VIsting the Hockney Photographs exhibition at the RPS in Bath in 1984 was during one of the most formative weeks of my life. Not only was this my first photo exhibition, but also the first time I walked round Bristol and Bath.

Art which plays with convention encourages us to look at things differently. To challenge us to change our approach. To get us out of a rut. To try something different. To experiment.

Photographing James and his vibraphone on Level 8 of a Bristol car park. When I photograph I travel light. One camera. One lens. No studio lights. Only natural light.

I use Instagram to look at photos by the talented people I follow but this is getting increasingly difficult to do…

Marc Wilson's opus is 738 pages short. A book that deserves time. Time to dwell on the 350 photographs, read intently the 22 personal stories, pore over the captions and maps in an attempt to have a modicum of understanding of the horror.

“It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera… they are made with the eye, heart and head.” Henri Cartier-Bresson

Why did the Telegraph call Alec Soth the “… greatest living photographer of America’s social and geographical landscape.”

“I take photographs in my neighbourhood. I think that mysterious things happen in familiar places. We don’t always need to run to the other end of the world.” Saul Leiter

This list began as we hibernated during the first Coronavirus lockdown in March 2020. It is a selection of my favourite photobooks, each taken down from the shelf that day. They may have been chosen because of my mood, my preferences, the news, or the weather.

I cannot remember how I discovered Saul Leiter, but find him I did. I was immediately struck by his atmospheric, painterly images.