A Traveller’s Eye, A Thinker’s Heart
I like to tell stories. I like to take photos.
And I like to share them. Enjoy.
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AMARANTH MAN
Down a muddy path in a smallholder farm near Kamuli in Uganda, past rows of cacao and towering maize, my colleague Scott Christiansen and I found Samuel Ngobi standing in a field that seemed to glow as storm clouds rolled in overhead. Samuel grows amaranth. And in these parts of Uganda it grows well. As
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DANCIN’ UNDER THE BAOBAB TREE
The baobab tree has a most significant importance to the people of northern Ghana. The leaves and fruit provide an excellent source of nutrition while the bark has medicinal values. And it’s a magical tree venerated by the locals. My colleague, Scott Christiansen, travelled to the village of Punga, just a few klicks south of
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THE DOOR OF NO RETURN
Today my colleague, Scott Christiansen, and I stood inside Osu Castle in Accra – Christiansborg – built by the Danes in the 1660s on a rocky promontory above the Atlantic. It’s a beautiful building. But that is the first, uncomfortable truth. The second truth is darker. In the dungeons below its whitewashed walls, up to
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THE SWAN AND THE SEAMSTRESS
A Swan is a life-time investment. In fact, it’s a multi-generational investment. It’s a rip off of the classic treadle-powered Singer sewing machine of the late 19th century. As soon as the Singer lost its patent, the Swan company in China started mass-producing them and selling throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Every bit like the Singer but
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MOUNTAINS, HORSES AND JAILOO
On maps, Kyrgyzstan looks like a country made of ridgelines. Landlocked, mountainous and wedged between larger powers, it had intrigued me for years. I finally visited in July 2023 to photograph alfalfa. What filled my viewfinder instead were ‘jailoo’ grasslands, towering mountains, vast skies and horses grazing as if little had changed in centuries. Kyrgyzstan
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STILL KEEPING HOPE ALIVE
I had already made up my mind before I ventured to the steps of the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison. I was going to vote for Jesse. No doubt about it. But I still wanted to hear him in person — to feel the cadence of his stump speech roll across the crowd — and
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ALEX’S LAST GOOD TURN
As a boy growing up in rural Wisconsin, I used to ride my bike every Monday to the VFW hall, raise my hand and recite the Scout Oath. “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country … and to help other people at all times…” Scouting
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2026 IS THE NEW 1984
Back in 1984 I read ‘1984’ to see if George Orwell’s prophecy had been fulfilled. I thought it was a great yarn but it was a dystopian scenario that would never actually come true. At least not in my lifetime and certainly not in the United States of America. How wrong I was. ‘1984’ is
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THE SIGN IN THE WINDOW
I don’t know how many times I’ve yelled at my television and told world leaders, politicians and CEOs to get a spine and stand up to the bully in the White House. I’ve become pretty hoarse. But I know the reality. When that bully has control of incredible military, economic and political might you just
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