On the middle Sunday of February, I woke early and eagerly looked out through the curtains, hoping to see clear morning sunshine, perhaps a delicate, ethereal dew and chirping blackbirds singing from the treetops. I hoped for the opportunity to spend at least a few brief hours outdoors with Emily and in daylight, before returning to a w*rking week of artificial lighting and air-conditioning.

What greeted me was a grey, wet blanket of a day and rain bouncing back off the garden slabs. It was to be another frustrating week where I’d made precisely no photographs, becoming ever more frustrated at the progress being made by my friends and peers on their photographic projects, while I never found the time or opportunity.

But as I moped to the kitchen to make coffee, I had an idea. I’d spend the day with Emily and document a day in her life. It might produce a set that I could make into a book to give as a gift to her mum and Babcia on the upcoming Women’s Day. It might also be a useful exercise in editing a large set of photographs (I took 140 through the day) down to 30 for a book, and 10 for this post.

And so here I offer you A Day In The Life… of Emily (with no strange, backwards endings):

I like the results. Unusually for me, I let go of my ‘New Topographic’ sensibilities and included blurred, crooked pictures, shots that suggest what is happening, rather than presenting corrected verticals at f/16. The oppressive dark greys of the pictures reflect the weather and the mood – Spring can’t come soon enough.

As usual, the photographs became more special when they returned to a physical, printed form. The book looks great and was very well received. It’ll be a lasting memory of Emily as she approached her second birthday.

I hope that you’re reading this post from my WordPress site rather than your ‘reader’ page. If you are, you’ll be able to see the pictures in better resolution by clicking on one of the thumbnails above and flicking through them at full screen.

Finally, if you’re interested in how the book looks, you can see the preview on Blurb.