Read, then watch (and make sure to have a box of tissues at the ready.)

I was apprehensive at first about the thought of one of my favourite books Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro being made into a film. It is such a beautiful, moving and provocative book that captured me from page 1 and worried about how they would translate the heartbreaking but beautiful story so subtly captured on page on the big screen...

But wow, I take back all my reservations as is it was a brilliantly made adaptation. Whilst I still prefer the book (of course) the film comes very close to being just as good! Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and in particular (in my opinion) Andrew Garfield give stunningly moving performances that suit the books characters perfectly, still subtle but so touching. So well done Mark Romanek (director) and co. it is the perfect screenplay of such a wonderful book!

I don't want to give anything away about the storyline as it is book full of hidden meanings to discover and something that should definitely be read first and than given away, so I urge you to go read it first and then watch the film... it'll have you (like me) in tears.

Just thank me later!

21st Birthday Nostalgia

On the 9th August 1990 I was born in St Albans hospital... 21 years later I am looking back at all the baby photos taken on the day I was brought home from the Hospital.

Having lived a very spoiled and beautiful life, living in the same fabulous house for the past 20 years I feel very lucky and very nostalgic for my childhood. When asked what I wanted for my 21st I replied, to go with all the family to Disneyland Florida (come September this wish shall be granted). I am still a child at heart and feel sad that with only a year to go of Uni left, my carefree days are numbered.

Whilst I remain sad about leaving my childhood days behind I also realise that no money or mid life crises would make me go through puberty all over again (there are some upsides of being older and thus, debatably, wiser) but for now, here are a few reminders of those days where my whole life (literally) was ahead of me!












First day of school with big sister Emily


First ski-ing medal won

Fashion Shoot

I did a studio shoot for a Fashion student where the clothes patterns were projected onto the clothes. I loved the idea and here are some of the preliminary shots for you to see (they are all unedited and small format)

Stylist: Amelia Jane Arnold

Dazed and Confused's July 2011

Hello Dazed! This summer Dazed and Confused has brought one of their best issues to date, in my opinion. I finally got the time to sit down and flick through one of my favourite magazines before the August issue was sent through my door and boy was it a treat.

The front cover oozes vibrant sexyness with a brilliant shot of the one and only Beyonce Knowles looking as strong and beautiful as ever. The fantastic shoot by Sharif Hamza captured Beyonce's pop icon status perfectly, capturing the confident, fierce and breathtakingly beautiful 27yr old star. The juxtaposition of the run down location and the incredible outfits (made especially for the shoot) created a vibrant, incredibly cool and perfect atmosphere to capture one of this generations most successful and talented stars. Here's a little taster for all you bloggers...











After the Beyonce shoot, comes "In Bloom" a fashion shoot by photographer Viviane Sassen and styled by Katie Shillingford. This shoot has to be one of my favourite magazine pieces. The colourful flower field location clashing with the bold colours of the clothes modeled, creates the most visually vibrant and audacious fashion stories I have ever seen and I absolutely loved it and can't wait to try something similar myself.

So cheers Dazed for refreshing the fashion scene this summer. I was getting a little bored of the dull, unimaginative shoots that have been filling the fashion magazines at the moment.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2 premiere

Well to all you Potter fans like me out there you will be glad to hear that the new and final (sob) installment does not disappoint. I attended the Leicester Square premiere last night of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2, walking the red carpet adorned with hundreds of screaming fans starting from Trafalgar Square and through to Leicester Square (a 1/2 mile walk in killer heels, not fun but no falling on my face thankfully!)The crowd was incredible, all there to support a woman who wrote one of the most fantastic children books we've had in a long time J.K.Rowling, and for that I thank her for bringing me so much joy as a child right through to my teenage years and adulthood and also thank you for encouraging a generation of computer gamers and TV watchers to read again!

The last film is definitely the best yet and I encourage EVERYONE to go see it straight away.

After the film I was lucky enough to go to the after party, rubbing shoulders with some of the best actors. It was a brilliant night filled with booze, delicious food and dancing. I managed to score Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix LeStrange), David Bradley (Argus Filch) and Emma Watson's (Hermoine Granger's) autographs, but met many more of the cast!

It was the best night of my life and a perfect end to over 10 years of loosing myself in the world of Harry Potter and all his friends! A very emotional night not only for the cast and the creator J.K herself but for all us adoring fans too as we see the end of an era come to a close.

Some Summer Snaps

London's Calling

On Friday I went up to London for the first time in a while to see some new exhibitions before they all finished. First I headed to Whitechapel Gallery to see one of my favourite photographers Paul Graham. I love his snapshot style portraits that capture the individual perfectly. His vibrant colours and great compositions make his portraits unique and inspiring in so many ways. The exhibition covered the various projects throughout his impressive photographic career. I absolutely loved it and the exhibition catalogue is definitely on my birthday list!















I then headed on down to Tate Modern, one of my favourite exhibition spaces to see some of my favourite pieces in their permanent collection as well as having a look at what they have new to show. I was pleasantly surprised to view an exhibition of Diane Arbus, one of my favourite photographers, as well as Burke + Norfolk: Photographs from the war in Afghanistan, and a piece of work by an unknown photographer to myself, Tayrn Simon.

Diane Arbus









The Burke + Norfolk exhibition was really fascinating, Simon Norfolk went back to some of the sights John Burke photographed back in the C19th, recapturing contemporary versions of Burke's original Afghanistan images. The exhbition was really thought provoking and I loved Norfolk's vibrant, beautiful images of a war torn country, avoiding directly rephotographing Burke's original images and staying away from the cliched black and white war torn images, instead showing beautiful parts of the country along with war images.









I love London, it is definitely my favourite city and I am so lucky to live so close. I always just pop up, without planning to see anything in particular and love just wandering around the art galleries all around London and finding out about new artists. So I encourage you all to just take a day out your busy schedules, head up to London and just wander around all the art galleries. Apart from the big exhibitions it's always free to do so!