The other evening, my son and I went to More London, to an open air photographic exhibition by Tom Stoddart. What an amazing evening we had! It started poorly with me being delayed just outside London Bridge train station due to a points failure 
So delayed in fact, that I thought we had missed a great deal with the photographer being scheduled to give an introduction to the exhibition.
We arrived, and instantly became immersed in images which had such power and intimacy. From behind one image wall, a chap approached, apologised for interrupting our appreciation of the pictures and proceeded to introduce himself as the one and only Mr Tom Stoddart! More than that, he said if we had the time, he’d tell us about all his images on display if we wanted! If we wanted??? Didn’t we just 
My son reflecting on the introduction to the exhibition. Inspiring!
There then followed the most amazing time, with the photographer and his assistant, hearing the stories behind all his images on display. Torturing, sensitive, soul destroying stories of time spent with subjects in areas of conflict, in order to take the most personal and striking pictures possible.
L to R: Tom Stoddart, Me, my son, Glyn Strong
L to R: Tom Stoddart, my son, Glyn Strong
Me: gushing!
The image behind me was taken in Sarajevo. A defiant and striking pose from a local woman in the context of a war zone. Whilst telling us the story of this image, Tom nonchalantly mentioned that Angelina Jolie had recently rung him up (as you do!) and asked if she could have this image for her wall as she had recently directed a film about the conflict in Sarajevo.
I mean to say, how amazing do you have to be for someone like Angelina Jolie to have your number, and more importantly, to use it?!
My son and I had the most inspiring evening in the company of the nicest Geordie we’ve ever met – what a lovely and genuinely nice chap Mr Tom Stoddart is. I will be following his work closely and urge anyone who is in London, at this very special time for our capital, to visit the More London area and take in his amazing talent. Enjoy!
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Today, in Wales, its St Dwynwen’s Day. This is our equivalent of St Valentine, although not officially recognised by the Vatican any longer. We think that’s the Vatican’s loss 
