Small Objects. Big Stories

This all started after my climbing partner Chris took a big fall on an airy route on Dartmoor. His protection ripped out of the rock & he got bashed up pretty good. Fortunately he escaped major injury. The fall left a gouge across the aluminium gear. He kept the nut, scratched and worn, as a reminder that he got lucky. I photographed it in ultra high-res macro and now the print hangs on his wall. A quiet yet powerful reminder that life is fun, finite and not to be taken for granted.

After years of haring about documenting BMX and its surrounding world, I’ve found this macro approach to be a slower, simpler way of telling stories with photos. And it suits where I’m at.

I shot this skateboard wheel and printed it out big for my front room wall:

When I was 13 we lived on a steep hill. At the beginning of summer I bought a secondhand Santa Cruz set-up off a kid from my school. It came with this set of Bullet 66’s & it was fast. Within a few days of me getting that board the council resurfaced our rough gravelly road with buttery-smooth fresh black tarmac. The combination of these events changed my life.

I have this one of the piston from my first trail bike, an old MTX125, up on the wall too.

The metal surface is worn and scarred from millions of small explosions, each one helping push me up and down the winding green lanes with my friends. It’s more than a photo of metal. It’s freedom, speed, and hundreds of happy memories from flying around on that thing.

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Waffle 594x743 flat.png

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And on the wall of my studio:

I have this triptych of well worn rubber printed big and framed in oak. Sections of the classic mid-school BMX tyre pairing of Dirt-Monster and V-Monster, hanging-out with a piece of equally iconic Van’s waffle sole.

I’m keen to hear from people in the bike world & beyond who have objects that might work for a project like this - or from anyone who’s after a super hi-res macro photo/print service.