Journal · field notes

Occasional posts
on practice and craft.

March 2026

Why I still scan negatives on a flatbed in 2026

It is slow, the dynamic range is laughable next to a drum scan, and the file sizes are punishing. I keep doing it for one reason — the imperfections force me to be honest about what the picture actually is. A short essay.

December 2025

Coal lines — three years in, eighteen months to go

A long letter to my editor at Akademinė about why the book will be 96 pages and not 240, why most of the strong frames come from the back of trains rather than the front, and why I refused the four-page interactive pitch from a tabloid.

September 2025

Mare 102 went to press today

Sixteen images from the Lelija series. The seamstresses got a six-page foldout. The editor cut my favourite frame, which was correct.

April 2025

On rejecting AI image work

I get the email roughly twice a week. The answer is no, and these are the reasons.