During the spring of 2024...

I produced a “Brighton Book” under the name ‘North Laine Photography’ in 2011 - this sold all 6000 copies. It was a very large book both in size and weight and featured many photographers. It was based on 11 years of producing a popular Brighton and Hove Calendar, which had in turn helped fund a gallery and studio in the North Laine.

The gallery and seperate studio ran, produced and exhibited public competitions, competition finalist shows, guest artist exhibitions and community art projects.

These were exhibited in one half of the gallery whilst popular images of the city were sold in the other half.

Again, like the popular calendar, the latter (popular image sales) helped fund the former (art, experimental and community photography) making for creative and vibrant indepently funded gallery.

I always intended to produce a smaller (approx 20x15cm) book of just my own images solely on the community of Brighton enjoying itself…. but time slipped by with other projects .... till now. About half of the proposed images for this publication will come from the period the first book covered / so about half the images proposed might of appeared in the previous larger book... I don’t know yet! The other half will definitely be fresh to book publication - though some may of been featured in the Brighton and Hove Calendars prior to the 2021 edition (when I handed over that publication).

All images were taken between 1998 and 2019.

I have mostly been taking photos of clouds and trees and ‘stuff like that’ for personal pleasure - after this period.

It is hot off the presses!

“Quite simply a cacophony of candidly captured, joyous moments. Pick up this book occasionally, open a double page spread randomly, turn the corners of your mouth up a little... and smile”.

For 17 years, NK Swallow produced the Brighton and Hove Calendar, a very typical example of Brighton’s ‘give it a go’ mentality. The publication started life on street pitches, before moving to the very popular North Laine Photography Gallery which Nigel launched above the much loved and quirky ‘Snoopers Paradise’. The calendars featured all the landmarks you’d expect, but had that something ‘extra’ as well, with an emphasis of showcasing images that the city’s population related to as “somehow capturing the reason why I live here”. This new ‘portable’ book contains images from those calendars and from his previous 2011, best selling (and possibly oversized!), ‘The Brighton Book’. All seasoned here with some previously hidden archive gems.