Lunchtime. Between assignments I find myself in a familiar town. I’d been here before photographing what at one time was one of the largest opencast coal mines in Europe. By then it was one of the largest scars in the landscape, unfortunately a not uncommon sight in south west Scotland. The opencast mine closed only recently and there were plans to redevelop site but nothing much had changed on my return.

Ten years ago and the New Year 2000 celebrations in London were being billed as the biggest ever fireworks display. Thousands of people were expected along the embankments of the River Thames from where the display would take place. Having already scouted along the Thames looking for a vantage point to photograph the “River of Fire”, I was offered an assignment from Time magazine. Now I could forget about standing around in the cold for hours as Time had had a room with a view!

Doesn’t time fly when you’re enjoying yourself. Or not, if your New Labour D:Ream didn’t work out exactly the way you had hoped.

The night before the 1997 General Election I photographed Tony Blair at his local Labour Party club in Sedgefield in the north of England. The slogan, “Britain Deserves Better” may have changed in its meaning by the time his premiership came to an end.