Value Isn't Always Measured in Money

Photo: William Rhys Hamer

Ten years ago I shot an unpaid mini documentary about vermouth for a restaurant in Wrington. I had no idea what it would set off.

At the time I was still building a career in film and photography, and I understood value differently. Not in invoices, but in the chance to learn, to develop a style, and to see what I could actually do with a camera.

That project was for The Ethicurean, introduced to me by a neighbour. Back then it was named the second-best restaurant in the UK by critic Marina O'Loughlin. That first film with Matthew and Iain Pennington led to a wooden boat builder in Falmouth, and a film called From Timber to Tide that picked up a Vimeo Staff Pick. That was the moment I knew this new career direction might have legs.

More work with The Ethicurean followed, and the style I built there eventually led to paid work including a five year run with Pukka Herbs. Iain left the restaurant and became a close friend and collaborator, joining me on shoots in California, a soaking wet Scottish rainforest, and the Swiss Alps. He's since become a colourist, still very much part of the story.

The restaurant has since closed, and both Matthew and Iain ended up in Scotland. In Edinburgh, Matthew and his partner Nicola brought me in to shoot their book Do Ferment for the Do Books series.

Two years ago Iain and I started a series of self funded documentaries in Scotland. William Rhys Hamer of The Wilder Kitchen found them, and the three of us shot our fourth project together last week. That work brought Banjo Beale into the picture, and I recently filmed with him for Visit Scotland.

One small, unpaid project a decade ago. A chain of connections neither of us could have mapped out in advance. Still running, still finding new places to go, still making new friends.