May 2026

This journal records the detail of my mastering fine art photography after 10,000 hours of deliberate practice

Hours 10,735 to 10,814

(June 2026)

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31^st May 2026

Hours 10,811 to 10,814

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30^th May 2026

No Hours

This is the first day I have not done even an hour of photography or art related work since starting this 10,000 hour project on the 1^st November 2017

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29^th May 2026

Hours 10,809 to 10,810

(½h) researching André Derain the Fauvist painter and contemporary of Matisse, Cézanne and Picasso as a result of listening to the audio book “How to See” by David Salle

(1h) YouTubes:

• Cogitart: “ANDRÉ DERAIN: The Fauvist Genius You Never Knew” and Nazi collaborator during WWII
• Professor Graeme Yorston: “Paul Klee – Strength and Resilience – Biographical Documentary“

(½h) adding André Derain to the New Artists section of the “Spring 2026” post

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28^th May 2026

Hours 10,807 to 10,808

(1h) writing a “Manifesto” for my Double Abstract images:

Double Abstract   Statement of Intent or Manifesto   A portal, (door, window, etc.), is simply the separation of, and point of departure between spaces.  Metaphorically, it’s the transition from one state to another.  The metaphysical painter Giorgio de Chirico used doors to symbolise a gateway to the unconscious.  The writer, Franz Kafka, used doors to symbolise the denial of a hidden truth, unattainable authority and spiritual frustration.  These ideas became essential building blocks for the surrealists.   This picture is an abstract, and abstract pictures are abstract.  Although produced photographically, the image has no fixed representation and is not intended to remind you of anything.  Instead, please enjoy: – The picture as a whole – how it makes you feel – The detail – every sparkle, swirl and trail – In particular, the transition from one state to another   My intention is to step towards what Mark Rothko described as “not a picture of an experience, but a picture that is the experience.”  With this in mind, please abandon preconceptions and meet it halfway.

(1h) creating a circular contribution to the “Oval Mantle” series

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27^th May 2026

Hours 10,803 to 10,806

(1h) Amersham Coffee Club

(1h) updating this journal including all the recent links to the Flickr site

Freud posited that we are not in control of our own thoughts

(2h) Amersham Colour Group – zoom

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26^th May 2026

Hours 10,799 to 10,802

(1h) Heni Talks YouTube Francis Bacon Part 3: “Triumph and Tragedy“

(1h) researching the philosophy of Roland Barthes

Roland Barthes: Modern culture communicates ideology through ordinary images, objects, and habits that appear completely natural; myths are not ancient legends, but modern ideological narratives disguised as common sense

(2h) Stoke Poges Photographic Club – Open Print Final

Image	…..	Comment
		“Stripes” 18 Too close to the edge [This was done intentionally – I thought it created tension, the judge didn’t]
		“Assamese Woman Fishing” Held back – 19 Good composition, sharp water droplets, would have like to see the woman looking at us
		“Salvador Dali’s Persistent Memory of Agadir” Held back – 19 Very clever but horizon too bright and the judge would have removed the aerials [Perhaps the title should have been “Salvador Dali’s Persistent Memory Global Warming and the Rise of AI”]

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25^th May 2026

Hou 10,798

(1h) researching Albert Oehlen:

• first artist to use clunky digital output as the basis of his art

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24^th May 2026

Hours 10,796 to 10,797

(½h) selecting images and preparing PDIs for next week’s Open Print final at the Stoke Poges Photographic Club

(½h) updating this journal and the “Freud, Jung and Lacan” post

(1h) several hours listening to “How to See” by David Salle, with key comment about:

• Alex Katx
• Sigmar Polke
• Albert Oehlen; “the best currently practicing artist”, above his 2027 “Loa”; previously encountered 23^rd October and 3^rd November 2022 a contemporary of Georg Baselitz, Sigmar Polke and Gerhard Richter
• Jeff Koons; very genuine
• Roy Lichtenstein

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23^rd May 2026

Hour 10,795

(1h) Updating this journal with lots of links to the Flickr site

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22^nd May 2026

Hours 10,793 to 10,794

(1h) creating new versions of the “Oval Mantle Abstracts”

“Oval Mantle Ia”

“Oval Mantle IIa”

“Oval Mantle IIIa”

(1h) preparing and ordering prints for next week’s Open final at the Stoke Poges Photographic Society

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21^st May 2026

Hours 10,789 to 10,792

(½h) preparing prints for this evening’s last ever PiC Group meeting

(1½h) creating the following amended versions of the Double abstract based on feedback from yesterday’s coffee meeting:

“Mantle III”

“Mantle IV”

“Mantle Va”

(2h) Amersham PiC Group meeting

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20^th May 2026

Hours 10,787 to 10,788

(½h) updating this journal

(1½h) Amersham Coffee club discussion of my double abstracts:

• Oval portals, generally prefered
• Better with more weight (darker part of the image) at the bottom
• Some areas blownout and therefore lack detail

Painting technique: “Repoussoir”, creating depth by framing a scene with a dark foreground, so that the eye is drawn to details in the background

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19^th May 2026

Hours 10,784 to 10,786

(½h) working on the “Freud, Jung & Lacan” post

(½h) preparing and ordering a print of my Assamese Woman Fishing image in a Floater Frame as a trial for using this as a standard for any exhibition

(2h) Stoke Poges Photographic Club – Open PDI Final

Image	…..	Comment
		“African Wild Dog with Antelope Skull” 18 Original version actually displayed, I think this one would have been more impactful
		“Fantasy Lovers” 19 – Held Back Excellent, but in the same genre and not quite as good as the other Magritte image
		“Magritte Points to His Younger Self” 20 – Overall winner Showcase of a great body of work

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18^th May 2026

Hours 10,778 to 10,783

(2h) Amersham Photographic Society – Print Final, my entries below:

Image	…..	Comment
		“The Eyes Have It” Expertly executed but didn’t make the shortlist
		“The Unavoidable Face of Capitalism” Well constructed, great concept but again didn’t make the shortlist

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17^th May 2026

Hours 10,773 to 10,777

(1½h) Creating the 3rd in the Mantle series below and “Oval Mantle III” above:

(3h) Photo London with my friend and mentor, Yin Wong

(½h) preparing and ordering prints for this Wednesday’s coffee club meeting

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16^th May 2026

Hours 10,771 to 10,772

(1h) selecting images and processing PDIs for next week Amersham Print Final and Stoke Poges’ Open DPI Final

(1h) creating the double Mantle abstracts, above and below

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15^th May 2026

Hour 10,770

(1h) press release: “Zero to FRPS in 10,000 Hours” for the Royal Photographic Society

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14^th May 2026

Hour 10,769

(1h) press release: “Zero to FRPS in 10,000 Hours” for the Royal Photographic Society

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13^th May 2026

Hours 10,767 to 10,768

If you could explain it, why go to the trouble of painting it.”

Francis Bacon – frequently repeated quote

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12^th May 2026

Hours 10,765 to 10,766

(2h) press release: “Zero to FRPS in 10,000 Hours” for the Royal Photographic Society

11^th May 2026

Hours 10,760 to 10,764

(1h) shooting in the Stoke Poges Memorial Gardens

(1h) editing and processing the above images

(1h) working on the “Freud, Jung & Lacan” post

(½h) updating my 10,000 hours story press release for the Royal Photographic Society

(1½h) Amersham Photographic Society – lecture by Lesley MacGregor ‘Corners of the Mind’

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10^th May 2026

Hours 10,757 to 10,759

(2½h) starting and extensively researching the post “Freud, Jung & Lacan“

Stumbled upon reference to Jacques Vaché (1895-1919), (known for his general indifference and wearing a monocle), a major influence in the start of the surrealist movement, took his own life at the age of 23 from an opium overdose

In literature, it is Jacques Vaché to whom I owe the most”

André Breton

(½h) updating this journal

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9^th May 2026

Hours 10,754 to 10,756

(1h) watching the HENI Talks “Stories of Art: Jean-Michel Basquiat – 80s Art Superstar“

(1½h) creating the following double abstracts

“Mantle Oval I”

“Mantle Oval II”

(½h) updating this journal

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8^th May 2026

Hours 10,751 to 10,753

(1h) discovered Naum Gabo (1890-1977) Russian-American constructivist sculptor and Antoine Pevsner

We reject the decorative line. We demand of every line in the work of art that it shall serve solely to define the inner directions of the force in the body to be portrayed.”

‘The Basic Principles of Constructivism’, Naum Gabo & Antoine Pevsner, 1920

(½h) shooting ICM images of a David Harbour sculpture representing the earth’s mantle

(1h) processing the above images and creating “Double Mantle” above

(½h) watching the first in a series of HENI Talks “Francis Bacon – The Emerging Artist” which discusses “Three Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion” as a metaphor for violence

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7^th May 2026

Hours 10,748 to 10,750

(1h) learning about the comparative contributions of the psychoanalyst and philosophers:

• Sigmund Freud – introduced the concept of the unconscious and it’s potential for artistic expression – hence André Breton’s definition of Surrealism as “pure psychic automatism”
• Carl Jung – reframed art as an expression of archetypal and mythic structures within our shared unconscious
• Jacques Lacan – considered the mind to be structured like a language

(2h) Amersham Beyond Group

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6^th May 2026

Hours 10,746 to 10,747

(1h) Amersham Coffee club – the latest version of the double abstract, created on 1^st May was roundly praised

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5^th May 2026

Hours 10,741 to 10,745

(1h) preparing prints, including remounting the “Half a Red-Headed Woman” image for this evening’s set-subject print final

(2h) Stoke Poges Photographic Club – set-subject print finals where I came both first and second with the only images to be awarded a 20

Image	…..	Comment
		“Half a Red-Headed Woman” 20 and first place Good soft lighting gently sculpting the face Creative and powerful composition; the hand works well and looks very natural The only possible improvement would have been had all her finger nails matched her eye colour
		“Three Dogs on a Beach” 20 and second place Clever and aesthetically pleasing combination of ICM and a sharp image

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4^th May 2026

Hour 10,740

(½h) preparing and sending images for this week’s Amersham Beyond meeting

(½h) updating this journal and Flickr site

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3^rd May 2026

Hours 10,738 to 10,739

(1h) shooting the latest version of “Smith and Man Ray 2026 and 1931” above for the latest Amersham Beyond challenge “Solarization” also completes the previous challenge of recreating great art

(½h) processing the above image

(½h) updating this journal and Flickr site

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2^nd May 2026

Hour 10,737

(½h) updating this journal

(½h) selecting prints and preparing the associated PDIs for next week’s set-subject print final at the Stoke Poges Photogrphaphic Club

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1^st May 2026

Hours 10,735 to 10,736

(1h) updating this journal: new month admin, and revisiting my 2021 post “Roland Barthes’ Camera Lucida” in the context of having recently spent a good deal of time studying Jacques Lacan, Alexandre Kojève, et al.

In the post I don’t pick up on any direct influence, although Barthes and Lacan were both French intellectuals and the former would certainly have studied the latter, the overlap is more the Structuralist concepts of the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure from which Barthes developed a framework for art, and Lacan a model of thought

(1h) creating the above version of “Double Abstract II”, which I was encouraged to persist with at the last colour group meeting

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(April 2026)