The New Normal

April 25, 2020 by Phil Kneen Photography

I’m fortunate; I have a part-time job that gets me out of the house everyday, a virtual hall-pass that allows me to drive the corridors of the Isle of Man with my camera. For most other residents, it’s been a long few weeks, thus far. On Friday 27th March, the Isle of Man started an indefinite lockdown – nobody in and nobody out (unless you want to stay out).  I’d already started my own personal document of the COVID19 pandemic […]

Categories: photojournalism, street photography • Tags: black and white photography, culture vannin, documentary, isle of man, reportage

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

Abigail

September 10, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

Models – Abigail Horne and Matt Corcoran Makeup – Kimberley Berridge Assistant – Hannah Yeowell Thanks to Christy Whitton and Max Grelewicz for the loan of the camper van The bottom 5 images were made using Pentax 67 / 105mm with Fuji Pro 400H and Kodak Ektar 100. The rest are 35mm, using an Olympus OM2 / 50mm 1.4 Zuiko with Kodak Ultramax film.

Categories: film photography, Photography, woman • Tags: 35mm, 6x7, colour, film, film camera, film photography, fine art, fuji film, fuji pro 400H, I shoot film, isle of man, kodak, portrait

Seal of approval

August 18, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

Yep, that’s the best I could come up with, sorry. ‘Sealed with a kiss’ was an option, but that would give the impression that I actually kissed the seal pup, which I did not. I did however stroke it on the head, it came that close to me. When I posted some of these images on social media a few people commented that I shouldn’t have stroked the seal because “They aren’t pets, they’re wild animals”. No shit, David Attenborough… […]

Categories: film photography, Photography • Tags: film photography, isle of man, kodak, nikonos

On Any Sunday

July 18, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

Open-water swimmers are a difficult lot to photograph, they don’t hang around; clad in anything from a pair of Speedo’s and a latex cap, right through to full neoprene wetsuits, sea swimmers are in the water and gone. I have attempted to swim alongside these athletes but swimming on my side whilst operating a camera, even wearing large fins, isn’t easy… and I’m not an athlete. I’m going to persevere though because I really like the images I’m getting. I […]

Categories: Photography, photojournalism • Tags: isle of man, nikonos, Nikonos III, Nikonos V, open water, sea swimming

The above. The below.

July 8, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

I’d describe my current style of aqua-imagery as ‘around the surface photography. I’m not a scuba diver, I tried it once, but I don’t think it was for me; in my opinion, any activity that results in almost certain death if/when something goes wrong is best avoided…although I’m not sure how much logic there is in my own theory because I spent most of my 20’s and 30’s rock-climbing, ice-climbing and high altitude mountaineering (and a lot did go wrong, […]

Categories: film photography, Photography • Tags: 35mm, analog, isle of man, nikonos, nikons V, underwater

Positive Buoyancy

June 30, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

My recent exploration into underwater photography has rekindled a passion and interest in the medium that has been somewhat lacking over the past few months; thrown me out of the rut and into the sea. There’s a system, a ritual, almost, that goes with the process – methodically checking the cameras before entering the water, knowing that you only have 36 goes at getting it right before you need to get out, rinsing the cameras in fresh water… even the […]

Categories: film photography, Photography • Tags: 35mm, analog, analogue, isle of man, kodak, Nikonos III, nikons V, sea swimming

Nikonos III test roll

March 22, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

As far as cameras go, the Nikonos III underwater setup is pretty much as basic and elementary as it gets – five shutter speeds (1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500 and B) on the body – apart from the winding mechanism, there are no more moving parts. Depending on which of the six lenses you choose, seven apertures are available (on the 35mm l use – f2.5, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22). There’s nothing automatic on this camera, not exposure […]

Categories: film photography, Photography, photojournalism • Tags: film camera, film photography, I shoot film, isle of man, kodak, negative, Nikonos III, personal project, portrait, scallops, ultramax 400, underwater

Wet Work

February 26, 2018 by Phil Kneen Photography

After all my research into seasickness, the almost endless conflicting advice and remedies, I’ve finally cracked it. Ginger tablets, wristbands, stare at the horizon, don’t look at the horizon, cheese and onion crisps, run on the spot, lie down, stand up, earplugs, pour urine over yourself (that one might have been for box jellyfish stings, actually) … I should have just listened to what almost every seasoned fisherman has been advising me for the last few months – “You just […]

Categories: Photography, photojournalism • Tags: fishing boat, isle of man, nikonos, Nikonos III, scallops