Ernest Journal - Living Small

A feature exploring the lives of people who live in tiny homes, small micro-dwellings on trailer bases, on the west coast of Canada. 

"The first tiny home dwellers to open the doors of their micro- house to me were Max and Heidi, who have been living in their quirky 200ft-square house for just over two years. They built the whole thing themselves (albeit with a little help from their friends) for around £700, and every nook and cranny echoes their eccentric personalities. The fact that it ended up being a little shorter and a touch taller than they expected makes sense when you’ve spent more than five minutes with Max. And the hammock strung above the bed to dry nettles, toy figures balanced on wall boards, and the homemade cider stashed behind the loft ladder seem perfectly natural when you’ve seen Heidi’s creative side in action."

Exerpt from Ernest Journal Issue 2, August 2014, Words and photographs

Pretty Nostalgic - Pay it Forward

A six page article exploring collaborative consumption, a rising trend in the alternative economy. 

"In the last year, I’ve found myself couchsurfing in Spain, crowdfunding a community park in Berlin, lift sharing to a festival and borrowing a pressure washer off a complete stranger. Yes, this has been my initiation into a growing global phenomenon known as Collaborative Consumption.

So what precisely is Collaborative Consumption? It encompasses any kind of trading, swapping, lending, bartering and reuse of items, turning away from the idea that we need to all own our own things and focusing instead on collaboration and sharing. The ideas behind this movement are not new; during the first and second world wars there was a waste-not-want-not mentality, where people joined together to make sure nobody was without and nothing was wasted. But post-war, the emphasis shifted towards consumerism, with disposable belongings and generous spending indicating affluence and fuelling the growing economy."

Excerpt from Pretty Nostalgic Magazine, Issue 06, March 2013. 

Pretty Nostalgic - Up with the larks

A four page featuring chronicling my first WWOOFing experience and my learning along the way.

"It’s 7.45am on a beautiful autumnal morning, and I’m walking through a low mist on my way to feed the pigs. Pheasants scatter as I cross the field, and I can hear the geese honking in the distance. Somehow it’s hard to believe that I’m only half an hour from home and in just a few days I’ll be back at work in the centre of Bristol.

This is my first time participating in an activity known across the world as WWOOFing. For
the uninitiated, WWOOFing stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. It's based
around the idea that you volunteer your time on a farm in exchange for food and board, learning all about organic farming and meet interesting people along the way. There's no cost involved, other than a £20 annual membership, which gives you access to hundreds of farms across the country. You're generally expected to work for between 25-35 hours per week, but on many farms you’re treated as a member of the family during your stay, eating and socialising alongside your hosts. People often use it as a way to travel abroad without breaking the bank, but in the UK there are hundreds of amazing opportunities just down the road."

Excerpt from Pretty Nostalgic Magazine, Issue 05, Jan 2013.