A new book: Something like a Motherland
It took a bit longer than expected, but I’m very excited to announce a brand new book today: Something like a Motherland, featuring images shot during trips to England. The book is divided into colour and monochrome series that make up the two main sections. It also includes Ascension (an additional set of images, with their backstory) and We Will Fail, an essay originally published in the now sadly defunct Photo Life magazine.
If the concept vaguely sounds like a 1EYE, ROAMING book to you, you’re not far from the mark. In fact, the project’s life began as the fourth instalment in that series.
DetourS (lesson learned)
The 1EYE, ROAMING concept, as you may know, is based on a simple premise: travels with a single camera and prime lens. The goal is to explore new territories using a single field of view, which in turn forces a common visual thread. The idea isn’t revolutionary, it’s just the framework I’ve chosen, based on the way I prefer to shoot. On every trip, be it a weekend to the country with the family, or a longer adventure abroad, I commit to one camera and one lens. No zooms. No second-guessing.
One eye.
The images for this book broke with that convention. Not because I’d done thing differently, but because they were shot during two individual trips. On the first, in 2018 (speaking at my friend Kevin Mullins’ X-Weddings Conference in Bath), I’d used the X100F; on the second, in 2019 (another speaking engagement, this time at Snapfest), I’d chosen the X-T3 and XF35mm f/2. Two kits, but more importantly, two very different FOVs.
I was obviously aware of those facts when I began working on this new book, but I initially thought it wouldn’t matter. I figured I’d follow a strict chronological sequence this time, with images flowing from a 35 mm FOV in part one, to a 50mm FOV in part two.
Meh.
The worst mistake we can make as creatives is to stubbornly stick to a plan. Preparation is good, often essential, but being ready to discard everything is sometimes just as important. Soon after I began the selection process, I realized the chronological approach was just wrong. It felt forced. It prevented less obvious, more interesting pairings, imposed restrictions in terms of flow. Not only that, but it turned into a lose/lose situation: betraying my core concept and stifling ideas in the process. So I stopped. I stepped away from the project, sent it to the back-burner, hoping the zeigarnik effect would kick in, like it usually does; it did not.
Then, one morning, the simplest possible solution suddenly revealed itself: why the $&@% does this need to be a 1EYE ROAMING book?
I grabbed a pencil, scribbled a few keywords on the iPad. I wrote down a new title…and started over.
Mother?
Canadians have a complicated relationship and history with the British monarchy. We’re obviously part of the Commonwealth, which makes Queen Elizabeth our de facto head of state—despite the Constitution Act of 1982 which gave our country full independence over its laws, rights, and freedoms. In the sense of no longer needing permission from the Crown in order to make changes to that constitution. I’m also French and live in Quebec, which adds a whole new level of complexity to the matter.
So what’s behind the title? Actually, it turns out I’d introduced the notion in a post, back in 2018:
“We land at Gatwick in the morning. The sun is out and the border agent is extremely nice—genuinely.The young and old Queens sure look lovely and surreal on that giant mural.
Motherland.
”
I’d completely forgotten writing those words until just a few days ago. But that mural I mention is the very first image I shot on UK soil. Fittingly, it also opens the book: two side by side pictures of the queen, snapped from the airport walkway, shortly after landing. It’s shot from further away, but I remember getting closer and realizing that each was, in fact, a mosaic, made up of thousands of everyday snapshots—a sovereign born of its subjects, all in turn swallowed within those portraits. I remember my jet-lagged mind being rather struck by the symbolism.
So that title is many layers deep for me: part reflection, part reaction; part history and tongue-in-cheek.
Visual assemblage
In terms of overall approach, being freed from the more journal-like framework of the 1EYE series allowed me to move away from a formal one image per page layout this time around. Instead, I built something that was purely driven by the visuals, playing with diptychs, combinations that were either aesthetically or thematically interesting. There’s a sequencing created through the order of the pages, but also through certain pairings as well; which is where dismissing the temporal and technical elements truly proved liberating.
Of course, I also revisited both shoots and dug up images I’d left behind the first time around—so there’s material here that’s never been published before.
…
If you’re interested or if you’d like more details, take a look at the book’s dedicated page here. There’s a special launch pricing in effect until next week. And FYI: this new release is also available in a signed edition as part of a 1EYE SOCIETY membership, along with other downloads and exclusive content.
Just sayin’ ;)
