George Midgley on her latest photo book “Postcards Home”

The saying “a photograph is worth a thousand words” is a timeless proverb that embodies the indescribable power of visual storytelling. For model and photographer George Midgley, a photograph was just that, inspiring her recent adventure across America, captured forever in her photo book. Postcards Home.

For Midgley, the goal was to create something concrete – a memory, a feeling; an object to reflect on, to own, to cherish, to comprehend. While words may not be able to convey the depth of a moment, a photograph captures the essence of that moment in its entirety. It speaks to our shared humanity and offers insight into the lives of others. So Midgley wanted to transform her experiences into a shared narrative and invite us to enter her world – a feast for the eyes, to experience the calm of being present through her photography. As she describes it, photography is “a beautiful way to archive, capture, preserve, and look back on life. It’s a time capsule.”

When Midgley is not exploring America, she can often be found immersed in a novel or inspired by photo books such as The Minox files by Mark van den Brink. Below we talk to George Midgley about their inspiration for Postcards Home and whether there is a possibility of putting together another postcard collection.

My main inspiration for the Postcards Home The book would have been …

The inspiration for Postcards Home was created to create something tangible, a memory, a feeling; something to look back on, to have, to cherish, to hold on to. I love postcards and have collected, sent and received many over the years. As I was selecting photos for my website (stleonn.com) and looking through my archive of photos I had taken over the years when I lived far away, I felt a deep nostalgia for the beautiful memories and wanted to make it a shared experience, not a solitary one.

This selection of photos seemed perfect for a series of postcards that could be bound and presented as a book. The idea became a project and over time it turned into a love letter to life abroad in America. New York is such a fleeting city: you make lifelong friends, have adventures and then – whoosh! – everyone moves on. Postcards Home is a love letter to loved ones across the ocean and to the beautiful experiences we had along the way. Each photo tells a story and reflects the emotions with which I took it. The book is a tribute to staying connected with others and yourself.

The photo from the book that has stuck in my mind the most is…

It’s really hard to choose one because they all have a place in my heart and inevitably take me back to the time and place they were taken. But if I had to choose one, it would be the third photo – the one with the carved rock and the pink sneakers perfectly placed in the rocks. I took the photo at Pier 36 Rockaway Beach. What’s so special about this photo to me is the context in which it was taken. As the salty afternoon mist rolled in, we settled in to watch the sunset after a long day of surfing. A beautiful young woman stepped onto the beach, took off her pink sneakers and placed them perfectly in the cave in the rock face. She then walked closer to shore to find a rock to sit on and stared at the horizon, her t-shirt with the word “explorer” printed on it. She exuded such a calm presence, as if this was her time, her time to enjoy the day, wash up and connect with the sea.

Having grown up by the sea, this appealed to me. Rockaway Beach is special, it’s not pretentious, there’s none of the glitz and glamour of beach culture. It’s rough on the outside and pure on the inside, so close to New York City and yet it feels so far away. It’s one of the few places in the world where you can see sunset and sunrise in the same place and that’s part of its mystical appeal for me. It’s not pretty at first glance, but the closer you look, the more beauty you find, like this private moment of a woman with sunset and sea.

The story my book tells is …

The places we find ourselves in life, the pursuit of adventure and the peace that comes from being in the midst of it all.
Share your experiences and stories with your loved ones.

If I were to embark on a postcard adventure again…

I’m working on a second postcard collection with photos I took while traveling in Morocco and Patagonia, but I’d also like to experience the beauty of Egypt. I think it would be quite an interesting combination of these places. The photos I take are less about the place and more about a feeling they evoke in that space.

The camera I chose for the shots in this book was…

It was a combination of point and shoot cameras: Olympus Muji 2, Contax T2 and a Yashica Samurai half frame. I think the beauty of these moments is that they are not staged, but captured in a brief moment as I experience them in real time. I always carry a point and shoot camera in my bag as they are small and I am ready when something catches my attention.

If I had to describe this book with three emotions, they would be…

Growing up, silence, nostalgia

On my bedside table: I’m reading…

Perfume by Patrick Süskind. It kept coming up in conversations and then I kept seeing people reading it and thought it was a sign, so I bought it yesterday and I’m still devouring it.

For me, photography is …

A lens that allows you to express your view of the world. But on a deeper level, it is a wonderful way to archive, capture and look back on life. As we get older, it is beautiful to see how the eye develops, what we are drawn to and the emotions it conveys. Photography is a time capsule.

My favorite book of all time…

That’s such a hard question. It’s like asking, “What’s your favorite movie?” There are just so many possibilities and I’m a little undecided sometimes. One of the books that has stuck with me, though, is “Faraway Nearby” by Rebecca Solnit. The way she weaves her words into different ideas is fluid like water, a real feast for the eyes.

The book that is currently on my bedside table is…

“Eros the Bittersweet” by Anne Carson and “The Superrationals” by Stephanie LaCava are both required reading!

A photo book that everyone should experience …

The Minox Files by Mark van den Brink. This book is voyeuristic, but you are still immersed in the space of each image. He took photos while traveling through Switzerland, Europe and America with a small spy camera. Each photo is like a painting, it melts the eyes and exudes a quiet beauty. I found this book in the MoMA store a few years ago and I regularly leaf through the photos at home.