Who I am: I’m a French-South African arts and culture journalist, art critic and writer based in London (bylines in the New York Times, the Guardian, the Art Newspaper, the Times, the FT, the Quietus, Plaster, Elephant and more).
What this Substack is: I constellate. As well as writing fulltime, I’m also a musician and an artist and, one of these days, an author. An editor I loved working with, called Andrew, once compared me to an advent calendar, which made me smile at the time, but now also strikes me as a good descriptor for what I’m doing on this Substack: giving you, each week, a few good things to look at and read and listen to — or walk along — that will hopefully bring some light into your day.
Why “Untitled, 1974”: The title of this Substack references the above William Eggleston, a postcard of which I’ve had tacked to the wall above every desk I’ve had for longer than I can remember. It features one girl, in a blue dress with white ruffles, lying on a floral sofa with downcast eyes, and her friend, in a batik print red and white dress, leaning in with a gentle gesture and a direct gaze, as if to simply say, “I’m here. I’m right here”. (As it turns out, that’s exactly what she was saying.)
What my readers say:
“i've missed seeing you and felt like reading your stuff would be a lovely way to feel in your presence and it does and that made me very happy”
“I saw! I squealed! I devoured it!”
“A lovely counterpoint to all the noisy ones assailing my inbox. No chance that I'd unsubscribe!”
“Ooh it’s brilliant! ‘Professional noticer’ is so, so good, and so apt for you.”
And the one that made me blush: “Vom Privaten auszugehen und daraus eine Allgemeingültigkeit abzuleiten: ganz im Sinne Adornos! Und natürlich britische Essaykunst, die Du ganz wunderbar beherrscht. Wirklich wundervoll: Was Du schreibst, wie Du es schreibst und was Du da alles (en passant) unterbringst und an Ideen und Anregungen verschenkst!”
Subscribe for free to get the newsletter in your inbox.
