Where the Light Falls
There is often more to the world than we notice at first glance.
Modern life moves quickly, which is why it is so easy to overlook the people, places, and moments that surround us. Yet some of the most interesting things reveal themselves only when we slow down and take the time to look more closely.
Take photography, for instance.
Is it simply about a moment frozen in time, or is it about something more? Something deeper?
I think that, at its heart, photography is an act of attention.
While taking a break from research and writing, I decided to revisit my photography archive. Looking through thousands of images made over the past few years, I realised they reflected not only the direction my photography has taken, but also the way I now see the world and the creative path I am following in this next chapter of life.
Many of these images were made during travels to different parts of the world. Some were simply snapshots of places I had visited; a visual notebook of journeys, landmarks, and moments in time. Images made so that I might remember.
Since moving to North Wales in 2019, however, the way I approach photography has gradually changed. I find myself less interested in documenting a place and more interested in the atmosphere of a place; the way light and colour, or sometimes their absence, shape how we experience it.
A familiar landscape can appear entirely different depending on the weather, the season, the time of day, or the quality and direction of the light.
I spent time looking through my archive to select a collection of images that I felt best reflected this change. Although every photograph in this collection was made in North Wales, the location itself is secondary to the scene. What interests me is not so much where an image was taken, but what made me stop and pay attention.
Some images required long walks into the mountains. Others were taken beside the sea or only a few minutes from my home. What connects them is not location but a curiosity about the world around us.
They capture moments when something in an otherwise ordinary scene reminded me that there is often more to the world than we notice at first glance.
Whether a photograph is considered ‘good’ is largely a matter of personal taste. I chose these images for a simpler reason: they are the ones that have stayed with me, and the ones I find myself returning to long after they were made.
Writing remains my primary creative interest, but photography often plays an important part in the process. Both begin with observation. A photograph captures a moment, but it can also raise questions, spark ideas, and sometimes become the starting point for a story.
A photograph I made of Dolwyddelan Castle, for example, eventually led to my novel The Silence of the White Shadow. Other images have prompted questions about the people who once passed through a landscape, worked in a building, or left their mark on a place. Photography encourages me to look more closely, and writing allows me to explore what I find.
This practice has provided the seeds for many future stories, essays, and ideas. Whether I am writing historical fiction, essays, or exploring what I call The Human Thread, I am interested in how people experience the world around them. How place shapes memory. How landscapes carry traces of those who came before us. How individual moments connect to larger stories.
I know where I stood when each of these images was made. I remember the weather, the light, the sound of the sea, the stillness of the mountains, and the feeling that something worth noticing was unfolding in front of me.
This collection brings together eighteen of my favourite images.
I hope you enjoy them, and perhaps find something in them that encourages you to look at the world around you a little differently.
Explore the Collection
Where the Light Falls is available to view online and download as a free eBook below.
