Big Stories/Small Objects.

It 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, powerful reminder that life is finite, fun and not to be taken for granted.

After spending a good chunk of my life running around documenting the brash chaos of BMX action and all the associated stories, I now found this macro approach a much slower and more simple way of making stories with photos. It’s a style that sits well with where I’m at now I’ve gotten older and mellowed out. It still hits the itch to create work and tell wheeled-sports-related stories, without scaring me half to death or leaving me wet-brained & skint.

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.

What do you reckon?

I have a big print of this skateboard wheel hanging in my front room:

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 at 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. These events changed my life forever.

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

The metal surface is worn and scarred from millions of tiny 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 riding around on that thing.

V-monster 594x743 flat.png
Waffle 594x743 flat.png
V-monster 1 594x743 flat.png

And on the wall of my studio (garage):

I also 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 waffle sole.