It was a stressful day mounting images, but we suceeded and opened up an exhibition of photographic work at UClan, including a preview of Travel Before Travel.

The images were well received and viewers spoke about the potential of the work to be made as a film, possibly meshing media types including news stories and music contained in the world during the 60's and in the locations shown.

Thank you to all that came along and for all those who contributed to the event. It was a night to remember.

It's not what you capture, it's what you see.

Martin Cahill.

Travel Before Travel. UClan's Victoria Building (Preston, UK) on Tuesday December 6th.

All Welcome. Wine and Nibbles.

Photographs include:

1. Diving Board. Teotihuacan, Sculp Ruies. Sep 1967.
2. Lady. Angkor Wat.
3. School Children. Japan. Jul, 1967.

Follow the tag 'travel before travel' for further updates.

My Great Aunt Joyce lives in a small Yorkshire village. Her home is adorned with paintings, books, newspapers and postcards from away lands. The incense burning on the coffee table lights the conversation in the room.

Joyce Hurt is a retired school teacher. She is 84 and has spent many of those years living and teaching abroad.

I recently asked Joyce if she took any photographs during her travels. She handed me a shoe box packed with 35mm Kodachrome slide.

The images were carefully organised and covered every major world continent - North America, South America, Europe, Russia, Asia and Australia.

The full list includes:

• The States, Bermuda. July, 1963.
• Russia.
• Australia. May, 1966.
• Bangkok, Malaysia.
• Hong Kong. July, 1967.
• Guatemala.
• Portugal. May, 1968.
• Luxemburg, Holland. May 1968.
• Angkor Wat.
• British Honduras.
• Teotihuacan, Sculp Ruies. Sep 1967.
• Mexico City, Chapultepec. Sep 1967.
• Portugal. March, 1968.
• Japan. Jul, 1967.
• Colombia, Medellin. Jun, 1963.
• Cheung Chau. 1966.

The travelogue covers a five-year period from 1963 through to 1968 and I am aiming to digitise all the images contained in the shoebox. Thereafter I expect to talk through the images with Joyce and record her emotions, stories and interactions with those very images. There is also the potential for a book and an exhibition.

On first review there are stunning pictures in the collection - landscapes, portraits and documentary work. It is Travel Before Travel. A time before airbus 380's and global tourism.

The images are marked with a sense of peace and serentiy, capturing the cultures and communities as they once were - without outside interference.

To test their quality I have selected three images to be entered into a Gallery Opening to be hosted at UClan's Victoria Building (Preston, UK) on Tuesday December 6th. All welcome!

I will continue posting throughout the life of this project. Simply follow the tag 'travel before travel'.

I attended a workshop this week concerned with using old cameras to make photographs. The group was also limited to using only B&W photographic paper to make exposures onto.

I was offered the No.2 Brownie and had to make multiple exposures to get an image. You will note a large burn on the corner of the photograph displayed below caused by not covering up a large hole in the back of the camera.

It was a useful exercise that made me rethink about my relationship with all cameras. That is, the image is created by the photographer and the camera, and not the many controls, switches and dials which often have the undesired effect of limiting creativity.

First steps in analogue photography from a Pentax KM 35mm. I found this camera at the London Exhange Store and picked up a few rolls of Ilford HP5 film.

The camera itself is a built like a tank, and there is something about being able to make a picture from only mechanical parts and chemicals. No batteries or electronic parts required.

The build of the camera proved to be my downfall, however, as I tried to wind the film back without depressing the button at the back of the camera. This tore the film from the spool and I suffered light leak when untangling the mess left inside.

Still, I managed to capture a few shots from a walk across London. A momento from my first 35mm reel.

I took the opportunity this week to try out a 35mm analogue camera with Ilford HP5 B&W film. This is the first time I have ever used an analogue camera so I am keen to find out whether I have captured any photographs of any value.

My idea for this project was to capture the routine that marked five years of my life. From 2004 to 2009 I commuted from Leyland (Chorley) to Manchester Oxford Road. Catching the 7.40am train and returing again at 5.20pm.

These photographs capture the images that marked that particular commute. To make it more interesting I documented the pictures as 'Return Journey', so that every image I took I would stand and point the camera in the returning (opposing) view. From the shoes on the door-mat leaving the house to the shoes on the door-mat pointing in the opposite direction when I returned home. And from the front door of Manchester Business School going into work to the opposing side of the door leaving work. The outputs of the project will show each image on a page and the mirror return image on the same page.

This all assumes the images came out on the 35mm camera and film, and under difficult shooting conditions like a moving train, this might be a leap too far. If they do not come out, I will repeat the project using a digital camera.

My motivations for this project were entirely personal and likely to be displayed on a wall-piece or book in my own home.

Images on their way!