The Exceptions

March 10, 2019 by Phil Kneen Photography

“You shouldn’t focus on why you can’t do something, which is what most people do. You should focus on why perhaps you can, and be one of the exceptions.” – Steve Case, Co-founder of AOL I’m experiencing problems with my inner ears at the moment, which explains the extreme seasickness I’ve been encountering. So, until it’s sorted out, I’m concentrating on a land-based project to document people who live in less than conventional homes, such as caravans, van conversions, boats, […]

Categories: film photography, photojournalism • Tags: analog, analogue, black and white photography, Ilford hp5 400, pentax 67, vanlife

The Challenge

February 23, 2019 by Phil Kneen Photography

‘Tuesday 19th February – I slept through the steam down to the fishing grounds, and woke-up heaving. I only just made it outside, but while I’m feeding the fish with the two waffles I managed to grab on the way out of the house, I work out that we’re south; southwest of the Chicken Rock lighthouse, to be more accurate. Michael wants to play a game that he calls ‘The Wet Challenge.’ – the rules, as far as I can […]

Categories: photojournalism • Tags: black and white photography, fishing boat, irish sea, isle of man, trawler

Mal de Mer

February 20, 2019 by Phil Kneen Photography

At 3.45am, from Peel breakwater, I could hear the wind, and through the faint sodium street lights, I noticed sizable waves collapsing onto the beach. The human psyche is a strange and mysterious thing because I already felt sick; I was still sitting in my car. I washed two sea sickness tablets down with half a can of Red Bull, checked the BBC weather forecast on my iPhone one last time, and headed down to the Genisis. I’d packed the […]

Categories: photojournalism • Tags: isle of man, nikon, nikon 28mm 1.8G, trawler life

Dilemma

February 7, 2019 by Phil Kneen Photography

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been reviewing my ongoing fishing boat based project and I’ve concluded that it isn’t going the way I want. I’m not unhappy with the images I’ve made, so far, I just feel that the photos aren’t connecting with people or conveying the story I have in my head. There are a few reasons for this, and if I’m honest, most of the issues I have are down to me. From the start, I got […]

Categories: film photography, photojournalism • Tags: photojournalism, trawlermen

That was 2018…

December 29, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

At the end of last year, one of my goals was to be less erratic and casual with the things I chose to photograph, to avoid flitting from one subject to another with no real consistency. I think, to a point, that I managed it – quality over quantity. The career highlights of 2018 were my white squatter camp project, ‘Plakkerskamp’, and a two-week autumn trip out into the North Atlantic on a fishing trawler – both projects took me […]

Categories: film photography, photojournalism, woman • Tags: 35mm, analog, analogue, black and white, colour, film photography, kodak portra 400, Olympus mju II, pentax 67, portrait, review 2018, trawler life, trawlermen, women

Reul na Mara

December 12, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

Towing nets for 6-hours leaves a lot of time to sit around doing nothing, especially when the crew are all asleep. On this particular day, I sat alone in the galley, writing in my journal while watching ‘Jaws’. ‘Wednesday 14th November 58°14.004N/5°34.310W Course – 101° Moderate-rough Overcast 13.00 – I first tried fishing when I was about seven-years-old, it was during a family holiday in Peel, on the Isle of Man. I’d teamed-up with my brother to harass my dad […]

Categories: photojournalism, Uncategorized • Tags: 35mm, analog, analogue, fishing, fishing boat, I shoot film, trawler life

The womb

December 10, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

Once my sea sickness had disappeared, I found sleeping on a fishing boat to be very comfortable. A little bit too comfortable, in fact… ‘Tuesday 13th November 58°57.195N/6°59.510W Course – 228° Moderate-rough Rain 09:00 – The battery on my phone died – It’s taken me nearly half an hour to figure out whether it’s Monday, or still Tuesday… I’m not sure if it’s an advantage or a disadvantage, I suppose it depends on how you look at it? But sleeping […]

Categories: film photography, photojournalism • Tags: 35mm, analog, analogue, film, fishing boat, trawler, trawlermen

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

December 9, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

This journal entry was made halfway through my outing on the Reul na Mara; We’d come back to Scrabster harbour to shelter from the storm which had chased us all the way from Orkney, a maritime rollercoaster ride that lasted 10-hours. Ross’ approach and entry into a turbulent and blindingly dark Scrabster harbour was an impressive display of boat handling and a testament to his 36-years experience at sea – he made it look as easy as negotiating a shopping […]

Categories: photojournalism • Tags: 1600, 35mm, analogue, black and white, crewmen, fishermen, fishing boat, Ilford hp5 400, pushed film, scotland, trawlermen

Sleep when you can

December 7, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

Some more meanderings from my recent trip with the crew on the fishing trawler, Reul na Mara, in the North Atlantic. ‘8th November 2018.  59°56.220N/6°44.813W Course 268°  Sea state – moderate to rough 00.20 – Trawler life is linear; there’s no set time of day when anything in particular happens, it’s merely, ‘Fish, Eat, Sleep, Repeat.’. Clock time is irrelevant, breakfast, lunch and supper are events rather than times of the day. Any sleep pattern I did have, we left […]

Categories: Photography, photojournalism, Uncategorized • Tags: 35mm, analogue, scotland, trawler, trawlermen

Sea state – moderate

December 5, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

For two weeks in November, I joined the fishing vessel, Ruel na Mara and her crew, working about 100km northwest off the Outer Hebrides. I don’t wish to romanticise something that these men do for work, all year round, but for me, it was an incredible experience. “A proper adventure”, as a friend dubbed it – two weeks on a 24 metre, wooden-hulled trawler, with two Scotsmen and four Filipinos somewhere in North Atlantic, wearing the same underwear for days […]

Categories: Photography, photojournalism • Tags: 35mm, 6x7, analogue, black and white, colour, film photography, fishermen, fuji pro 400H, I shoot film, Olympus mju II, personal project, portrait, scotland, trawlermen