New Photography

I've written before on this blog about my favourite hobby, photography.  So this week I thought I'd share some Polaroid pictures I've made in various places around the world, while writing Phoenix and working on my next book...

These two were done at Stonehenge.

This one was at Angkor Wat, in Cambodia.

These two were in Greece: the Tombs of Mycenae (above), and a castle in the middle of the sea at Napflio (below).

This one was in Kerry, Ireland, right on the edge of the Atlantic.

And finally, this one was done in London, in Hyde Park, not far from where I lived in the years when I wrote The Outlaw Varjak Paw.  I hope you like them - click on the images if you want to see them nice & large!

SF Said's Photography

Photography is my favourite hobby.  I love it because it doesn't involve words.  When you spend every day writing words, it's nice to get away from them sometimes!  And pictures can still tell a story.  Photography has helped me see so many strange and interesting things; things I would never have noticed otherwise.

I enjoy prowling around city streets at night with my camera, trying to see things from different points of view.  Sometimes I imagine them from a street cat's point of view, as if I was Varjak Paw, or one of his friends.  What would the city really look like to them?

This has led me into some strange places.  I can find myself staring for ages at puddles, or reflections of neon lights on a rainy pavement.  I spend whole evenings standing on precarious bridges over motorways, watching the light trails from traffic sparkling in the night.

I've even been down sewers to see what it really looks like there.  (And smells like.)  If you've read The Outlaw Varjak Paw, you might recognise this view:

I like to justify my photography by claiming that it's part of my research; it influences the way I imagine and describe scenes.  My new book, PHOENIX (coming in summer 2013), would definitely not be the same without it.  This book is not about Varjak Paw, or even cats; it's about people this time, and also aliens, because it's a science fiction epic set in outer space.  It begins with the stars singing to the main character.  I think that might look something like this:

By the way, if you like these photographs, some of them are published in a beautiful little book called London's Lost Rivers.  It's a guide to the hidden, secret rivers that flow underneath the city; rivers most people have never seen.  I didn't write any of the words... but there are 18 of my pictures in the book.