Cowboy Klaus

I don't have to try to be a bit different. It comes naturally and it sits comfortably with me. Photography is different.

It's a challenge to select non-cliché images. I do like to buy the occasional photography magazine but they tend to publish images that 'I've seen before'.... perfectly composed, technically good and in many regards interesting. But they're not emotive.

The more I visit exhibitions or go to The Real Camera Club at the Whitworth Gallery, the more I connect with the art world. I love how it's opened my eyes to a world that's not quite as it seems. Cognitive processes are, in many regards, illusory. So, to view things in the abstract helps me make more sense of the world and myself.

This man was a hiding stall holder at the Manchester Xmas market. He seemed to want to sit on the outside of the commotion, interested in what was going on, but not wishing to be part of it. I love watching such outsiders. They' tend not to display automatism like the thronged masses around them. They observe and are mindful. They are interested in what others are doing but don't quite get why.

The day was a good one. My old uni' buddies Claire and Helen were visiting from down south. It was brill to see them and hear the gossip from Canterbury. Our conversations went from being quite intellectual and academic to the sheer pottymouthedness and profane. No guest of mine can come to Manchester without experiencing the delights of North Tea Power, a perfect place for a natter with friends.

We went back to mine for a throw together tea of homemade lentil slurry soup...I can just imaging M. Roux saying "you've got the seasoning spot on but it looks like a dogs dinner in a toilet". To follow, we had veggie black pudding butties! Yummy!

Then, it was back into town to the Xmas Market and a few pints in a Northern Quarter pub that was playing trip-hoppy-jazz-funky shit! I loved it.