit and statue on parapet, La Rabatelière Vendée, Canon AE1 Program

La Rabatelière: Month of Our Lady

May 1st: the first day of the Month of Our Lady. I loaded the Canon AE1 Program with Fomapan 100 and drove to La Rabatelière to photograph the Sanctuaire de la Salette. What I found was a burned church, an axe-marked door, a miller’s millstone, and a hillside full of statues built in defiance of the Republic. The Vendée remembers.

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A single wooden post stands in perfectly still water, its reflection extending directly below, framed on either side by low vegetation at the bank. The most minimal and considered frame on the roll — and the best argument for leaving the house with a pocket camera.

Olympus Trip 35 Review: Still Worth Shooting in 2026?

The Olympus Trip 35 is one of the most iconic film cameras ever made — compact, battery-free, and surprisingly capable. A hands-on review with sample shots from my local countryside.

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Black and white film photograph of a family cycling away along a sunlit forest track, Forêt de Grasla, Vendée.

Half Deaf in the Forêt de Grasla

A roll of 100 ASA in the Pentax ME Super, finished in the Forêt de Grasla. Frogs, toads, a wolf spider, and a stopped-down lens. Film photography in the Vendée, April 2026.

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Black and white film photograph of crowds on the quarry rock pool at the Jardin Extraordinaire, Nantes, on a sunny April afternoon.

On Est Bien Là: Back at the Jardin Extraordinaire

A warm Sunday in April, a Canon EOS 500, and a roll of AGFA APX 100 at Nantes’ Jardin Extraordinaire. Film photography, slow days, and why it’s nice to be out in it.

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