The work of London-based photographer Jermaine Francis concentrates on documenting the overlooked fleeting moments of everyday lives. He uses the camera as a vehicle for focussing on the contemporary narratives most of take for granted – capturing the beauty of the mundane, emotional and sometimes surreal junctures we mistakenly disregard as seemingly unimportant.  

In his New York City photo diary, he records candid snippets of bustling street-life, seen in the Big Apple a few months before the emergence of the Coronavirus. With the deserted atmosphere of lockdown in cities across the world, the vibrancy of his photographs are a welcome reverie, a cheerful, colour saturated snapshot of how we used to live.

I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in thinking that growing old is a privilege. They say a society’s worth is measured by how it treats the elderly – so it stinks, to think of millions of pensioners, stuck indoors with only a cup-a-soup and mid-afternoon quiz shows for company. As a self-confessed appreciator of senior citizens, the photos taken by Kota of his grandfather Hironobu, are honestly some of the most joyful and beautiful images I’ve seen in years. They radiate life and the strength of being alive, with humour, wisdom and self-assured grace.

September 2019, I had the pleasure of visiting the workshop of artist and printmaker Mr. Masonori Sonobe in Kyoto. Although we rarely introduce print to our collections, I specialised in printed textiles at Chelsea School of Art and printing techniques still fascinate me.