Travel is not just about the places we travel to; it is about the people we meet along the way. And when such meetings develop into friendships that are sustained long after the journey has been completed, that is precious indeed.
In street photography the moment is everything; press the shutter too soon, or too late, and as Cartier-Bresson said, the moment is lost.
I am passionate about travelling and at the moment, when travel is on hold, I am naturally dreaming of where I will go when we can all travel again.
I went to Syria in 1996, when it was a very different country. Today I can’t help wondering about the fate of the people I met there.
When I told people that we were going to North Korea, or the DPRK as they prefer us to call it, I got one of three reactions. From our traveller friends, ‘wow, that will be interesting’. From others, either ‘why on earth would anyone want to go there?’ or ‘gosh, you’re brave – hope you come home again!’
‘This place is going to be in a book you know. But you’ve come too early; it won’t be out for a month.’