With the glorious winter sun beating down, my final shoot of 2014 sent me rather fittingly, to the seaside town of Hastings. I arrived early, managed to pick up some last minute gifts in the quaint shops of the Old Town and then headed to one of the most popular stores, A.J. Hendy & Co’s Homestore to photograph it’s proprietor Alastair Hendy. Alongside his impressive image portfolio as a food photographer, he also owns a small folio of ancient buildings in the Hastings area that he has lovingly and painstakingly restored to their authentic former condition. The Homestore is one such project which is open daily to the public as a shop and is full of purchasable wares you wouldn’t think were still in production: thick, striped linen cloths, ostrich feather dusters, hardy silver cutlery. One step inside is like a time warp which of course was wonderful for me to photograph. Every room sprung new visual delights that would be worthy of  a portrait backdrop, but alas I had to limit it to as many as I could do in the time I had. It’s so hard to be decisive when you have such a vast choice!

Alastair himself, completely looked the part. Being in the industry he knew exactly what I was after and the hour we spent together flew by. We managed a quick shot outside one of his other properties, which he was in the process of opening for Christmas weekends, adorning it with homemade gingerbread decorations, and lighting it with candles. It was such a lovely end to a wonderful and productive year. To read more about Alastair’s labour of love click here