No secrets. Just training.

Gallery: Italy in a 2CV

My trip to Italy with Blane and Thomas in 2008. Finally online.

The best way to explore a foreign city is in the company of resident traceurs. Taksin Bridge, Bangkok.

Thomas. Madanapalle, India. January 2011.

“In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” Albert Camus.

There were two very good reasons to hook up with Parkour Generations in order to photograph the ADAPT Level 2 course taking place at the end of November.

We’ve all been here.

Train quietly. Move beautifully.

Susheel at BeyondPhotoTips wrote and asked if I’d be interested in writing an article on composition. Recently I’ve realised that sometimes I only discover that I have something to say once I’ve started writing. Seems a little backwards but it seems to work. Full article below.

Training as a large group created a special vibe. The ideas of one traceur sprang from the ideas of another. Thomas and Blane were able to give advice and demonstrate movements, providing inspiration for many of those present. For some of the Italian traceurs, jumps and movements that were thought almost impossible – or even incomprehensible – became distantly achievable. As a traceur improves his or her physical strength and technique, the traceur’s understanding of what is possible and how space can be used also increases, and sometimes it only takes a small step in one to make good progress in the other. For Blane and Thomas, being able to help an individual with this relationship between parkour vision and parkour ability is both humbling and hugely satisfying, and this was evident throughout the day.

Excerpt from The Moments Between.

Parkour, Hampi, India. We love Royal Enfield.

Parkour, Hampi, India.

Shortly before leaving for India in January, I asked if anyone was interested in hearing more about a specific photograph from my collection. @jeremesanders kindly got in touch and picked out one of my favourite photographs from a two-part gallery from 2009 entitled ‘Brutalism’.

An excerpt from The Moments Between

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When first invited on the journey, I questioned whether it was worth taking such a leisurely (or perhaps sluggish) means of transport.  I wanted to race between Italian cities and lose as little time as possible given that there were also mountains to climb and stretches of coast to explore.  I was further perturbed by Thomas’s insistence that, wherever possible, we avoided all toll roads and motorways.  I was to learn that whilst our various destinations were important, the journey held equal if not greater significance, echoing many a traceur’s thoughts on parkour itself, a philosophy often drawn from Eastern mythologies.

In October last year I was approached by a magazine and asked if I could make a day trip to Paris to photograph Johnny Sticky Budden. I’ve been photographing Sticky since 2003 and have made some unforgettable trips together. Back in the day, he used to head down to my student house in Birmingham on a Friday night, crash on my floor and then we’d get up at 5am, pick up Blue Devil, and to drive to London to jam with the likes of Kerbie, Asid, Bam, Cable and M2, hitting locations like the Leap of Faith and the Shell Centre. Back in the day.