I have come home from my journey this week feeling tired and weary. It feels like a long, long time since I left home, first thing on Monday morning. It’s late now – 11.30pm as I type. I’ve been home for an hour and I had not one single jot of inspiration for a photo, cack or otherwise.

I sat on the sofa, listless and edgy without a clue what to do when I noticed that I could see a little of the life DM has had while I’ve been away. He’s been looking at slides – viewer on sofa, he’s been playing his gee-tar and drinking tea.

After his wonderful, heartbreaking shot of ‘my space’ last time I was away, it hit me that I could knick his idea and do his space, with his toys in situ from where he’d been while I was away.

So, I set it all up, pressed the button on the timer and waited for the shutter to open for the fifteen second long exposure. As I’d opened the shutter, he came back into the room from the kitchen where he’d been making drinks, gave me my drink then sat down in his spot.

His ghost-like appearance is, I must confess, one of my photographic joys, having used the technique a number of times before, including rather pathetically imitating a marvellous Bill Brandt shot that I’d seen in an exhibition, though without the nudity.

This one shows how your dreams can materialise in front of your eyes……..you've no idea how many times this week I've wished for this one to come true!

Gail was my model last year, as she was yesterday too!