Moira and Jim

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I remember the air stewardess holding my hand as we climbed the steps to the plane which was emblazoned with the British Airways flag and logo. It was the first time I was going to fly, and I was a little bit nervous as I turned round to wave to Mum and Dad in the terminal. The air stewardess looked down at me, squeezed my hand and said ‘you’re going to have the best seat in the house, you’re a V.I.P.!’ I don’t think I fully understood what that might entail (I got a colouring book, felt tips and a window seat near the front), but it really worked, and as we trundled down the runway of Leeds Bradford, I looked forward to my first trip to the capital.

I was going to visit my Aunty Moira, and her then boyfriend, soon to be her husband and my Uncle, Jim. My memories of the trip are slightly hazy, but it always makes me smile thinking about it, my first great adventure. We ate lots of cheese sandwiches, I remember the pelicans in St James’s Park and the pigeons landing on my head in Trafalgar Square. The smell of the city stays with me to this day, and when I studied and lived down there, that familiar smell always made me jump back into this trip. The memories of taking a black cab ride after seeing The King & I with Yul Brynner, and eating a McDonald’s for the first time. That trip will always have a special place in my heart.

The week before lockdown, we’d travelled down to Oxford to run a filmmaking workshop. On the way back home, we stopped off at my Uncle Jim’s house for a night. Sadly, my Aunty Moira lost her brave battle with breast cancer 20 years ago. We miss her every day, and life still feels very strange without her in it. Olive’s second name is Moira, and she is definitely showing her namesake’s spirit!

My Uncle now lives with his lovely wife Nicola. When we arrived, and Olive was having a nap, Jim told me that he’d recently discovered some old negatives. The images that emerged were of him and Moira down in London in the 70s, taken around the same time as my trip down there.

I absolutely love them, and I asked him if it was OK for me to share them here. I love that they were taking pictures of each other. And even though they are mainly individual portraits, you can feel that both of them are in the shots. The way they are looking at each other, well it absolutely gets me. The black and white, the flares, the cars. The newspapers and tube fares that send out clues to the time they were taken. The blemishes and dust scratches on the photos, and the washing line image, which seems to be a family obsession!

I’ve been turning to my film camera more lately, and have had it close to me during lockdown, seeing these has deepened my love for film. I can’t quite describe it, it just seems to ramp up what I’m feeling a bit more. People describe film photos as timeless, but these images depict the time they were taken so well, the timeless quality comes with the way they look at each other. That absolute look of love.

Here are Moira & Jim.

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My Uncle has just sent me these gems from my trip down there!

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CHRISTMAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD

As some of you know, I love a project! I think it’s good to have a slow burner that you can dip in and out of, but also, to once in a while have a time limited one too. Having limitations is so good to work to, those constraints on location, time, subject matter, number of shots, it makes things more concentrated somehow.

There are a number of people on Instagram who shoot film who I’m really inspired by, one of these is Catherine, aka Everyday Mama. We’ve been chatting on Instagram for a few years. She’s a great source of inspiration, and supports so many around her. I’ve loved following her journey with film, which she openly and candidly talks about on Instagram. We thought it might be a good idea to load our film cameras up with a roll, and on Christmas Day, me in Yorkshire, and Catherine in Auckland, documented our festivities. I know Christmas is well and truly evaporated now, but the beauty of film is the patience it brings when you wait for those films scans to come back. Who am I trying to kid, I check my email every 5 mins when I know their estimated date of arrival ;-) So this is us on different sides of the world on film. I’m not putting captions as I think it’ll be obvious which shots we both took!

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Sarah Mason Photography
Sarah Mason Photography
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Sarah Mason Photography

LIFE IN MOTION - LONDON

At this time of year, many folk are making intentions for the year, both in business and in life. I was just looking over our quarterly plans for 2019 as I always think we haven’t quite achieved what we set out to do. We’d taped it to the back of the kitchen door, and as we were packing away the Christmas decorations, it was time for it to come down too to be replaced by a new 2020 one. One of our intentions for last year, was to start running filmmaking workshops. And we did it, after all the planning and seeing it come to fruition, we just took a moment to remember that it was a seed this time last year, and we gave it space to grow. We don’t find it particularly easy, the marketing side of the business, but that feeling is outweighed by how important it feels to us to be sharing what we’ve learnt over the last few years about making these narratives. 2019 saw us holding filmmaking retreats, and 1-2-1 days. So for 2020, we want to take our filming further, both in what we create for brands and families, but also in how we are teaching it too. It’s good to say it out loud! And I want to thank the group of portrait photographers in the images below. They wrote to me and asked if it would be possible for me to put on a workshop for them down in London. We hadn’t thought about this at all, but I’m really grateful to them, as this year we are taking the workshop out on tour too to groups of photographers who have come together for a day of learning. Next stop, Oxford in March!

These are just a few photos from the workshop I held down in Kensington. One of the attendees Amanda, opened up her house for us, and made us the most delicious food! And there was a bowl of Tunnock’s teacakes, which are just a constant weakness for my sweet tooth! In the afternoon, we held a practical session in a flat just around the corner with a Mum and baby. I think everyone was surprised at how much they took away with them at the end of the day, and it gives me a big Ready Brek glow to see their films popping up on social media. Here are some from the day…

Sarah Mason Photography Filmmaking Class
Sarah Mason Photography Filmmaking Class
Sarah Mason Photography Filmmaking Class
Sarah Mason Photography Filmmaking Class
Sarah Mason Photography Filmmaking Class
Sarah Mason Photography Filmmaking Class
Sarah Mason Photography Filmmaking Class
Sarah Mason Photography Filmmaking Class
Sarah Mason Photography Filmmaking Class
Sarah Mason Photography Filmmaking Class
Sarah Mason Photography Filmmaking Class

Some words from one of our workshoppers, Hester Barnes (Hester B Photography):

‘Having stalked Sarah’s work online I knew I was going to fall in love with filmmaking during this workshop. It was such an excellent introduction to the world of filming and I am amazed how much we achieved during the few hours we spent together. Working with a small group was great. It meant we could ask questions and receive feedback as we progressed. Sarah is a fantastic teacher - relaxed, fun and incredibly knowledgeable. Providing excellent tips and tricks that help you achieve great films.  The chance to practice on a real little family was the icing on the cake. I don’t want to shout about this workshop too much as I feel like am now part of an exclusive club! But really… it was absolutely brilliant! ‘

Ways to Learn Filmmaking With Us

1-2-1 Mentoring, either in person or over a series of Skype calls

Phlock Live - 20th-22nd March 2020. A number of workshops over the weekend

Life In Motion Day Retreat - West Yorkshire 20th May 2020. Filmmaking for Families & Brands