Reading is one of the great pleasures in my life, allowing me to explore many places that sadly I will probably never visit. Researching information for my books is also a pleasure, a constant voyage of discovery. I am interested in environmental matters, especially anything relating to water. One would think access to clean drinking water should be a basic human right, yet in most places it is not, including many rich countries.

As you may guess from this story, wild swimming is another interest of mine. This book was inspired by wild swimmers and the photography of Elena Chernyshova. Elena’s atmospheric photos of Norilsk are quite beautiful, even though the images are disturbing. Her images in Days of Night/Nights of Days are well worth taking a look at.