Well, all things being well, I should start shooting images next weekend for a series which will be used as both my submission for my MA Rethink assignment and exhibited at Liverpool’s Look11 photo festival, as part of a group show called Transition.

After my original plan spectacularly fell apart a week ago, a Gypsy contact fixed it for me to meet her cousin today and she has kindly agreed that I can start visiting her family to produce a set of photographs about their lives. I owe them both bigtime.

The project is in part a reaction against sensationalist and misleading media coverage such as the TV show Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, which has been widely criticised within the community.

My project will play on the idea of representation and will have a collaborative side to it – giving participants control over how they are portrayed.

The work will I hope involve several strands, including candid documentary images, formal portraits, a participatory element and involvement in the final editing process. Fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to an intense couple of days in London on a participatory photography training course with the fabulous PhotoVoice.