The Secret Map by Simon Slater

19/01/2023

Divine

Under the sheltering Sky. Maasai Mara, Kenya 2022

Available as fine art print: [email protected]

Canon 1DX Mark III
70-200mm f/2.8 IS USM

22/08/2022

My hometown, Hay-on-Wye.

In 1977, Richard Booth declared himself "king" of Hay-on-Wye in order to save the Welsh border town from economic ruin. Now, the famed spot is celebrating his legacy.

13/03/2022

Feeling blue?

Check out my latest photo series, 'Projecting Growth': https://the-secret-map.com/2022/03/12/projecting-growth/

13/09/2021

What a great personality. This is a really worthwhile watch about getting into a street photography mentality.

John Free is a social documentary photographer. John has taught at USC, UCLA, PCC, LACMA and has worked professionally at this craft for more than 45 years. ...

08/08/2021

Yakitori Alley, Drunkard's Alley, P**s Alley, or as it's more formally known, Omoide Yokocho (Memory Lane), is a delightfully ramshackle hodgepodge of slender, barebones bars and restaurants just off Shinjuku station in Tokyo.

It was an illegal drinking spot in the 40s and still has that underground vibe. A fire ripped through the alley in the 90s destroying the businesses, but the government funded its restoration to how it was before. This preservation of traditional culture is definitely a Japanese trait, but something that is not strictly adhered to in Tokyo, especially in the ultra-modern commercial district of Shinjuku.

You can see more purple-tinted cuts from the evening I took this over on le gram de Insta:

18/07/2021

Last weekend saw the return of live hip hop to Bristol in a club below the train station. In the shots are Creatures of Habit, Verbz, and Smellington Piff.

22/03/2021

In the past, this gent would have been leading a white stallion into battle; in the future, an x-wing or similar speedy spacecraft. But this is modern-day Hanoi, and most people zip around on scooters. So until those x-wings go into production, that's where you'll find him.

See the full photo essay from my trip to northern (and a little of central) Vietnam two years ago here: https://the-secret-map.com/2020/03/01/returns-vietnam/

Have you been to northern Vietnam? What was it like for you?

11/03/2021

I can't remember his name, or what we talked about, but I'm glad he agreed to a portrait as a memento. We chatted as the daylight was fading and I was taking a final walk around Trinidad, a delightful and very welcoming town in Cuba.

See the full Cuba set here: https://the-secret-map.com/2020/04/28/streets-of-cuba/

09/03/2021

There’s a lot of turbulence in Myanmar at the moment, which is difficult to digest, but it was great to see this short behind the scenes film shot by Wesley Chang Photography and starring Dylan Goldby - Photographer as they ventured deep into the Burmese hills of what used to be headhunter territory to gather portraits of elders and stories about how their face tattoos came about. Good work, boys.

This week's video is something a little different. Just over a year ago, I flew down to Myanmar to continue working on my long-term Tattoos of Asia project. ...

07/03/2021

A simple scene on the outskirts of Kampot, Cambodia.

I have so many fond memories of this area. I first visited with my brother, staying at a gorgeous all-natural resort on the other side of town than where this pic was taken. I bumped into the owner as soon as I came into town on my last visit before heading to her guesthouse. It felt like coming back to both a second home and a second hometown.

I also got to see Doray, a girl whom I had made a portrait of riding her buffalo on my first visit, and who had grown up a lot since then, as well as Dich Yorn, an incredibly friendly chap who lives just down the road from where this pic was taken.

It was great to meet up with Scott Rotzoll - Photographer, first in Phnom Penn on my first night, as we surveyed the massively changed skyline of a city in flux, then again down in Kampot, where we'd met up previously the first time he arrived in Cambodia, and where we had also met Doray, her friends, their elders, and been generally fascinated by Cambodian village life. Unfortunately, we didn't link up with friend Chris Cusick Photography who was injured in Siem Reap. The three of us had enjoyed a great time previously in Phnom Penh and had struck up a great friendship when we all lived in Korea.

It was also lovely to see my Cambodian friend Mum Place, who was amazing at both running a great backpacker's beach restaurant and guesthouse despite an unrelenting Chinese casino boom happening all around her, and for taking care of me when I passed out from sun stroke, eventually putting me up for the night.

Returning to places and especially reconnecting with the people you met there is the kind of travel I value more these days. This is why I'm looking forward to reconnecting and continuing stories with people back in the UK this spring.

I have plenty of Japan photographs to share from my two years here, but in the meantime, here is one of my last blog entries from my last (but hopefully not last) visit to Cambodia, from city to beach to countryside in ten days.

https://the-secret-map.com/2020/03/15/returns-cambodia/

27/02/2021

A visual social distancing message in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

While Japan is, in general, a socially distant society in terms of personal space and bodily contact, kids are always going to be kids. Although I think this is just a cute graphic meant as a light-hearted reminder to everyone.

13/02/2021

Lunar new year in Bangkok's Chinatown two years ago was a treat. Those were different times...

See the complete photo story here: https://the-secret-map.com/2020/02/02/returns-part-2-bangkok/