As a relic old enough to remember a time before the internet, I have lived through the exciting rise and often undignified fall of everything from newsgroups, ICQ, and AOL to Livejournal, Myspace, Flickr, Facebook, Instagram, and now – to my deep dismay, Twitter. When a platform was ruined for its community in one way or another, I followed the often lightning-quick migration on to the next. I’ve flirted with other platforms, but this time learning – then fighting with – a new algorithm feels exhausting. Instead of craving likes, hearts, comments, and RTs, I want to relax and take photographs, so I opted for something different.

Much like the music industry’s retro return to vinyl, there seems to be an online shift back to simpler times. Fewer ads and less algorithmic interference, please! Newsletter platforms are beginning to make a resurgence and now seems like as good a time as any to take at least 1 foot out of the social media waters to try something slower, with less pressure, and fewer demands on my time.

Photos, Mostly

My, possibly quixotic, intention is to focus my online content around my website, my blog, and this newsletter. I will concentrate on the philosophy and practice of street photography and may sometimes switch lanes to live music photography on film. In addition to essays, I will share tips, photos, and experiences – both successes and, er… teachable moments. Nothing if not opinionated, I’ll chime in on notable events in the photography world. Closing it out, I’ll throw in some recommendations of other photographers, music, podcasts, movies, films – whatever is exciting or entertaining me at the time.

Before we kick off, I should introduce myself. I’m Neil, a Scottish Varsovian street and live music photographer. I teach and write about photography for Shoot It With Film, and 35mmc. I was formerly the owner of too many fireworks, a Glaswegian indie record label, from 2001 until 2021, and I’ve played in several bands. For a time, from 2006 to (almost) 2011, I moved from music to photography, beginning in live music but eventually moving to documentary and street photography.

After my move to Poland, I found myself back in music for a decade, however, the pandemic called an end to that and late 2020 brought me back to street photography, with occasional forays into live music. And that’s me. So here we are together. And thank you for joining me.

Let’s see where this newsletter takes us.

And finally…

If you’ve enjoyed this first issue, I’d be very grateful if you could recommend it to any photography-loving friends.

This newsletter is free to read, however, as a freelancer in the creative arts, every penny counts. If you like what I do, please consider buying me a roll of film. You can do so by clicking here, or by aiming your camera at the QR code below. Your donations help me keep making photographs and writing.

All labour required to publish The Contact Sheet is undertaken by me alone. As I try to be a better socialist, I donate 10% of all income to anti-capitalist, leftist, or progressive causes or organisations that help make the world a better place. Thank you!

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