I started CATCH from a tiny room during lockdown, when we were starved of real connection.

Plenty of time to think, and think ahead and worry that we might not make the most of our time.

The time with each other, the time exploring.

The long lunches, the new locations, the lost moments.

I was also increasingly addicted to my phone. Wasting away.

Taking and sharing photos became a way to channel my creativity, express myself and connect with other people.

And then film provided an experience that was completely novel.

The unknowns, the wait and of course the film aesthetic.

Film felt how life should, or what I wanted life to be – a bit slower, more honest and unpredictable.

It’s taught me that to go far, you have to slow down.

To connect, you have to disconnect.

And the best way to extend a holiday is to have a few rolls of films to get developed when you get home.

There is irony and tension in CATCH, but I believe it is a pull back to how things were, and more importantly a pull away from the way the world is evolving.

You shouldn’t need permission to pause. You don’t need permission to create.

But without these two things, I think we will very quickly end up lacking purpose and identity. And that would be awful.

Even worse, we all end up the same.

CATCH is my reaction to that possibility, and I hope enough of you will agree to make it a worthwhile pursuit, for now at least.

Ali