ENTRY DESCRIPTION
I saw this man reading a map, clearly lost, in Gothenburg, Sweden. I liked the way the light was catching him, and his hat gave the scene a bit of a vintage feel.

AUTHOR
I grew up in Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland, at the height of The Troubles and on a frontline of sorts - I was bombed out of my home on multiple occasions by IRA car bombs targeting the police station across the street from us. I think those experiences have shaped the type of photography I like - I’ve always been drawn to photojournalism and street photography (particularly in black and white), to real life accounts of things happening there and then, because I was seeing this all around me as I grew up.

I was also interested in archaeology from an early age. My primary school was overlooked by an ancient hill fort that we played upon as children, while British Army helicopters hovered on the horizon on reconnaissance missions. The fort had a brooding presence, a feeling of the uncanny - something I like to capture in my photographs, if the right subject presents itself. I have vivid recollections of an excavation there one hot summer when I was six or seven. It clearly had an impact, as I went on to study archaeology at University, to doctorate level. I didn’t pursue a career in the subject - instead I jumped into the future and Software development - but that interest in the past, the uncanny, and the way in which people had lived has never left me, and definitely seeps into my photography. Abandoned places and a sense of people gone - but maybe not quite gone - are common themes.

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