So this was the first day of Operation Major Project, at least without the weight of other pressures competing for my mind. It’s going to be a gradual process to develop this project over the next few weeks and months as both my subjects have busy lives and I’m wary about pushing too hard in case I put them off. Like many (all?) projects it’s difficult at this point to make too many predictions about what the work will look like and what form it will end up taking. I’m trying follow the advice of Ed Kashi, our external tutor in the planning stage a few months back, and remain as open minded as possible – the word I think he used was ‘nimble’. Not particularly easy for a control freak like me, but that’s something I’m aware I have to overcome or documentary photography is going to drive me mad. I’ve asked myself many times over the past few years why I’ve been so interested in doing a photo story on the new Roma community and what am I trying to say. It’s still not something I find easy to answer but I suppose it’s really just about celebrating their culture yet at the same time showing something pretty mundane: ie that no matter what someone’s background, we are all essentially the same.