Hi,
I last wrote to you in July when I got to premiere a wee film my friend made of me cutting about Warsaw, making photos. Since then - nothing. Writing plainly, it has been a fecund year of photography, but an unmistakable disillusionment with this platform had been taking root.
My intention, such as it is, remains to return to writing to you in 2026, whether here or on another platform. I have much still to say, and a lot of work to show, and though the road to hell is paved with such good intentions, hopefully you’ll stay with me to see what happens.
For this first letter in a while, and the final of 2025, I thought I might pull a photograph from the stacks of each month and write a few words. Then that’ll be it. Off we head towards Hogmanay, the bells, and the cautious promise of a new year.
January
January began with a trip home to Scotland to photograph Mogwai’s album launch show for The Bad Fire at Glasgow’s QMU. I had the pleasure of the company of my brother, and my teenage best pal, Iain, at the show.
On this flying visit, I got to hang out with Neil Scott, his wife, and a couple of other Substackers. Earlier that month, back in the cold air of Warsaw, I continued to document the Polish pro-Palestine movement against Israel’s genocide in Gaza (see above).
February
A short trip to Scotland on my own the previous month was followed fairly swiftly by a lovely trip with Marta to Nice. Anything to avoid the Varsovian freeze, it seemed. Otherwise, February was a quiet month, though surprisingly, my diary reminds me I photographed the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk with the Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, and separately photographed at the Warsaw Stock Exchange. None of that, though, was as fun as photographing Franz Ferdinand at Progresja.
March
On the other hand, March was a riot. Not only did my beloved Newcastle United win the Carabao Cup, but I travelled over to London to photograph the Geordie invasion of the capital. Though I didn’t get to the match itself, I spent time in Covent Garden with the fans, then on to Wembley Way for the build-up. Afterwards, I headed to a Supporters’ Trust event at a sports bar to watch the match, and after we won (we won!!!), made a beeline back to Wembley for the fans leaving the stadium. What a birthday present the Magpies gave me! Two weeks later, I was back in the UK, this time with my dad and brother in Newcastle itself for the open-top bus parade celebrations. Incredible. Imagine no liking football!
Such havoc was March that I almost forgot to mention that Marta and I adopted a beautiful, if perpetually terrified, notweiller, Lotka. I fell in love instantly.
April
Marta and I got away again this month, though this time we took the newest member of our wee family to the Polish countryside so she could run around a bit. We were lucky to get some sun. Otherwise, April was spent mostly on the streets, a little bit of agency work, and a little bit of street photography. Calm before the comparative oncoming storm of summer.
May
As Spring came to an end, Poland woke up. There was a Labour Day march, a Constitution Day run and parade, Ostatnie Pokolenie (the Climate Action group) began a month of protests and actions, and a savage murder was inflicted on a member of staff at Warsaw University. A lot of work, and that was before the first round of the Polish presidential election which I missed when I traveled to Scotland for a long weekend to photograph Mogwai at the Glasgow Barrowland. After a brilliant time at home where I got to take my nieces to a SWPL match, I was brought back to earth with a crash when I joined a poignant and at times furious protest at the Israeli embassy in Warsaw, and then suffered a brutal bout of COVID.
June
This month saw the victory of former football hooligan Karol Nawrocki in the second round of the Polish presidential election. Much of the month was spent with disputes of the result but mid-month it was confirmed. It was around then that my friend Jaap and I sat down in his back garden to record an interview about street photography. Later, he joined me at the Corpus Christi parade in Warsaw’s old town to take B-roll for the interview. The B-roll turned into a film itself so the interview was put on the backburner. Hopefully, it’ll see the light of day early next year.
There was a lot going on in June. The now traditional Parade of the Mermaids, Warsaw Pride, the second annual Palestine Solidarity Days, but it was the speaking tour visit of Dr. Gabor Maté that became the highlight of the month.
July
Midsummer gave way to a fractious month, awaiting Nawrocki’s inauguration in August. Demonstrations and counter-demonstrations were organised. On the 19th, a large gathering of far-right football hooligans assembled in the centre of the city, with a smaller counterprotest of antifascist activists gathered 300 metres away. That the police allowed this was demented. It was the only time this year work got violent, with one particular wall-puncher taking exception to being photographed. His admittedly lacklustre grabbing and twisting of my arm found its way onto the national TV news. Pure riddy! Later that same afternoon, the fascist element broke across towards the antifascist group and began throwing bottles. Several were injured, but thankfully no-one seriously hurt. It was, though, a worrying indication of the emboldening of the far-right after their presidential election victory.
August
The inauguration came and went without any great trouble, though it was a long, hot day of photographing. The day before, I’d been tipped the wink that Pro-Palestine protesters were going to block the road outside the Chancellery of the Prime Minister (see above). On the 10th, I photographed the early-morning rehearsal for the Armed Forces Day parade but was unable to work the parade itself as the ‘rona struck. Again! Two weeks out of the game and back just in time to enjoy the last week of summer, albeit with a cough driving everyone bananas. The summer ended with an odious anti-immigration march, a riverside promo shoot for a Polish industrial rave band, and an action-packed dog frisbee contest where I lost my glasses!
September
And then the drones came. It’s a surreal experience to be woken by Marta with the news that Russian drones were flying over Poland, airports were closed, and an air response had been launched. A few days later, we got reports of a downed drone found near Warsaw, so several colleagues and I got in the car and headed over to find the recovery effort. Other than this, my diary tells me September wasn’t much more than some corporate gigs, a few protests, oh and photographing Kneecap in Warsaw!
October
The month opened with an emotional protest outside the Israeli embassy marking the 2nd year of the Israeli genocide in Gaza, then Marta and I took Lottie away for a few days in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. We returned in time for me to step straight back into international news with the return of the Polish delegates of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Far-right and antifascist groups continued to organise demonstrations and counter-protests. The month ended with some whimsy, photographing the Polish qualifiers of the Quidditch World Cup, a co-ed, LGBTQ+ friendly sport which I found to my delight had not long ago been renamed Quadball to end any connection to the Queen TERF.
November
If I thought Newcastle’s Carabao Cup win was to be the footballing highlight of the year for me, I was very much mistaken. After failing to beat Greece, the final match of the World Cup qualifiers with Denmark was a cup final. Win and Scotland qualify. Lose and we head to the play-offs. Going into the match, I was not confident, and then this happened. Our first World Cup qualification since I was in my teens. For two days solid, I did no work whatsoever, choosing instead to watch every possible moment of celebration on social media. I’ve still got goosebumps thinking about it. So much more happened in November: Protests, demonstrations, Poland’s Independence Day march, the first snow of the year, and Luvcat’s tour photographer being a detestable fud, but nothing worth mentioning more than Scotland are going to the World Cup!
In December, Ross MacDonald’s superlative photograph of Scott McTominay’s athletic opening goal against Denmark was framed and unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland. Spoilers - when home at Christmas, I popped along to see it. Brilliant.
December
Finally, we make our way through December. The thrust of this month was photographing the WATCH DOCS Human Rights Film Festival. To be a little part of this team with Marta each year is a pleasure.
Elsewhere, we lost Martin Parr which was a real gut punch though an excuse, while none were needed, to revist a lot of his work. Warsaw opened a busy new Christmas market outside the Palace of Culture and Science so a lot of work was done there as well as photographing the turning on of the city’s Christmas lights in the old town. For Christmas itself, I travelled home for some Milton family shenanigans.
I popped up the road to Glasgow and Edinburgh for some street photography and Christmas shopping, but largely I spent the week at home in Airdrie eating Scotch pies and drinking Irn-Bru.
And Finally….
Now it’s Hogmanay. 2026 is on its way, and while the world looks to be in a terrible state, there are glimmers of hope ahead, and we can only step into it with the intention to make it a better place. I know what my plans will be for the coming year. How about yours?
Have a great time at the bells and for auld lang syne, have a Happy New Year!
N.
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Please consider buying me a roll of film. You can do so by clicking here, or by aiming your smartphone camera at the QR code below.
I'm partial to some of that Tri-X 400 if you're asking. Thank you!
The 'Chaos' you're describing is the heartbeat of street photography, Neil. In my years shooting for Getty, I've found that the secret isn't necessarily removing the chaos, but finding the one 'anchor',a gesture, a shaft of light, or a still figure,that allows the rest of the noise to exist without overwhelming the frame. It’s the difference between a messy photo and a photo of a mess. Great sets here.
Glad you’re back with details and images from your, to put it mildly, interesting-sounding year! I hope whatever is maddening you about this space doesn’t keep you away. Happy New Year!