First photocall of the year, after a long break, was at the Aldwych theatre for the Gerry & Sewell play. I nearly didn’t make it after train cancellations from Watford, but I managed to get there with a couple of minutes to spare. Quite a few photographers for this one, and it's good to see some old friends there. It was very warm in there during the 45-minute photocall; the cold weather had ended. You can read more about the play below, but the cast did two scenes for us to photograph. Which is usual for these photocalls. After the photocall, I headed to the Pret nearby to edit the photos. These were all done and uploaded within the hour.
The next event was a nature photowalk in Cassiobury Park, always good to get out once a month and see the seasonal changes. Three people came on the walk; the day started frosty and misty, ideal for photography. Saw so many birds this time, but not the owls. I haven’t seen them for a year. Saw swans, egrets, herons, mandarin ducks, pelicans, and parakeets. The two hours flew by quickly.
The West End debut of Gerry & Sewell at the Aldwych Theatre. Following two Geordie lads with nowt but a dream of scoring season tickets to their beloved Newcastle United, Gerry & Sewell is wildly hilarious and a heartfelt love letter to Newcastle. Starring Bill Fellows, Katherine Dow Blyton and Chelsea Halfpenny. It opened on Tuesday, 13th January, and closed on Saturday, 24th January 2026.
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Each month, I lead a nature walk in Cassiobury Park, where people can sign up to explore the park with me and receive assistance with their photography. The park, larger than Hyde Park in London, is an excellent location for taking photos, and I frequently host model shoots, especially in spring and summer.
This month’s 2-hour walk took us through the nature reserve and along the canal. The morning was frosty and misty, and I took beautiful photos of steam rising from the water as the frost melted in the rising sun. These walks are unpredictable, heavily influenced by the weather, but we ended up seeing more birds than usual. Below are some photos, with links to view more.
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The monthly Colour walk takes place on the 3rd Thursday of every month. The colour walkers meet at Spitalfields Market, though it is not a walk but a gathering. Always stunning outfits, and very colourful to brighten up the day. It was quite a wet afternoon, so the colourful umbrellas were out.
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After the Colour walk, I went to the Society of Photographers’ show to see what they had on display. It was much smaller this year, and I didnt see anything that I wanted, so I decided to visit some exhibition openings in Mayfair. There are usually quite a few openings on a certain night of the week, and you can go to lots of the preview parties on the same evening. For some events, you need to be on the RSVP list, as they can fill up quickly.
The first one I went to was the new exhibition of Richard Avedon (1923 - 2004) called Facing West. These were among the most beautiful black-and-white portraits I have seen. I didnt know anything about him beforehand. Which I like, as I like to be surprised at an opening. The exhibition was at the Gagosian Gallery in Grovsner Square, where they were exhibiting rare prints from his photographic series called In the American West (1979 - 84). The prints are curated by his granddaughter, Caroline Avedon. Richard Avedon was well known for fashion photography and portraits of people in Power. For the series Facing West, he travelled to 21 States in America and conducted over 1000 sittings to produce 126 editioned images. 21 are on view in this exhibition until 14th March 2026.
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After visiting the Gagosian Gallery, I continued down the road to Flowers Gallery, where they were holding a private preview of George Blacklock's Alchemy exhibition. Because it was crowded, I went downstairs and found Wdward Burtynsky’s work instead.
These spectacular aerial photos reveal a different aspect of the Murrin Murrin mining site in Western Australia, where nickel and cobalt are extracted from lateritic ore using high-pressure acid leaching. It depicts the overflow area of a tailings pond, where liquefied waste settles in large engineered basins. The striking red streak along the top edge, resembling ink spreading on paper, is not a natural colour but the result of oxidised iron particles suspended in the slurry. This exhibition finishes on 31st January 2026 at the Flowers Gallery in Cork Street, London.
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Norwegian artist Kari Anne Helleberg Bahri: The Second Skin opens at Bluerider ART London Mayfair from 15th January until March 15th 2026. Using textiles as a narrative medium, Bahri presents a miniature model of the range of human emotion through her material forms. This is Bahri's first solo exhibition in the UK, and she resides in Norway.
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That’s it for this week. The Substack membership is now open and includes a calendar of 2026 events; more guides will be added each month. These resources, coming soon, include a standard model release form for you to copy, a guide to my process for exporting and editing photos for News Agencies, and more. You can see a list of upcoming articles here.
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