Marc Provins

Once a year we take the photography first year students on a residential to London for three days. It's both exhilarating and exhausting in equal measure for all concerned. The staff as they are on duty for 72 hours and responsible for a large group of teenagers, and the students as they are mostly unused to much physical exercise and have to walk miles each day, exploring and photographing the city.  Everything went well this year, great weather and light, interesting exhibitions including Alec Soth at The Media Space and happy, respectful students. As group leader I don't get much photography time so I'm largely grabbing moments as we move en masse around the streets of London, but I now see that as the challenge. Sadly there were no pea soup fogs, but I love the poetic description of pollution and the reason London became known as the Big Smoke.  Here are some London residential blog posts from previous years: Dorothy Rides the Piccadilly Line Keep Right Meyer

On the 19th December 2014 I started a new life. It was the end of a two decade relationship, it was the day our shared home was sold and I set out as a single person again, Olive the cat came too. Looking back I don't know how I found the strength to get through the process, it's a cliche but it did feel like my world had been turned upside down, I had no idea if I was making good or bad decisions and I felt hurt and scared. I'd lost a couple of stone in weight, was having bizarre dreams or not sleeping at all and my nerves literally felt like they were rattling. However I've got amazing family and friends who looked after me and I've discovered I'm strong. So a year later I'm feeling calm, collected and I'm healing. My new home has proved to be a sanctuary, which is exactly what my instincts told me it would be when I first visited and knew I had to live here. So if you are going through a tough time at the moment, trust yourself, make dec