Hello, this is me (not the stag). The first blog post.
Red deer stag - Margam Country Park - Wales - 2025 (This is the first picture I had published, it’s been in The Guardian Online and in The Guardian’s Weekend supplement.)
First, hello!
Hello. I’m Jay. Maybe you know me from social media, maybe you actually know me (in which case stop being weird, I don’t need to introduce myself to you), maybe you’ve had a browse at the website a bit. Either way, I’m glad you’re here and I hope you enjoy what I do. Anyway…
New Things Are Happening, and I’m Very Excited!
If you’ve been following my photographic adventures for a while, or if you’ve found yourself here by some sick twist of fate, you’ll know or discover that I tend to wander. Like a lot. I’ve lived in enough places to make my bank statements look like a geography textbook and my passport weep: England, Scotland, Wales, Australia, Canada, the States, India… basically, there’s a good chance I’ve taken a blurry photo on your street at some point, probably while trying to dodge traffic and seagulls.
This lifetime of moving around has shaped how I see things. I’m drawn to quiet moments on busy streets, the kind of scenes most people walk past without noticing. I gravitate towards those folk who are a little out of the ordinary, and feel it’s almost a duty to document them and their antics. I love the stubborn honesty of wildlife too: deer, crows, horses, pigeons giving me the side-eye. It all feeds into the pictures I make.
If you want more of the full story, feel free to hop over to the About Me page, where I explain how my Scottish and Greek Cypriot roots, a camera, and questionable decision-making have led to my current way of existing. Grab a cup of tea. It’s a journey (albeit a fairly short one from a literary perspective!).
Why Prints Still Matter to me, and they should to you too
As much as I appreciate a good scroll (we all do it, sometimes before coffee, sometimes instead of sleeping), photography has always been a print medium at heart.
There’s something wonderfully human about sitting with a photograph for longer than three seconds, noticing what’s happening in the corners, letting it whisper instead of shout.
A print gives you time.
Screens demand you hurry.
I think photographs get to breathe when they’re on paper. They become physical and personal, something you live with rather than swipe past. Maybe that’s why I’m getting increasingly excited about prints. They’re slower. More immersive. A bit like life used to be before notifications existed. I’m old, I preferred it back then.
Collaboration News: Docu Magazine
Now for the exciting bit:
I’ve got a collaboration with Docu Magazine coming soon.
20 of my photographs have been curated and they’re featuring them in an upcoming special edition issue. I’ve seen the layout and it looks very classy, which is great because I’m not always very classy.
There will be limited signed copies available in the shop soon. You’ll even be able to request a little message if you want. Anything from heartfelt sincerity to unreasonable insults.
Prints, Books, and Other Adventures
Behind the scenes, I’m working on getting prints ready for the shop, because apparently people want to stick my photos on their walls instead of just scrolling past them on Instagram.
This is an outcome I fully support but remain constantly surprised about.
There’s also talk of a book and a zine or two. I can’t say too much yet because they’re still in the “ideas, coffee and slight panic” stage, but it’s happening. Watch this space. Or better yet, subscribe, follow, or train a raven to bring you updates. Your call.
And of course, the most important thing is, I’ll keep on taking photos as opportunities present themselves.
Stay in Touch
If you want to chat, to collaborate, or gently mock my tendency to crawl around on pavements for the perfect angle, I’m @jaymakesamess everywhere online. Well, on Instagram, Threads, Iris, Foto and Vero, hardly everywhere.
Send a message, say hello, tell me what you’re working on.
Photography is better when it’s shared, messy, curious, creative, and full of life.
Thanks for being here. More soon.
Later.