Just before you go over the hill it may be possible to get a view from it. A view that is retrospective. A view of where you have been that connects memory with experience (and possibly longing).

In the midst of my retirement I had a chance discussion with a friend when I mentioned that, since I left full time work, people responded to me differently. He agreed and we discussed that moment at a party when you meet someone new and they say "So, what do you do?" and you know that your answer will give them a huge amount of information about you such your level of income, responsibility, education etc.  So how do people respond when you say you are retired now? And how does their response impact on you? More so how does retirement impact on you - those long days with no set pattern or task, with no status any more, possibly a much reduced income that means you may have time but not the cash to enjoy it ?

I come from the Baby Boomer generation and, in some ways, we never did have it so good. But as a man I worked and my work was important as it was meant to support my family. My mother had been eased out of work after the war as had many women and the second wave of feminism was still some way off, much less any vague (and often meaningless) recognition of equality. My mother brought me up to understand that I would be a bread winner and that this was a competitive field in which I had to excel or sink. Work meant something beyond just money as it gave status and recognition beyond the job you did.

So I began talking to men who had left behind full time work (interview is probably too strong a word as these happened over a cuppa in someone's home - although they always knew the purpose). My aim was to find how men from my generation felt about their status and to find a photographic way of illustrating this. There was also a guarantee of anonymity so people could feel as free as possible. So far I have spoken to thirty-six men and, despite different circumstances and backgrounds, their responses have had remarkable similarities. Many have delighted in the time to explore things which they never had time to do before. Many have become first stops for minding grandchildren which has brought joy. Some have brought a certain dread of technology, loneliness or older age. Some talked about confusion and how much things had changed. Some talked about the possibility of an endless repetition that they need to be inventive in shaking off - a sort of groundhog day which only you can find ways out of. There is no doubt that most enjoyed their work and had responsibilities that they fulfilled, however frustrating that could be at the time. Most valued their retirement although most also felt that some extra money would help them enjoy it more. Some felt that their skills were being wasted now.

I have used myself to model all the pictures taken. I also decided to create all the pictures in mono, my reason being that everything is not black and white, even when it seems that way. Whether they are meaningful or not I don't know yet. In a few pictures I have received help from assistants Alina Cretu and Miles Dyson when I have needed their advice or someone else to press the shutter. I hope to finish the sequence by the end of 2024 and find somewhere to show it after that, although it may end up in a monograph. I am probably not going to give the pictures titles, preferring people to reach their own conclusions....perhaps apart from the one below which I struggled with for  some time as I wondered how to best illustrate one man's heartfelt comment that he felt their was "nothing left"....