I visited Simon Annand’s excellent exhibition The Half at The Lowry in Manchester on a wet saturday afternoon. Black and white portraits taken over 25 years give a rare glimpse into those intimate moments as actors prepare for the stage. Everyone from Daniel Craig to Joss Ackland is here, and beautifully captured. It was certainly an inspiration for my own theatre photography.

Because I regularly photograph the Yorkshire & Northumberland coasts, I was keen to see The Sea, an exhibition of paintings by Maggi Hambling and L.S. Lowry also at The Lowry. Maggi’s sumptuous, dramatic sea studies contrasted perfectly against Lowry’s calm, fragile paintings. Thankfully, not a matchstick man in sight!

Note: The photo was taken on my iPhone and I recently came across a website devoted to iPhone photography. Have a look:  www.iphoneography.com