Tim Gander’s photography blog.

 by Tim Gander

Bye Bye 2022

What. A. Year!

It’s fair to say 2022 has been a bastard. I don’t even want to list the reasons here because it’s too depressing, we all know what I mean.

So perhaps it’s unsurprising if I feel a little guilty that I’m sitting here in a (relatively) warm home, with food in the cupboards while I look back on what has been an unexpectedly successful year for me. But feeling guilty isn’t constructive, so I need to do more in 2023 to give and give back where it can help others. I did some of this in 2022 and hope to do more 2023.

2022’s Achievements (and disappointments)

Before writing this, I checked what goals I’d set for 2022 to see if I’d achieved any of them. It turns out, I didn’t set much in the way of targets, but there was a vague hint in that post about something big.

That ‘something big’ was getting my book What Happened Here designed and launched in time for Photo|Frome in June, which I just about managed. Sadly, for the official launch I caught covid and had to bail out, which didn’t help initial sales of the book. However, it’s been going steadily ever since and even my local bookshop were keen to stock it! So now people can buy online from me, or walk into Winstone’s Hunting Raven in Frome and purchase a softcover copy in-person.

Photo|Frome 2023

Photo|Frome 2022 was a huge success, and while I did what I could to help with setting up, not long after launch I was under quarantine so missed most of the festival. We’re already working hard to make Photo|Frome 2023 happen, but finding cash for an event in the teeth of a recession will be no small task. If you’re able to help, do drop me a line!

What Else in 2023

My hope is that having diversified into video during lockdown, this recession might not hit me as hard as previous ones have. Businesses actively wanting to ride out the storm will need a combination of stills and video for their marketing. Being able to offer both is a huge advantage. Of course I can’t predict how much it’ll help, but I’m glad I have the additional skill now.

And Finally…

I’m going to leave you with a smattering of 2022 images, all from personal projects and trips made this year. They illustrate my key photographic interests when not on commission.

It just remains for me to wish you all a super Christmas and all the very best for the coming year. Let’s hope that in 2023 Putin is deposed, the Iranian government is replaced by people who understand civility and China stops acting like a petulant toddler.

Oh and thank you, in what ever way you’ve supported me over the past 12 months. It doesn’t go unnoticed!

Black and white portrait of musician Ralph Stelzenmüller looking to camera with organ pipes in the background.
February - A short break to see friends in Switzerland, including the highly talented musician Ralph Stelzenmüller
Installation of screens bolted together and facing a gallery wall reflecting back the different colours within each unit.
August - A trip to Compton Verney in Warwickshire to see work by David Batchelor
Outdoor photographer self portrait of Tim Gander holding his book What Happened Here
September - I put myself in front of the camera to promote my book
Square black and white minimalist landscape photograph taken near Chitterne, Wiltshire, with dark clouds above an undulating grass landscape
November - I manage a rare trip to Salisbury Plain to create a new landscape image
in My News / Personal Opinion / Personal Work 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

Has Video Grown Up?

This is the first in a short series of articles discussing the various pros, cons and considerations for businesses and organisations to get the most out of video. I’m going to start with a bit of background.

In the Beginning

In the beginning there were words, and words were good. Actually, images pre-date words by some considerable margin, but since Egyptian hieroglyphs are pictures which represent language, maybe it’s a moot point. I digress.

The point is, still images remain the most portable and often most potent and powerful method of disseminating information. There’s no denying though that video has exploded in popularity over the past decade.

Where Are We Now?

I don’t want to state the obvious, but let’s just recap that the power and popularity of video has its foundations in the convergence of Web 2.0 with digital cameras, followed by the rise of social media and easier access to the creative tools to bring us to where we are.

What has changed in more recent years is the refining of of the equipment and the editing software, bringing the craft within reach of anyone who understands images (namely photographers).

How Did We Get Here?

In 2008 the first full-frame digital SLR capable of video capture launched. It was “a game changer” but only in the right (experienced) hands. I wasn’t ready to offer video at that stage.

The tipping point has come with the emergence of mirrorless cameras, where the combination of stills and video capability in a single camera might be said to have come of age. It still requires more than just flipping a switch from Stills to Video, but that’s the nature of the medium, not the technology.

Where Do We Go Now?

All of the above leads to a situation where high quality video is now more accessible to a wider range of businesses than ever before. That isn’t to pretend it’s cheap or easy, but where it would previously have been impractical and excessively expensive to commission video for an SME’s communications, it can now be achieved with a far more attainable investment.

I mention it’s not cheap, but if you consider I can deliver a sequence up to 60 seconds long for a little over £1,000.00, that’s pretty astonishing. Of course overall cost depends on various factors which I’ll cover in a future article, but a few years ago that kind of budget would have left you with something you wouldn’t want associated with your brand. To have a video shot professionally and with any level of polish would have set you back £10,000.00 + and then you’d have the expense of getting it out there, most likely through paid-for advertising channels (more £££££££!).

Angled close-up photo of a mirrorless camera mounted on a video tripod with a follow-focus device attached.
Crossover stills/video cameras are highly capable machines now

Where Do Photographers Fit In This New Paradigm?

There are still differences between the service someone like me offers, and that of a full production company. However, like many photographers, my service is in addition to, not instead of, the Hollywood treatment. It’s a service which is positioned to give SME’s a step up into the world of video. The finer differences between this and the full production house service are an aspect I’ll discuss in another article later in this series.

I’m concentrating on in-house interviews, client testimonials and B roll (think flavour-of-the-event, office/business overview and retail events). Clips for YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram reels etc are an increasingly large part of my practice, often alongside stills work (not always practical or possible, but always worth asking about).

You can see some of my video work here.

That’s A Wrap!

If you’re not sure whether video has matured enough for your needs, I hope this article puts things in context. In simple terms, video is here, it’s more available than ever and it can be incredibly powerful.

Whether it’s right for your business is a question I tackle next time. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss it!

in Industry Comment 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

It’s A Steel!

It’s awards season! And not to be left out, I found myself at the Digital Impact Awards Europe gala dinner at Park Plaza Riverbank in London last week. Swanky, eh?!

Now I should clarify that I wasn’t personally up for an award, but was there as a guest of my client, Shaw & Co, and their brilliant branding agency, Design By Structure, who were shortlisted in two categories, ‘Best Digital Rebrand’ and ‘Best Use of Digital – Professional Services’.

I was invited to take a guest seat at the table because in my client’s words, “Your images and video are a central thread through our branding. You have to be there.” So I went, and I’m glad I did.

The Dream Warm-Up

The evening started brilliantly with a warm-up act by one of my comedy heroes, Mark Steel, who did his ‘grumpy about how rubbish everything is’ style of comedy aimed squarely at the difficulties of dealing with life in a digital world; passwords we can never remember and which are a PITA to recover was one superb stream-of-consciousness rant from the master of rants.

Mark co-hosted the evening, reading out the shortlisted entries to an increasingly loud (read drunk) audience, and occasionally threatening to have the next award handed to a member of the waiting staff if no one was going to listen to the announcements.

The Competition

My client and their agency were up against some really big brands (with even bigger budgets), so we didn’t expect anything much beyond the nice dinner and some free bubbly, so when they scored Highly Commended in both their nominated categories, they were absolutely delighted.

Bear in mind, this is a brand working with a fraction of the marketing budget of the likes of Canon Europe, DHL and Diageo who all scooped top awards, so to even have a nomination was a great result. Two nominations, even better, and to score Highly Commended in both, just astonishing.

Cornering the Comedian

To top my evening off I managed to corner Mark Steel to shake his hand and trouble him for the inevitable selfie, at which point he asked if I fancied having a beer with him! So we talked about his Radio 4 show, Mark Steel’s In Town, life as a comedian (how you can tell if someone’s going to make it in standup), then on to football, tennis and the joys of learning a foreign language (Mark is fluent in French so go find his Paris show on that previous link).

I have to admit, I came back on the train the next morning with something of a fuzzy head, but it was more the lack of sleep than an excess of alcohol. But as tired as I was, the thrill of seeing how my work played a part in a client’s success was heightened further by the experience of meeting someone else whose work I admire. Thanks for being a proper, down-to-earth gent, Mark, it was a pleasure to share a beer with you.*

Tim Gander (left) and comedian Mark Steel in a selfie
Mark Steel kindly poses for the inevitable selfie moment
glass awards trophies from the Digital Impact Awards gala dinner in London
Double Success!

*To be clear, we didn’t share the same bottle as that would have been weird and gross.

in Uncategorized 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

Through The Round Window

You have to be of a certain age (and British) to get that headline, but it was all I could come up with for this week’s post!

Spotting an Opportunity

This is a tale of how having an eye for a picture can lead to something much bigger.

One day in March of this year, I was shooting business portraits for a central Bristol client when I became aware of an unusual scene through the office window.

There was a building going up incredibly rapidly, Lego-style with large sections being craned into place at a speed I’d not witnessed before. It was only a few hundred yards away, so I had a clear view of its progress.

Anyway, I couldn’t spend the day watching this, but there were occasional lulls in the procession of people who sat for me when I could check on its progress.

Then, during an extended lull in sitters, I could tell something big was about to be craned into place, so I grabbed my second camera with a 200mm lens and shot a few frames. I was fascinated to see this amazing wall panel with its round window as it was gently guided into place by the crane operator, assisted by the construction workers on the deck.

The Decisive Moment

I wanted to capture the moment the worker’s hand connected with the edge of the panel, and that turned out to be the perfect shot. It seemed important to show the coordination and teamwork going on here.

Just as the section was lowered into its final position, my next sitter walked in. We broke the ice by chatting about the new building that was going up, how Bristol is transforming at a bewildering rate, then got on with the business of business headshots again.

A pre-cast section of Building C is craned into place during the construction of Assembly Bristol in Bristol, UK.
A touching moment

The Follow-Up

Once I’d finished all the portraits for the day, I went down to the building site, got the details of the construction company and made contact with them to see if they’d be interested in licensing any of the images.

When I sent a sample gallery through, including the iconic picture, they said it was too remarkable a photo to pass up! So we agreed a fee and they got the high-res image to use for their corporate communications.

The Unexpected Bonus

I thought that would be the end of it, but they’ve since commissioned me to shoot a set of progress pictures for a newsletter, and it sounds as if they’re looking to book me again later in the year.

Two construction workers stand on a concrete floor as another section of floor is craned into position. They reach up to guide it into place with a view of the Bristol skyline visible behind them on a sunny day.
Assembly Bristol, Building B under construction showing the modular building system in action.

The project is Assembly in Bristol; three office buildings constructed using a “kit of parts” method. All the wall panels, stairs, landings, floors and lift shafts are cast off-site, then craned into place. It means the buildings go up with astonishing speed.

I’ll be returning to my headshot client again soon and it’ll be interesting to see the building again so many months on. If there’s time, I’ll be sure to make another progress photo through the office window.

in Case Studies 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

The Pop-Up Job

One of the toughest tasks for a photographer can be to shoot a photo which works well in an extreme shape. Ultra-wide and extreme deep crops from a standard image ratio can create challenges. Shooting a full-bleed image for a pop-up stand is a perfect example of this.

A good illustration of what I’m talking about is the recent shoot I undertook for University of Bath’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. They needed a new image for their Sports Performance course pop-up banner which was needed for the university open day on September 10th. It wasn’t a massively tight deadline, but things had to move apace to get the image to the designer in good time.

The concept was to have a student in sports kit with a library scene behind. I’d shot something similar back in 2013, but where on that occasion I photographed the student against a plain backdrop so they could be cut out and placed against a library shot (literally a library shot of the library), on this occasion we decided to get the whole image done in-camera.

Twin netball players Jasmine and Jemma Nightingale very kindly volunteered to model and we set the shoot up on the 4th floor of the university library. It had the benefit of being relatively quiet, so I wouldn’t disturb too many students, and it just happened to have the right aisle configuration to work. It’s amazing how many aisles just weren’t right. Too narrow, a pillar, a window on the back wall, not “library-ish” enough; I eventually found one aisle I could work with.

I set up portable studio lighting to get full-length, even light on the sitter (I shot mostly individuals of Jemma and Jasmine). Even this was quite awkward because there wasn’t much floor space for lighting stands, and I also had to set up lights behind the sitter to lift the background so it didn’t look gloomy.

There were overhead strip LED lights in the ceiling which also needed to be on, but they were motion-sensor controlled. Every now and then I’d have to jog down the aisle to make the lights come back on. I certainly got my steps in that day!

Of course I forgot to do the BTS shot (I’ll remember one day!), so I can only show you the end result.

Pop-up stand final artwork
The final artwork which went to print
Sports Performance pop-up banner at University of Bath Open Day
The pop-up banner in use
single portrait of netball player Jemma Nightingale in a university library
Jemma Nightingale also posed, but the shot of Jasmine with a slightly different pose just worked better
twin female netball players photographed standing in a library aisle
Jemma (left) and Jasmine Nightingale in a double portrait
Portrait of a smiling female netball player looking to camera
Portrait of Jasmine Nightingale, a useful shot for other materials
two young female netball players walking away from a modern building
A useful stock image with plenty of design space around the subjects

But the location worked well. I made pictures with each student individually and a few of them together. The latter didn’t work so well for the tight upright format, but did make good alternative shots the university can use in other ways.

Once I was happy we had what we needed, I packed down the kit and we headed outside for a few alternative shots, again mainly for other uses.

Among my favourite shots from that session is the one of Jasmine and Jemma walking through the scene – their confident smiles and purposeful strides set against a modern University of Bath building (it happens to be the School of Management) make this a multi-purpose image that will sit well in either a web or print design.

One other technical aspect I brought into play was Lightroom’s new Enhance feature. Using AI, Lightroom can double the resolution of the camera’s native image. In the case of the pop-up stand image, that meant I could supply a file which was now 12,000 pixels on the longest side rather than 6,000, giving the designer a greater quality print out on the finished display.

Thanks to Sophia who sent me the photo of the stand in-situ on the open day, and I have to say I’m really pleased with how well the image works in the design, how it really ‘pops’ and catches the eye.

This kind of project is a creative and technical challenge, but with pre-shoot planning, adaptability on the day and careful treatment of the image files afterwards, it all comes together for a really satisfying result.

If you’re looking to have images taken for potential use in exhibition materials, bear in mind that they may need to be taken specifically for the format you’re working in. Stock images probably won’t be high-enough resolution (and will be too generic anyway), so feel free to drop me a line to discuss your needs and ideas to ensure you’re getting the best for your project.

in Case Studies / Uncategorized 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

Buckle Up! It’s going to get rough (again)

The previous 15 years has been a tough time for many, myself included, so what will this coming recession mean and what can I do to help your business?

The short answer to either of those questions could be ‘not a lot’, but I think there are ways we can coordinate our approach and help each other. Here’s a broad outline of my plans as we head into choppy waters.

In the wake of the pandemic, I set up a Startups Exclusive package. Aimed at those starting up new businesses, perhaps as a result of being made redundant or deciding on a career change after being furloughed, this is my most competitive package and is a gesture to help individuals or teams of up to three to get their branding images in the bag. It is limited to genuine startups though, so please don’t try to book this if you’re an established business 🙂

Since the fallout of the pandemic is still with us, compounded by Putin’s nasty little war, it seems fair to keep this package going for the foreseeable future.

The other way I can help your business communicate with your audience is through video work.

Now I’m not going to pretend video is cheap. Cheap video is cheap, but that doesn’t work for most professional businesses. Even the YouTube and Instagram influencer crowd has had to up their game, but good quality video, the kind you’d want representing your brand, has become far more accessible than it used to be.

With sensible pre-production planning, a day’s video shoot can often be edited a number of ways to suit different platforms and target specific audiences. It requires close collaboration and good communication to get the most out of a video session, but the results achievable with relatively modest outlay can be far better polished than anything a solo photographer could offer just a few years ago.

Check out the Video link on my website for examples of my work

To help clients save valuable marketing budget, I’m very open with clients about what I can do for them in terms of video. Before there’s any commitment between us, I’m happy to discuss an outline brief with you. If your project requires a crew or production company, I’ll tell you I’m not the solution you need. You’ll either have to increase your budget and find the right supplier, or trim your expectations to match your available budget.

If what you want is office B roll (a flavour of your team, culture and working environment, for example), that I can do. I can undertake interview projects, short promo videos – it basically comes down to what you require and what resources will be needed to achieve that.

Ultimately, where this helps businesses is they can now access a quality of video they simply couldn’t raise budget for previously, and video has definitely become more important in corporate communications than ever it was previously.

Underpinning the services I offer, I’ve always believed that communication, coordination and flexibility are the best routes to success. I’ve been freelance for almost 25 years now, and in that time I’ve seen clients flourish and I’ve seen clients fail.

Thankfully far more have flourished than have failed, but I can honestly say that the failures were always the ones least open to communication with me, least willing to take advice on how best to make a project work and a realistic view of the resources required. I was simply a tool for the task, rather than a collaborator in their project.

It will have been a wider, embedded corporate culture which lead to this failure for sure, but if you’re open to communicating, being realistic about what it costs to achieve your goals and can be flexible to adapt to changing needs, we can help each other.

The one thing to keep in mind is that I want you and your business to succeed, even through the toughest times. If we can achieve that, just think what we can achieve in calmer waters!

If any of this chimes with you, why not drop me a line? It’d be great to hear from you.

in Advice / Industry Comment 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

We’re Not “Post-Covid” yet

Looking at when I last posted here, it seems I’ve let things slip a bit. I hope you’ve missed me.

My excuse is I’ve been busy with work, a book, a photo festival and covid finally got me. Then I got over covid, and work came back with a vengeance.

Ok, a bit more detail to explain all this.

Since December 2021 I’ve been working on my first photo book, What Happened Here (the book of the Saxonvale project I shot between 2017 and 2019). I started work on the book when I agreed to be part of Photo|Frome. I was invited to be part of an exhibition and to present a talk on What Happened Here, which meant I really needed to have the book in place for the festival.

Putting a book together isn’t easy if you want it to be the best it can be, and never having done a book before made this an even more challenging kind of challenge. However, I worked with designer Victoria Yates for the book layout and colours, and graphic designer Nik Jones who produced a map to help tell the story.

Then as Photo|Frome approached I got involved with planning my talk as well as another event I was to be involved with, a conversation with documentary and portrait photographer John Angerson. All this while work continued to roll in.

But just as the festival got underway, John caught covid and had to pull out of his talk. Then I got covid and had to cancel mine. It was all a bit of a mess really, and deeply disappointing.

screenshot of photofrome website homepage
Screenshot of the Photo|Frome website

 

What I haven’t been disappointed by is the success of photo|frome. Although I wasn’t one of the main organisers, I did jump in to help and support as much as I could (cut short only by my testing positive for Covid for 10 days). The festival was testament to the need for high-quality talks and exhibitions around photography, and there’s little outside London that caters to such a broad range of people as Frome’s festival did. The plan is to make it even bigger next year and they’ve already got national and international photographers lined up.

Equally encouraging has been the reception my book has received. I had people reserving copies before it was even printed. I expected to sell the majority of the books at my talk, but sales have been steady even without that. And because the book is very limited edition (just 50 hardback copies and 100 softcover versions), there’s a risk that by the time I come to reschedule the talk, the books might already be sold out.

So there you have it. I think it’s fair to say I’ve been a bit preoccupied lately and that’s not going to change drastically in the next few weeks at least.

I have my talk to reschedule, client work to handle and I’m also painfully aware just how neglected my current personal project on Salisbury Plain has been. I need to get back to that before it keels over completely.

In the meantime, if you’d like to support my personal work, and be the proud owner of a very limited edition photo book, head over here to purchase your copy of What Happened Here. Every copy I sell justifies all the stress and hard work just that little bit more.

Thank you,

Tim

in My News / Personal Work 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

Portrait of an Artist

Any serious photographer will relish photographing a great artist, so I certainly enjoyed this photoshoot.

At just 26 years old, Eli Gander has rapidly built a reputation as one of the finest tattoo artists around. Now if the name sounds familiar, I’m Eli’s dad so you might think I’m biased.

But bear in mind that Eli has a permanent waiting list. She has over 15,500 Instagram followers and she’s just opened her own tattoo studio. She has invitations to work as a guest artist at other studios, which shows how much respect she’s already gained. Did I mention she’s just 26 years old? Think about that for a moment. So yes I’m biased, but her progress has been astonishing.

Eli’s Story

Eli decided she wanted to be a tattoo artist when she was a teenager. She started her training when she was too young to have a tattoo herself, and she pretty much put herself through hell to get there, often holding down waitressing jobs to pay her way.

Now all that grit and determination is paying off, and I can’t tell you how excited I was to visit her newly-opened studio in the heart of Trowbridge to shoot a few portraits for her website and social media channels.

The pictures

These are just couple of the images I took. On the left is one shot into a mirror to condense as much of the mood of the studio into a single image as I could. And on the right is one she hasn’t used, but is a wonderful, un-guarded moment.

Eli’s style is intricate botanical designs and since her studio is festooned with plants, it was inevitable I would bring these elements into the images.

British tattoo artist Eli Gander
This portrait was taken looking into a mirror to compress elements in the space.
British tattoo artist Eli Gander
A joyous picture, even if it never gets used.

To see more of Eli’s work, visit her Instagram account or the Alchemilla website https://alchemillatattoo.com/

I’m looking forward to seeing Eli’s practice grow. At this rate she’ll be taking the world by storm pretty soon.

in Case Studies 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

Why Media Studies Are More Important Than Ever

Where are we now?

Media Studies is a subject which is often viewed with disdain, sometimes suspicion. Certainly at GCSE level it’s often seen as a less academic subject, a bit of an easy one. And to my discredit I’m pretty sure I’ve held that view too. To be honest, I hadn’t given it much thought for many years, but either way I’ve certainly changed my mind now.

I would go even further and say that the subject very much needs to be brought to the fore, studied at all ages and all levels. No longer a Cinderella subject, it must be taught at a high-quality and given the same standing as any ‘mainstream’ subject.

Why this shift in opinion? And why am I bringing this up now? I can give the same answer to both questions – because we’re all now so immersed in media, we barely even recognise it, and when we do, we often misunderstand it.

So What’s the Problem?

Traditionally we think of ‘the media’ as being newspapers, magazines, television, radio, with the internet now a part of how those traditional media operate. But of course social media is also a large part of the media we consume (possibly the largest part).

The information we gain from sites such as Twitter, Facebook and similar are an un-edited deluge of personal opinion (often fed by exposure to other, un-edited social media opinion). It’s trite to say information can be disseminated at break-neck speed via these channels, what is less trivial is the effect it can have.

In particular when the information is untrue, contradicts the truth or even distracts us from core issues, the harm this un-edited information can cause has a real affect on our understanding of events and issues concerning us.

How Can Media Studies Help?

One of my pet peeves is the derogatory use of the term ‘mainstream media’. The term itself is useful to describe the main channels. However those who use it with disdain usually neither understand what they mean by it, or have any real understanding of the media organisations they’re trying to deride. It could even be argued that social media is now mainstream.

I’m not suggesting media studies should be used to simply to fill this knowledge gap. I happen to believe everyone would benefit from it. We can all have a better understanding of all the media we interact with if we start with a broad knowledge of how it works.

We need to become more analytical and critical of the messages we see, regardless of their source. The strained relationship with the truth that we’ve witnessed from Vladimir Putin and, sadly, from our own government is easier to analyse if we have the tools to dissect the message.

Former Question Time presenter David Dimbleby points to take a question from an audience member during a recording of the programme at University of Bath
YOU NEED MEDIA STUDIES

Who Should Be Studying Media?

Now I’ve said that media studies needs to be taught at all levels, and by this I mean at least from same age as sex education. We need to start from a young age. With children exposed to 100s, even 1000s of media messages a day it’s vital they have the knowledge to understand what they’re consuming. Their lives are a world away from the 3 channels of TV I grew up with.

Conclusion

Our understanding of the world around us, from local to national, climate change to conflict, is shaped not only by the information we receive, but also by our understanding of the channels by which it comes to us. If we don’t understand the mechanics behind the message, we cannot analyse the message itself. And if we can’t analyse it, we often take it at face value.

In that instance, information becomes weaponised and dangerous. Having the knowledge to counter this would be truly liberating.

in Industry Comment / Personal Opinion 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

Hacked Off

Ukrainian flag
are hackers Putin's virtual invaders?

Is Putin’s War the Cause?

It’s possible I’m turning into a conspiracy theorist, but having had my website hacked twice in two weeks, each time within hours of tweeting something derogatory about Putin and his invasion of Ukraine, I have had to wonder if there wasn’t a connection.

Even if it’s un-related, it’s been a complete pain in the !@*^# to sort out. It has disrupted my schedule and soaked up my time; I’ve had to postpone blogging for two weeks, I’ve postponed much-needed updates to my website, I’ve been trying to compose the text for my book What Happened Here as well as handle client enquiries and prepare for up-coming work. All this has been disrupted while I tackled the situation.

All that might sound trivial, and of course compared with the horrors being inflicted on Ukrainians by Putin’s invasion, it is indeed piffling. But if these hacks do have tentacles reaching back to The Kremlin, that would make them part of Putin’s war effort. Ok, perhaps that’s going too far. If it’s a theory with any legs at all, it could simply be part of a mass, un-targeted attack on any IT vulnerabilities the hackers can find, regardless of their importance.

Impact on the Sole Trader

The impact of these hacks is also greatest on those of us who operate as sole traders and freelancers because we don’t have large resources to fight back. Even with outside help, we’re having to be there liaising and dealing with the situation. We can’t just hand the problem off and go and do other tasks. If you’re a sole trader handling sensitive customer information through your website, it could be crippling.

Thankfully I did manage to get some help from my wonderful web design colleague Ben who finally got everything back to normal. I have now beefed up the security to a level which should keep the hackers out. Only time will tell.

And Just… WHY?!

Dismissing my earlier, possibly paranoid theories, it still begs the question of why my site. I haven’t the foggiest idea what the hackers wanted to achieve. There were malicious files found (now deleted), but there is no client database to compromise, no e-commerce aspect to the site. Presumably it was “just because we can” hackers.

Hacking is big now. It affects everyone. From personal Facebook accounts to huge corporate databases, everyone now has to spend more time battling hackers. We could be approaching a time when we’re spending more time using technology to sort out problems caused by technology (or more accurately, the misuse of technology) than we are using technology to assist our lives and livelihoods. Technology could be on the way to becoming a zero sum game.

Chain Reaction

Now I know this next conspiracy theory is straying into tin foil hat territory, but last weekend I was on a bike ride with my best friend. He commented that his blue and yellow bike was in the colours of Ukraine. Twenty minutes later, his rear gear mechanism packed up and his pedals would only free-spin. He couldn’t pedal anywhere and had to call his wife to come and pick him up. Coincidence? Or conspiracy? You decide!

in Industry Comment / My News 0 comments