The River Buriganga in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Despite being the recipient of 80% of Dhaka’s sewage and other pollutants the Buriganga river always looks magnificent in spite of its human adversaries. This river featured heavily in the film I made with Hazuan Hashim ‘Going East’.
I took the above photograph in the late afternoon when the light was very diffused because of the smoke pollution—creating a silvery sheen on the water. The haze and smoke created a sense of heaviness.
The people in the foreground boat appear small compared to the industrial backdrop, suggesting a theme of humans versus industrial power.
Brick works and tall smokestacks emit thick, dark smoke that spreads across the sky, forming a heavy horizontal band. The smoke visually echoes the shape of the boats and divides the frame into layers —water below, industry above.
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Inside Radio Merseyside With Tony Snell
Yesterday I was at the studios of BBC Radio Merseyside for an interview with Tony Snell about my Liverpool photography book.
After working at Radio City, Tony joined BBC Radio Merseyside in 1997. His popular programme owes much of its success to his deep local knowledge and genuine warmth. As a listener, you feel as though he’s speaking directly to you.
As an interviewee, I was immediately put at ease—it felt less like a broadcast and more like a private conversation.
You can listen to the interview below and view the photographs Tony refers to.
Here are some photos I took following the interview.
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Liverpool (125)
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Portrait Of Hazuan Hashim
I made this portrait of Hazuan Hashim from a photograph taken in 2002 of him modelling hats for a charity show in London. The starting point for the composition was a scan of his hair which provided the fluid line connecting various parts of the composition. The eye at the top is from a different photograph of Hazuan (when he wasn’t on stage) where the expression was differerent from the main Portrait. So in one image we have different moods creating a psychological landscape suggesting fragments of memory, shifting identities and interior states.
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Exploring Urban Life in Napoli 2025
I’ve always thought that the best way to photograph the streets of Napoli is through its people. In the case of the image above, the man dressed in dark clothing, cigarette in mouth and posture slightly stooped — conveying age and perhaps fatigue — contrasts with the “Corsi di Ballo Swing” poster advertising Lindy Hop, Charleston, and Jazz: all energetic, joyful dance styles associated with youth, rhythm, and vitality.
When I took this photo, I was tired and had just sat down on a bench to rest when I first noticed the poster. Pointing my camera upward, the composition was completed by the man with the cigarette, framed by the doorway.
The man doesn’t look at the poster. He seems detached from the invitation to dance. Now in my 70s, I too feel detached from that same invitation.
The worn wall, carved doorway, posted sign, and textured façade feel integral — not incidental. Napoli’s surfaces are not just background; they hold history. Over time, thousands of people have walked past this façade. History presses closely to every passerby, who in turn has created their own unique juxtaposition against these walls.
In the photograph above the movement of the man is contradicted by the electrified graphic of the traffic light ‘person’ but embelished by the tree and street graffiti.
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