Above: Lida and Marek

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I’m just coming out of one of those weird periods that feel busy but are hard to explain when other people ask what you’ve been doing. I have very little to show for it but I have been plugging away. There’s my new Roma website for a start, plus a series of short multimedia pieces I’ve created using images, video and audio produced by Roma children in Leeds during some workshops I ran with my friend Gemma Thorpe – these have yet to be signed off. Then, after the disappointment and set-backs of various aspects of my Roma project falling apart I had some serious wobbles about where I was going with it all, but I’m feeling much more positive now. I have some new leads to follow up, a new camera to experiment with, and summer is finally here (well, kind of). The challenge is actually going to be balancing the competing demands of several people’s stories and managing my time properly. Middlesbrough and my Homelands Commission really need to be my primary focus but there is plenty to keep me going around Manchester as well. I’m looking forward to actually enjoying photography again because I was starting to fear I’d forgotten how to.