Roses planted along the base of a textured concrete casemate wall, Merville Battery Normandy, Canon 6D Mark II

Normandy, 1944 — All Sixteen

Two trips, seven years apart, and I only worked out this week that they were ever the same project. Sixteen photographs between Pegasus Bridge and Utah Beach, all in black and white now, all live in the shop.

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Monochrome panorama of the Merville Battery casemates across open ground, Canon 6D Mark II 16-35mm, Normandy

The Merville Battery

I went to the Merville Battery in August 2019, between Pegasus Bridge in the morning and the war cemetery at Ranville in the afternoon. I wrote about both of those and never wrote about this, and the photographs sat on a disk for seven years. This is the part of that day I had let go of.

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Crowded bathing pool at the foot of a limestone quarry with children in the water and graffiti on the rock face, Canon AE1 Program 50mm, Nantes

Jardin Extraordinaire: This Time I Actually Looked at the Map

I headed back out with the Canon AE1 Program to capture more of the Voyage à Nantes, this time at the Jardin Extraordinaire—a hidden garden carved into an abandoned quarry. With the car at 48°C, it was sweltering, but the wandering through Chantenay and an unplanned brewery visit made the day worth every frame.

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Théo Mercier's Fossil Opera — sand ammonites and half-buried cars before the Opéra Graslin colonnade, Nantes

Voyage à Nantes: Following the Green Line

It was 46°C in the car when I set off and 40°C by the time I reached Place Graslin, which is not the weather for walking a city. But Le Voyage à Nantes paints a green line through the streets and I wanted to follow it, at least as far as I could manage without melting. The AE1, a roll of HP5+ rated at 100, and whatever the evening put in front of me.

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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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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 photograph of laundry — possibly canoeing gear — drying on a rack in a stone-framed window recess, dramatic shadow arcs sweeping across the wall on either side.

Messing about along the river in Clisson

A 45-minute walk along the river in Clisson with a Canon EOS 500 and a roll of Agfaphoto APX 400. Castles, viaducts, calla lilies, and laundry — what film photography finds when you stop looking too hard and start looking behind you.

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Black and white film photograph in Nantes, Nikon FE with Rollei RPX 400, February 2026

Let’s Connect: Mentorship, Prints & Collaborations

Let’s Connect: Mentorship, Prints & Collaborations A brief and practical note. After six years of writing here, I’m formalising something that has been happening informally for a while…

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