Travel Diary —

with Photographer Lottie Hampson

LOTTIE HAMPSON is a London-based artist who works across photography, illustration, food and ceramics.

Often her starting point, analog photography helps her to slow down. The images she makes are often quiet meditations on her surroundings; slowly building a sense of place through observations of light and landscapes, interiors and objects, and fragments of the people that inhabit these places.

In the past few years, finding herself craving simplicity, Lottie has focused on the small joys of daily rituals, which are mainly based around the kitchen table. Her oil pastels celebrate the joy of simple breakfast scenes.

Having come across Lottie's work online years ago, we collaborated with her on one of our special edition postcards. Recently, being curious to learn more about her journey, we asked her if she could take some photos on upcoming travels, and share more about her creative process. She took the following photos while traveling through La Gomera (Canary Islands), Wales and London. We hope you enjoy!

On Coffee...

My favorite way to make coffee is:

In a moka pot on a stove so I can wait and hear it whistle. It's a good lesson in patience.

On Travel...

I feel inspired when I visit:

Wales and Scotland, and on the River Dart in Devon. Rural Britain has my heart and it's always surprising me, despite how much I love to travel further afield...

I never leave for a trip without:

It's obvious, but my Canon AE1 camera and bundles of film.

On Ritual...

A place that feels like home is:

South Wales, by the Black Mountains.

Daily, I:

Drink hot water with lemon first thing, closely followed by coffee.

On Entertaining...

When I host, I always enjoy:

Starting with a martini is fun! And always a homemade dessert. Dessert comes first in my head when menu planning.

A go-to recipe is:

Sage-fried eggs

On "The Moment"...

To connect, I ask:

Rather than asking, I tend to spend time. Around an hour chatting with a cup of tea before picking up the camera. My photos of people are quite candid, so I like to catch them doing things, rather than posing.

The most unexpected moment I have captured on film is:

About ten years ago I took this photo at a festival in Wales. I climbed a tree whilst a band was playing on the main stage and looked up to see this couple who had seemingly just met. I took a photo without them knowing. Skip forward a year and my younger brother Alexei went back to the same festival and came back with stories. One of which was about a couple he met in the early hours of the morning, they told him that they had in fact met at the festival a year previous, up a tree! I showed him my photo and he was sure it was them. I posted it on my Instagram last year and by the magic of the internet it found its way to them- no longer together but this photo captured the start of a four year relationship. That's quite magic to me.

Lottie Hampson is a photographer and artist based out of London.

Follow along on her travels: @lottiehampson

All Photos by: Lottie Hampson

Lottie Hampson is a photographer and artist based out of London.

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