A photography expert’s guide to the best images from the World Cup Sport Business After a thrilling World Cup, City AM Picture Editor Andy Blackmore ranks his favourite images from the tournament. Aside from war, about the only other human experience that spans such a wide range of emotions is sport. Of all the sports, perhaps football is the most emotive, and photographers at the World Cup hold the [...]
This is what proper British pub lock-ins used to be like Life&Style If you’re under 60, you’re unlikely to have experienced a proper British pub lock-in. But there was a time when it was a cornerstone of a good night out, a rite of passage and a membership to an illicit club. Andy Blackmore tries to remember the good old days A few decades ago, this country [...]
How to become a (successful) vintage watch collector Life&Style Every watch obsessive has a dream: mine is a 1964 Rolex Daytona 6239. Sadly, even addiction has boundaries and the only way I’ll ever own one is if I sell my house. Thankfully, I can console myself with the knowledge that there are other less-coveted timepieces that, even in these interconnected times, occasionally fly under [...]
A matter of loaf and death: How to bake the perfect sourdough December 23, 2025 Standing in silence here at Bread Ahead in Borough Market, awaiting our instructions, you could have heard a pin drop. I am here taking a sourdough masterclass and attempting to breathe life into my creation, not to mention keeping my mother – the flour-and-water starter used to make sourdough – alive. Thankfully, the air here [...]
Why did an AI Chatbot try to convince me Charlie Kirk was alive? October 2, 2025 On the day of Charlie Kirk’s funeral, the AI model Claude went full Colonel Kurtz on me, accusing me of spreading fake news and having a full-blown mental health crisis. In a piece of writing I had referenced the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk and asked Claude to check my grammar. It replied saying: “The Charlie Kirk reference needs clarification [...]
‘Always say yes to a bag of testicles’: A defence of offal June 26, 2025 Like a character straight out of a Carry On film, the Turkish butcher leaned forward, looked my partner in the eye, and, with a heavy accent and an evil glint, said simply: “Testicles. Testicles.” Then, by way of explanation: “Sheep’s balls.” Though things had taken a surreal and vaguely vulgar turn, his strange sales pitch [...]
AI will spell the end of photography May 31, 2025 In focusing on art as a product, we overlook the artist’s role — AI isn’t just a tool, it’s a dangerous force that threatens to erase human creativity, intent, and presence from art entirely, says Andy Blackmore Reading Lewis Liu’s essay on Marcel Duchamp’s impact on the artistic world, arguing that art is simply a [...]
Who watches the Watches? February 19, 2025 As a newly minted Picture Editor and thus part of the management team of a then-popular left-wing national newspaper, I sat in on a discussion about why the poor ate so badly. Having only recently landed the job and as keen as mustard – and oh so naive – my feet were still planted firmly [...]
Leica SL3 review: Love blossomed with this mirrorless beauty December 10, 2024 Leica SL3 review: Utterly peerless ★★★★★ It feels like the plot from one of the romcoms I get teased by my other half for watching. You bond over whiskies at an exotic location – well, if you can call Geleneagles exotic – they even lose your luggage for comedic effect. You fall in love. But [...]
Why the new Fujifilm camera is a five-star must-have November 7, 2024 Reviewing the new Fujifilm camera: the best of both worlds As I traipse across London Bridge, burdened like a packhorse, I recall a time before digital equipment weighed me down. And once again I find myself wishing: if only digital cameras could be more like their film forefathers. But the new Fujifilm camera, the X100VI, [...]
