Amsterdam in Photos - Part One
October 27, 2017
London In Photos
October 20, 2017
So far, I've given you Brighton and Devon in photos. This month I am showing you London in photos, I'm also going to be giving locations for a few shots so you can see what each area I tend to spend time in looks like!
I took the time to walk along Embankment to Blackfriars bridge this time, something that I would usually do via tube but considering how lovely the weather was I thought it would be a good chance to get some snaps! The perfect place to get the typical touristy photos of phone boxes, bridges and red buses.
I then took the back route towards Jubilee Gardens and came across some lovely picturesque areas, so of course I took some snaps.
Jubilee Gardens also has some lovely places to take snaps of friends.
A snap of me taking a snap.
Then, walking along Embankment from the Tate Modern I found a skate park. I love the concept of skate photography but clearly didn't master it this time. However, take a look at the graffiti that is all over the walls, the shots I loved from this area were the ones that showed solidarity to Ariana and One Love Manchester.
Southbank centre was a very nice shade of yellow and deserved its own little snap. (is it tho?)
The vibrancy and life in London was captured completely in this, I stood and watched a group of people dancing along and having a generally wonderful time while watching a busker along southbank.
The Underworld, also known as my favourite live music venue.
gotta love some Labour promo, Camden was full of it.
Primrose Hill has the most wonderful view of the city. I come here regularly to watch the sun set with my friends after long days of exploring, sitting and chilling out while being surrounded by dozens of dogs as they're out on walks is a fab way to end a London day.
These photos do no justice as to how pretty the view is.
And of course, when in London you can't get anywhere without some form of public transport. I love the tube, I'm not sure why and most people think I'm insane for doing so but there is something so calming about the fact that everyone on there has their own lives and stories. Here's some shots from Camden tube station, (sorry to the random couple that I decided were photogenic enough for me to sneak some snaps of).
And that, is my photographic guide to a day in London. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any requests for places that you would like to see me photograph then leave me a comment or drop me a tweet, I'm really enjoying this little series.
Growing Up Online
October 16, 2017
The idea of growing up online is something that I have wanted to discuss on a blog post for a long while now, I often find myself thinking about where my life would be and what I would be like had I not spend such a vast majority of my time immersed in the digital world. Back in 2012 I made my first Twitter account at the age of twelve, now at the age of eighteen it is safe to say that I have spent a vast majority of my teenage years growing up and sharing parts of myself online. Not only have I changed immensely as a person since making that very first account, the internet community has changed immense amounts too.
After a few months of joining Twitter I came across the YouTube community and the concept of ‘YouTubers’. This was a world that, in the end, would be something that took up a vast quantity of my teenage years. I remember the first video that I watched was by Bertie Gilbert back in December 2011 which lead me to enter the world of fangirls, internet friends, and binge watching YouTube videos instead of doing my school work most nights.
It was a strange conversation to have with my parents to begin to explain that I watched people that put videos of themselves on the internet, let alone to suggest that I wanted to go to meet ups to gain the opportunity to meet these people that I ever-so-longingly looked up to. They’d always seen the internet as a dangerous place filled with people who disguise their real identity and intentions with you. For them to understand that these people were ‘real people’ was something that they still kind of struggle with now, they are still weary when I say I am going to meet my internet friends even now. It wasn’t until I attended Summer in the City in 2014 that they began to understand the idea of YouTube (especially because this was when the site was probably the most successful and the community was thriving the most). They began to accept that the people who created videos had viewers and both creators and viewers alike just wanted the opportunity to meet each other and generally be in an environment with a variety of likeminded creatives.
Three years after my first ever YouTube event I have attended two more Summer in the City’s alongside book signings and other events like the much more chilled out park gatherings. I have seen YouTube become a lot more commercialised than it ever was before, algorithms and sponsorship deals are what the site and its creators thrive off and watching this change was somewhat strange for me. Not only have I see how YouTube as a platform has changed but also the rise and fall of certain creators fame, proving YouTube and social media to be an immensely powerful stepping stone for hundreds of creatives who have used it as a way of reaching their further dreams away from the platform. Take Troye Sivan and Patty Walters for example, their massive following allowed them to have a much smoother transition into being successful recording artists in their genres than they perhaps would have otherwise had.
Watching all of this happen was bound to leave me inspired to create, giving me the sense of almost giving back to the online community that I had been a part of for so many years, which is why three years ago I made my first blog. Even looking back on this blog now I can see the biggest change in my personality and who I am, but one thing has stayed the same and that is my passion to create. Creating a blog and becoming a ‘creative’ was something that was always going to happen in my eyes, having such an easy access to platforms that allowed me to share my work was a godsend in all honesty. Writing will always be what I am most passionate about, making this first blog was my first sense of being a ‘creator’ rather than a ‘viewer’ of the content.
Currently, I am in the weird limbo of creator/viewer where as much as I am creating me own content on a regular basis I am also consuming content from people that I have looked up to for years (Dottie James, Dodie Clark and Lucy Moon to list a few). I think this is why for me this years SitC was so strange, because I would go up to my favourite creators as a creator and hold an intellectual conversation about creating, in the most part these were conversations about my writing and their writing too. It was strange to see the change in the creators attitudes towards me as they realised that I was serious about creating and working hard, that I wasn’t just some fangirl that had come to cry to them.
The hardest thing is that when you grow up online parts of you are always out there for people to find, if people looked hard enough they could find tweets from when I was twelve and a lot less educated on topics than I am now. You are definitely held much more accountable for your mistakes which are made while young on social media, people are constantly bringing up ‘receipts’ from bigger creators less educated days. It is important to remember that people are allowed to change and develop as people, that they are not going to be the same as they were and this is going to make their content change (Savannah Brown and Bertie Gilbert are key examples of this).
I’m sorry if this post was a bit jumbled up and didn’t make much sense, I tried to make it as coherent as possible bit sometimes my thoughts get a bit messed up when they come onto the page. If you have any thoughts about what I’ve mentioned about growing up online or want to share your own experiences of growing up online with me then be sure to leave a comment or drop me a tweet! I would love to hear your input on this xo
Creators I Like
October 13, 2017
Back in 2012 finding new creators was one of the easiest things to do, however five years on YouTube and other sites algorithms work to benefit those that bring them in the most income. For this reason it’s harder than ever for small creators to get their names out there and be discovered, this is the same for a lot of platforms - not just YouTube. Therefore I thought that I would put together a little post where I talk about my favourite smaller creators, whether they are artists, youtubers, bloggers, writers or lie anywhere else in the creative industry I will give them a share.
YOUTUBERS
EM JS - I may be biased because she is my best friend but everything that this little lady makes is like gold dust to me. She creates monthly vlogs which I often see her hard at work editing for hours on end, getting stupidly stressed at the speed of which her laptop works at. These videos are wonderful and I love them with my whole heart. She will also sit and talk to a camera about issues that she sees as important to be discussed, she is so young and yet she puts her thoughts together in such an intellectual and educated manner, I am so proud to call her my friend and highly recommend her channel.
NIAMH DUFFY - Niamh is a vlogger who has spent a vast majority of her teenage years on the internet, she has seen the rise and fall of different youtubers and has finally made her own channel. Her energy and charisma is something that I love about her videos, you can clearly see how much she loves being in front of the camera and creating and it makes you love her videos even more.
BLOGGERS
AMI LEAH - I’ve known Ami for over a year now and having watched her content develop over the time has been so wonderful. Though she doesn’t post completely regularly when she does the posts are so well composed and thought out, everything about her site is so pretty and just generally Ami. I hugely recommend that you give her blog a read.
LUCY MOON - Let’s be real here, Lucy definitely isn’t a small creator however her blog is probably one of her smaller platforms in comparison to the quickly growing following that she is gaining on YouTube (which is so deserved, her videos are fab). Lucy’s blog is a place for her to discuss things which perhaps wouldn’t fit into the video format, though still sticking to her ‘older sister’ style and speaking about life experiences and being as honest as she can about the topic she is writing about. Not only this but she beautifully articulates her views which makes everything about her blog all the more wonderful.
ARTISTS
ALEX FLORES - Alex is easily one of the loveliest creatives that I know (he does also run a blog) but I love his art way too much for me not to give it a mention. The care and dedication that he puts into it is so visible and I am so happy to see him succeeding and getting noticed for the effort that he puts into his work.
HEATHER AMENDOLA - I love Heather’s style of art, it is so wonderful and always leaves me so inspired to want to create (although nothing I do seems to compare to hers). She has worked with pop-punk/emo bands like Real Friends on merch collaborations and it is so wonderful to see people recognising her work as something that they would want.
A Letter to My 15 Year Old Self
October 02, 2017
Before this blog, there was a blog that I would run with my friends which would have weekly themes and we would discuss a variety of things. Recently I stumbled across a letter to my seventeen year old self while going back through the site after my lovely friend Niamh did a reaction video to her letter to her eighteen year old self. I thought I would take this change to write a little letter to my fifteen year old self, responding to some of the things that I said as well as putting in some life lessons.
Dear Fifteen Year Old Meg,
Please stop worrying about happiness and how you are going to feel in five years time and learn to live in the moment, you begin to feel a lot happier by living that way. Sixth form was one of the hardest times of your life, it was a whirlwind of emotions and ups and downs but at the end of the day you managed to work for good grades and get into university. You are going to go on a gap year and you are going to be moving to another country for nine months, as excited as you are you are also terrified to leave the town and people that you have loved to hate for years behind.
A year from turning fifteen you will begin to fall in love, or at least it might feel like it at the time. You are going to end up getting your heart broken and spending nights on end wondering why on earth you weren’t good enough and what was so special about the other girl that you were unable to give to him. Yet, in this you are going to manage to find yourself and your passions - it is going to inspire you to pick up a pen and begin writing all over again. Writing will become your remedy to all heartaches and struggles you face.
Right now, you still have no clue what you really want to do with your future, other than knowing that you want to take photographs. Even your teachers have told you that they couldn’t ever see you stuck in an office job, that you are far too creative for that. Studying digital photography for three years at uni will hopefully teach you enough about the industry and get you enough connections to avoid being stuck in a dead end job for the rest of your life.
You are also going to have travelled to Greece and are about to leave for Amsterdam, your first holiday on your own with a friend and you are going to see a band you love there. As for Australia, your fascination with the country has died down however you do still want to visit pretty badly (though your bank balance isn’t agreeing too much at the moment).
That YouTube video you wanted to post still hasn’t happened, but it is in the works. Things are happening and you have a burning desire to create everyday, whether this is through writing or editing or taking photos; you always need to have the creative outlet. You’re still a strange perfectionist who wont post anything until she is truly happy with it, and you always feel as though your work never compares to anyone else’s work. This is something that you are still working on, you need to stop comparing your works in progress to finished masterpieces that people have spent vast amounts of time on.
Stop hiding behind your computer, go out and live. The world doesn’t wait for you and you miss a hell of a lot when you are on Twitter all day.
Love,
Your 18 Year Old Self
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