A Day With The Bruderhof

Some shots from an enjoyable day documenting life at the Bruderhof community in Robertsbridge. I've been fascinated by these people since I first met them 2 years ago taking pictures for their furniture catalogue. There are 300 people living in a christian commune in beautiful East Sussex countryside. They share the income from their nursery school furniture business and pool all their talents concentrating on looking after each other in a group where no-one is richer or poorer than anyone else.

The Bruderhof, german for "place of brothers" were founded in 1920 with their roots in european baptist traditions and similarities to anabaptist groups like the Hutterites and Amish. They believe that communal living is the best way to serve Christ and it seams that their way of pooling resources and living together without property builds mutual trust with an emphasis on family and looking after each other. This I noticed particularly in the respect given to their older members who have roles in the business even in very old age and also with the children who spend much of their time outside and learning woodcrafts.

What is immediately striking is the way they dress, particularly the women who wear headscarves and long home-made dresses which adds to the other-worldly old-fashioned feel of the place. The women say that this gives them freedom from fashion and comparisons with each other..

I'm not religious but my take-away from the day was how genuine and happy these people are, they really seem to have hit on a special way of living. They continue to intrigue me and I'm grateful for being invited in.

 

Anna Campbell RIP

Just a week after their sister's death in Syria fighting for the Kurds against Isis, her siblings agreed to feature in an article for The Times about the loss of Anna and her extraordinary life. I did the shoot in their dad's flat in Lewes.

Ladies Rugby

Some shots from a great afternoon with the Medway Ladies Rugby team. The brief, from The Telegraph, was to shoot the team preparing and playing their final game of the season and get some images to support a piece about the growing popularity of ladies rugby. They are a tough bunch and a good laugh was had, oh and they won the game!

Faces Of India

A few of the lovely people people I met on my recent journey from Bangalore to Cochin. I loved everything about this beautiful country and it's seems a million miles away now from snowy East Sussex.

Vanessa Nicolson

Author and granddaughter of Vita Sackville-West, Vanessa Nicolson for The Sunday Times. Her family owned Sissinghurst Castle in Kent and she lives nearby. She supports epilepsy chairities in memory of her daughter who died aged 19.

Aladdin Sane Rehearsal

It was an honour to be asked by Kevin Armstrong, Iggy Pop's guitarist, to capture a few moments from a rehearsal for the upcoming Aladdin Sane Bowie tour.  The tour features most of Iggy Pop's band and the original Aladdin Sane pianist, Mike Garson, it was a warm up before further rehearsals with Mike next week. The band is: Kevin Armstrong (Iggy Pop, David Bowie) - guitar, Terry Edwards (PJ Harvey) - sax/guitar, Matt Hector(Iggy Pop) - drums, Ben Ellis(Iggy Pop) - bass and Gillian Glover - vocals.

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RIP Sir Peter

Sorry to hear of the Death of Sir Peter Hall. I shot this for The Times in 2009 and was later asked to print it for his wife Nikki who had it framed for their office wall. It was a pleasure to take his photo, such a characterful face and mischievous smile.