Free advice!

Why I would rather share for free.

I’m no longer offering paid mentorship. However, I am providing free mentorship because I believe in supporting growth and community in photography.

I value the long-term benefit to photography over short-term personal gain.

So, if you need advice, DM me & I’ll always voice message you back.

When I started my own photographic journey, I was completely alone, no community, nothing, I couldn’t afford mentorship or the super expensive ‘workshops’ that you often see advertised.

So, it’s just not my bag; I’d rather give away what I have learned in the hope that it plays a small part in steering contemporary documentary onto a righteous path.

Somewhere along the way, I feel documentary was polluted by the creeping narcissism of the present, documentary made solely for aesthetic purposes, with no context, no research, no caring intent, no reason to exist.

I take my cues from the pockets of resistance to this from past decades & I want to help it happen again.

Documentary isn’t about giving people a voice - everyone has one, but no one is listening.

We can amplify those voices.

We can listen.

We can do more with documentary photographs than show what someone LOOKS like.

The responsibility and the dedication come not from simply making pictures, but from due diligence, recording testimony, and presenting testimony alongside pictures, the aftercare and guardianship. This enables photographs to realise their full potential because you give the viewer a true opportunity to become illuminated through context.

I want people who view the work that my community & me make to feel this way. I want them to be immersed in that other reality, with the person they see & read & hear.

I don’t want to create pictures that simply show something, adrift from the safety of a shore, where, if reached, they can really live, make contact, and build a relationship with the audience.

Or simply put, why will people give a fuck about anything unless you supply them with a reason to do so?.

So, if you need any advice, message me on any of the social media links and I will get back to you, no cost, just sharing.

If you DO wish to help the running of (SMALL TOWN INERTIA) financially, visit the Buy me a coffee link in my bio & whatever you choose, many thanks!.

Best as ever,

Jim