Skip to content

A Cambridge Diary: Martin Bond photos reveal city's 'secret beauty'

Martin Bond Bridge and punters in CambridgeMartin Bond
15 June 2015 - Martin Bond was keen to show the difference between the town (below the bridge) and gown (above) of Cambridge

A photographer who has taken an image of a city and published it every day for a decade said each one revealed the "secret beauty" of the place.

A Cambridge Diary, which features thousands of photographs, is all about "catching the moment" said Martin Bond, its creator.

Martin Bond Lady with birdsMartin Bond
24 December 2010 - this image of a woman looks likes she has "conjured the birds up", said Martin Bond
Martin Bond Montage of 2020 photosMartin Bond
Bond has thousands of followers online for his digital diary of Cambridge through his lens

Bond wanted his online photo diary to highlight the "normal side" of the city that is well-known for its grandeur and university. Cambridge is where he was born and still lives and works.

Capturing an image during the first coronavirus lockdown in March, he said: "For the first time in my life I saw the true beauty. There was no distraction. The streets were empty - I was forced to look up and around."

Martin Bond WomanMartin Bond
12 April 2012 - A "powerful" woman
Martin Bond Group visiting CambridgeMartin Bond
8 June 2013 - "Orienteering" which shows a man looking at a map and a woman who is "not so sure at all if he knows what he is doing"
Martin Bond Child with a buggy talking to a gardenerMartin Bond

Bond took the first of his images by accident when, while trying out camera lenses in a shop in March 2010, he caught the moment a decorator dropped paint on to his sandwiches.

"From there I realised, because I was brought up in Cambridge, the colleges weren't of much interest to me. I was immune to the beauty of them as I was so used to them, I was more interested in what was going on in the city," he said.

"Nobody was taking notice or recording the lives of the everyday person, of which I was one, so I took up the mantle."

Martin Bond Reflection of a lady in a puddleMartin Bond
Martin Bond Woman with an umbrellaMartin Bond
Martin Bond Bath House CambridgeMartin Bond
24 February 2017 - Making the most of the light and shadows

Shooting on a Leica SL camera, Bond shares his images on Facebook, where he has more than 31,000 followers, his own website, Instagram and Twitter.

The portrait, rather than landscape, shape of his images has always been his go-to for the diary.

"Because the project started with an intention to photograph people, I thought portrait shape would be better because humans are portrait-shaped, not landscape," he said.

"I was always shooting with the camera level [landscape] and wanted to train myself to turn it 90 degrees more often."

Martin Bond Punters in snowMartin Bond
26 February 2018 - An image that made the front page of The Times of a sudden snow fall
Martin Bond People outside an empty cinemaMartin Bond
11 January 2019 - The US artist Edward Hopper has been an influence in Martin Bond's work
Martin Bond NursesMartin Bond
14 January 2020 - "Amazing" nurses at Addenbrooke's Hospital taken days before the death of Martin Bond's mother

Being out in all weathers, he said the diary project had also been good for his sense of well-being.

"When you hold a camera to your eye you focus on a square of life, you are framing lives," he said.

"The difference for me between a good day or a bad is whether I've got a good picture or not."

BBC presentational grey line

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story to tell email [email protected]

All photos are copyright of Martin Bond