Jim Mortram
@JAMortram
Followers
14,078
Following
10,455
Media
13,556
Statuses
128,563
Carer for my Ma. Creator of #community #testimony enduring Austerity
East Anglia UK
Joined October 2010
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
#LingOrmFanMeet2geTHer
• 277631 Tweets
DEAR MYLOVE LINGORM
• 272558 Tweets
Edmundo
• 126511 Tweets
#ZeeNunew1stFMinTokyo
• 87164 Tweets
#KPOPMASTERZinBANGKOK2024
• 41914 Tweets
Oregon
• 31426 Tweets
#sbhawks
• 27184 Tweets
京成杯AH
• 25001 Tweets
セントウルS
• 22428 Tweets
アスコリピチェーノ
• 12737 Tweets
メンデス
• 10445 Tweets
Pinned Tweet
#smalltowninertia2
For the entire Conservative government I made photographs with & within my local community. I witnessed a never ending suffering imposed upon our most vulnerable citizens. People that I met as strangers that became as though my brother & sister, as family.
1
17
50
#smalltowninertia
#isolation
Day 29 Sura passed away today, peacefully. She saved my life & was my best friend for all 100 of her dog years. She loved happiness, so please, no tears nor condolences, if you feel like commenting, just Aroooooooo!, a chorus of howls to the moon. X
168
20
677
#smalltowninertia
Fuck you, pay us. Carers earn roughly a £1 per hour for what is a 60hr week. We always work more than that, a carers role is often 24/7, 365.
#carersallowance
is slave labour. We work for love & our remuneration is poverty. I’ll clap when the Tories are gone.
Today’s clap for carers marks 10 weeks of celebrating our wonderful NHS and carers in this way.
I want to thank each and every one of our wonderful NHS and care workers for the incredible, selfless work they do to look after us all.
4K
1K
16K
13
75
326
#smalltowninertia
A special
#FollowFriday
today & its
@PhotoPrintDay
(Head to their page for all the info) I’ll leave you in the capable hands of the rather awesome Mr
@michaelsheen
to tell you how you can exchange your prints for donations to charity!.
#rt
much appreciated 😍
2
44
316
#smalltowninertia
*ships globally.
I spent a decade documenting those in my community enduring the brutality of
#austerity
Our town is just like yours.
Their
#testimony
is real.
Please share.
Inc
@JMThras
@paulmasonnews
@LewisKayBush
8
194
247
#smalltowninertia
This is exactly why I made book 1.
#community
#solidaity
Applause & love to
@mikebeecham
for some great
#directphotoaction
@michaelsheen
@NevilleSouthall
@ChrisGPackham
maybe your lovely followers would like the opportunity for a win/win
#RT
0
17
209
#smalltowninertia
As a kid I loved to jump, I'd dream I could fly. I'm still daring to dream. Photo by my Dad.
7
13
205
#smalltowninertia
I absolutely love this book, not only did it absolutely need to exist, it’s a vast inspiration. Get a copy, up tools, grow our communities & make a stand for something. Thanks 🙏 so much
@noni_stacey
6
43
172
#smalltowninertia
To improve your
#photography
I urge you to read more, novels, poetry, to watch more cinema, to study paintings & to listen to music. All the arts inform the 👁
6
34
166
#smalltowninertia
I’m thrilled to have joined the the
@SideGallery
and Cinema Curatorial Advisory Group, a very real honour.
39
11
158
#smalltowninertia
Has Twitter now become the bar on the outskirts of town where you’re most likely to run into a kicking, meet a old school gangster, have a lock in, get raided, hear loads of wild stories?.
Part of me kinda hopes so.
Photo @ Peter Marlow 🐐
8
11
155
#smalltowninertia
Loads planned for this year, taking some r&r to recharge. Love to you all!. X
11
5
160
#smalltowninertia
Fucking hell!. I just got an invite to exhibit with one of my all time favourite photographers. Mums the word but details will come in time.
15
0
155
#smalltowninertia
Woo-hoo! A good week so far, Small Town Inertia will be featured in a coming book, a 70 year retrospective of documentary photography & just had an exhibition confirmed for 2022. News when I can share!. Stay safe!
26
10
143
#PhotoPrintDay
Photographers making prints or having them made & exchanging them for charitable £$10 donations.
All together on Sept 1st.
A celebration of community, photography & prints ❤️
@HUCKmagazine
@Dazed
@americansuburbx
@michaelsheen
@BootstrapCook
@billybragg
#RT
🙏
2
22
146
#smalltowninertia
Long listed for the Deutsche Börse Foundation Photography Prize 2018 for Small Town Inertia with
@bluecoatpress
Woah!.
35
19
134
#smalltowninertia
#isolation
Day 213
@BorisJohnson
'understands' the issue of holiday hunger, this, I highly doubt, I doubt he's ever had the experience of bare cupboards, the stress of knowing where the next meal is & he never will.
4
28
133
#smalltowninertia
Kinda realised yesterday that I’ve been hoarding my landscape work, it’s destined, a time from now, for book3.
11
12
132
#smalltowninertia
This photo is my most viewed tweet ever. 1.1m times. Ma braved terrible pain to
#Vote
@UKLabour
& had multiple seizures on returning home.
This election it'll be a postal vote because she is too ill to be moved. Ma & I will still be voting
#ForTheManyNotTheFew
3
14
131
#smalltowninertia
Last signed copies left now, message me here for the ordering information, thanks 🙏
#endausterity
Thanks also to
@michaelsheen
for writing the back cover afterwords. 🙏
0
12
128
#smalltowninertia
Asked if I had some more colour stuff in forgotten folders, after a long search...
12
11
124
#smalltowninertia
Hey
@michaelsheen
hope all good buddy?, I know, KNOW you will adore Walter's beautiful work. XO
6
4
128
#smalltowninertia
Why I don't have a
@youtube
channel on kit >
1. Any camera made in the last decade is as good/bad as you make it.
2. New kit is a con.
3. There is no digital VS analogue (Unless you wish there to be)
4. You matter more than your camera.
Out of content.
4
19
126
#smalltowninertia
Today marks the 10 year anniversary of
@laura_manfre
& I being together!.
Everyday is a privilege & an honour to share with the most amazing woman, my soul mate, my best friend, my confidante & my equal & my partner. Love, is everything. X
19
2
126
#smalltowninertia
I’ve been radio silent on this & this will be my only words on the issue, the election broke my heart, took time to restock, rethink & rest. Now, I’ve done all 3, posts will be photographic vs political but I’ll be documenting the now with a fucking vengeance. X
4
12
117
#smalltowninertia
Diary Entries 2 goes to the printers for proofing soon. As always
@caferoyalbooks
have been a dream to collaborate with & a huge debt of gratitude to
@michaelsheen
for writing such powerful words for the back cover, thanks pal 🙏
1
16
119
#smalltowninertia
As many of you know, Sura lost the use of her back legs for 8 months. Just over a year ago she managed to stand. After love & her great effort, today she ran again!.
7
9
115
#smalltowninertia
I was toying with the idea of trading my camera in to upgrade to a Canon 1DX mk ii. After a half hour on YouTube watching wankers film themselves making coffee or filming girls jumping, all video no stills, I give up, I’ll keep what I have. 12mp onwards!.
17
4
112
One big mistake I think photographers make is deciding to make an image B&W after rather than before it was taken. Another mistake is making an image B&W because the color is bad, that usually makes it a bad B&W as well. You should be thinking B&W before you press the shutter *TO
19
8
114
Anarchists & Underdogs | 25 Images of Social & Political Graffiti in the UK via
@britcultarchive
0
79
116
#smalltowninertia
Discovered these on an old hdd, my late friend Stuart who passed a few years back, the first person after W.H to invite me within their home, to talk, to allow me to listen, to trust me, to share with me & allow me to make their photograph. I miss you.
#RIP
1
21
114
@FlakPhoto
Nope. I think it just validates the observation that just about anyone will chase money regardless of the damage caused.
5
6
104
@chunkymark
8/10. Kept his cool, hard in the face of such offal. That was not an interview. An interviewer must pause for the answer they seek to elicit. I saw no such conduct. I saw Daily Mail headlines acted out as a monologue.
4
24
106
@2010LeeHurst
I'm working class & left wing, left wing because that was & is the only political leaning that ever gave or gives a damn about working class people.
6
5
93
Going mobile!.
Thanks 🙏 to you!.
Cheers to
@sng_paul
for organising the gofundme.
You’re all part of our wolf pack now!.
X
11
14
106
#smalltowninertia
Film, digital, don't matter, rangefinder, DSLR, phone, don't matter, colour, mono, don't matter, testimony, story, empathy, care & context, matter.
2
38
109
#smalltowninertia
‘Are your photos lacking sharpness?.’ fuck that, the Q you should be asking is ‘Are my photos lacking empathy?.’
Ask the right Q’s and you’ll evolve, ask the mundane and you’ll stagnate.
9
20
109
#smalltowninertia
When magazines ruled the world. Do we ever need this type of journalism now. If the Tories want to take us back to the 70’s let’s have the 70’s unflinching, brave journalism to counter it.
#McCullin
8
13
109
#smalltowninertia
The first month I was loaned a camera I was lucky to watch ‘The Genius of photography’ by Gerry Badger, 15 years later & I am so proud to have work from Small Town Inertia within the pages of his new book & especially excited that I was also asked to write
19
18
104
#smalltowninertia
For a working class lad to get to share the stories of his working class community on the cover of a major publication is no small feat, in
#2019
I’ll endeavour to help more do the same. These voices are so important to be amplified.
#solidarity
is key.
7
34
109
#smalltowninertia
Devastated to learn of the passing of
@Stoddart_Photos
a true gentleman & an amazing amazing photographer. Tom helped me so much, always a kind, supportive, encouraging word, always great advice. My sincere condolences to family, friends. Tom, RIP mate. XoX
11
8
106
#smalltowninertia
3 month exhibition now confirmed
@SideGallery
for early 2019. Side have always been a touchstone, for me, for all they do & how they operate & what they stand for. A huge honour. My thanks to all for enabling these stories, this
#testimony
in the now.
25
31
104
#smalltowninertia
#isolation
Day 148 Able to print today, this one always breaks my heart, made in the very first year of
#Austerity
I often wonder what happened to this lady, the butchers was taken over a few months after I made this.
7
15
104
#smalltowninertia
#isolation
Day 157 Darkroom install has begun!. So much to do... but it’s a start, a beginning!. 😀
9
1
100
#smalltowninertia
Keep on fighting until you get justice… if not an explanation!.
@smalltowninertia
is back on Instagram.
13
6
89
#smalltowninertia
To those beginning, never been disheartened by zero replies to submissions, I've written to 20 different places in the last 3 1/2 months. Only one responded but it was the perfect one. 19 never replied or acknowledged.
5
15
99
#smalltowninertia
Some photos that left their deepest cuts in me as I continue to document the mutilating effect of Austerity upon my local community.
Tilney1, experiencing a panic attack after receiving a letter from the DWP. Tilney1 went years without adequate care for MH. >
0
18
88
#smalltowninertia
Very, very, very proud of Simon, it's the first cover we've had, equally proud of all those within the pages of the coming
@1854
their stories, so selflessly shared. In 2019
#endausterity
13
21
91
#smalltowninertia
If
#ExitPoll
to be believed, this country has gone utterly fucking insane.
15
8
86
#smalltowninertia
#isolation
Day 291 Just off phone with David. I’m the only person that calls, no visits, no support. Crazy. Trying to sort out weekly food deliveries for him, hard as he has no debit card but I’ll sort something!. I call every day now for moral support.
5
12
92
Travis, absolute sweetheart. My cat son. 8 weeks of awesome. 🥰
5
0
89
#smalltowninertia
PRINTSALE Whole archive to choose from via DM or comment for all the info. All my work is self funded & I'm out of almost all supplies & bill, transport costs. A
#RT
really helps!. X
0
54
84
#smalltowninertia
It’s amazing to me how many folk dig Bruce Gilden, I think he’s a proper dodgy cunt. Why any organisation would parade him like a jewel is beyond me, his photos look like attacks, forced portraits. Fuck that & fuck him. 🤪
18
6
82
#smalltowninertia
I was very proud to feature on the cover of the BJP. It seemed apt that under reported stories from Britain were finally front & centre, I was thankful for the amplification of my communities testimony. That’s why I’m so upset re
#NFT
& recent events.
4
9
86
#smalltowninertia
#isolation
Day 347 We just had word, Laura has settled status indefinitely approved.
20
1
79
#smalltowninertia
@Harryslaststand
being
#trolled
& disrespected is without a doubt one of the most heinous events I’ve ever witnessed on
@Twitter
Sir, you are a true gentleman, inspiration & illuminating force of nature, thank you for your wisdom, love & exemplary life. Hero.
0
6
80
I've just entered the Wellcome Photography Prize
11
7
82
#smalltowninertia
Printsale!. A3, signed, from shutter to print made by me. So many costs to cover, self funded, hard row to hoe, quitters come nowhere. A decade in & it’s never easy but always a privilege. Message for info, selection. Thanks 🙏
1
30
82
#smalltowninertia
I fund Small Town Inertia myself. Print sales are how I do everything from pay the internet & bills, travel, chemicals, kit, paper supplies & eat!. Whole archive to choose from. Archive quality, signed & dated. Comment for info.
#rt
really help. Thanks 🙏
2
62
83
> So, whilst rambling in bed with a head filled with a cold, my solidarity & respect with all photographers that choose the hard path, isolated, devoted, scraping by, self funding long form work. If I can help, I will, I have your back & I, really, truly appreciate you all. X
5
8
85
#smalltowninertia
Curled like a snake the anger inside me against this government is at boiling point. Soon as safe/Covid rates lower I’ll complete book2 & stick it to them. Book2 is beyond heartbreaking, the resilience of those sharing testimony is beyond amazing.
2
15
79
#smalltowninertia
Step 1. Make a print
Step 2. Sell it for £10 or $10
Step 3. Donate to a great cause, screen-grab the receipt & tag it
#PhotoPrintDay
Step 4. We all do it the same day =
#PhotoPrintDay
Be our community,
#DirectPhotoAction
Let’s show the world 🌍
19
28
79
#smalltowninertia
Lately, making photos has felt, every frame, like a blood letting, with & of people (s) that for a decade have suffered so much, lost, forsaken & fucked over by the popular narratives. Less shouting, more listening. Please.
#neverforget
#endausterity
#UK
#2019
3
24
82
#smalltowninertia
I’d appreciate a
#RT
as I’d like as many folk as possible to hear why empathy, care, love are so important!.
Empathy in Documentary Photography (feat. Jim Mortram) via
@YouTube
3
75
78
#smalltowninertia
Three words, boycott this shite.
@Rankin
to helm new BBC series, the Great British Photography Challenge
24
5
81
#smalltowninertia
Busy curating & writing up supportive text for a coming electronic exhibition featuring Tilney1's powerful story of enduring mental health. “How can I be a scrounger when I had no idea Benefits existed?."
0
14
78
#smalltowninertia
How the ‘judges’ didn’t spot this was AI is beyond me. With that much egg on their faces these judges can feed the world with omelette.
16
5
77
#smalltowninertia
Last political tweet for a time, I’ll be concentrating on stories & my
#carer
duties for the time ahead.
Know thy enemy.
Tears, then rise stronger.
Rise stronger & rise together.
#Solidarity
Always, all ways
#ForTheManyNotTheFew
4
8
80
@Camerasnaps
@thebobbybeasley
@noni_stacey
@robs001
@RobertDarch
@Broadbentius
@Meganthebendall
@harrybordenuk
@JshPhotog
@Nickfromupnorth
@NickTurpin
@MarcDavenant
@mikcritchlow
@nickwaplington
@driftingcamera
@Stoddart_Photos
@MrJackLowe
I don’t think I’ve made that photograph yet but this one is on the right track, made in David’s small kitchen, lit by a halogen heater, his only source of heat, as he eats in his blindness a 99p ready meal during the peak of Austerity.
8
14
75
#smalltowninertia
#isolation
Day 376 Laying in bed last night I was contemplating the fact that 14 years ago I knew no one, just me & my dog (rip) Sura. Through the years from then to now, via social media I’ve made so many friends that feel more like family. Thank you 🙏
6
2
76
#smalltowninertia
Great news for Si & Kirsty, they have a new carer/support worker that visits three times a week, high potential of them being finally moved from emergency housing. (I'll be continuing to follow their story)
4
7
73
Neurodivergence influences how I make images. Not just in what I photograph but in how I photograph it. I like clean lines & simple composition & I although I struggle to verbalise my 'style' maybe graphic works? In the sense of it being clear & visually explicit
@KristieDeGaris
7
8
75
#smalltowninertia
Just found a lost folder of colour film work. Never could get to grips with it!.
13
9
74
#smalltowniertia
How many times do you hear of
#BrynCampbell
? what a wonderful photographer. The UK is abysmal at preserving our greatest in the public eye. Look at these!...
3
18
73
#smalltowninertia
Got some proofs sent to me by the ever amazing
@caferoyalbooks
today, should have news for when the two books are available tomorrow.
1
15
71
#smalltowninertia
#isolation
Day of joy!. This is Tesla, the mom of the pup that stole our heart, Koda. Koda will be the double of her mom, as pups they looked identical. From what I’ve seen online, Koda has a wonderful natural nature too. 4 weeks then here!. 🥰
#NorthernInuit
3
3
73
#smalltowninertia
Got a lovely letter from a cool student today, the Q was “How to build more personal relationships” a genuine, sincere Q that I’m often asked. Here’s my answer.
4
20
73
#smalltowninertia
What a lovely weekend, I’d hard passed on getting a Ricoh gr ii & then I saw one for sale in town!, not wanting to backtrack on my plan to invest in paper for a
#foodbank
print-sale later in the year my Ma bought it for me to say thanks for being her son!. Wow!.
11
2
75
#smalltowninertia
@photofusionuk
have curated such a interesting new show with photos & stories old & new.
Placing sensitive stories in the care of others is only a worry if you don’t trust them, the entire team are very deserving of trust & I’m honoured to exhibit with them.
4
12
69
Today I thought I'd share some of my photographic work. Quite a few years ago I shot a series called 'As Others See Us'. Women asked to attend without makeup, each portrait also included a wee interview. Here are just 4 of those portraits (I made over 50)
@KristieDeGaris
6
15
69
#smalltowninertia
Every now and then and at random I include a free print from my archive when mailing prints out. It makes me happy.
1
12
72
#smalltowninertia
#isolation
Day of success!. Well,
@laura_manfre
& I did it!. Folks garden cleared, every piece of wood sawn, stacked & easy access for winter. 6ft high, 4ft deep!. On to the next
#carer
job we can find to do for them now!.
16
1
76
I do not want to live in a country that horrifies all by our greed, class division, narcissism, injustice, racism & arms dealing
#iamcorbyn
1
37
67
#smalltowninertia
Long night, thought we lost Ma, big seizure, coughing blood, after checking, bit through tongue. All ok now. 115f in shed, I’ve been working on a new story. In the dog pool, n/a beer. R&R. Love each other. Fuck BJ & Trump XoX
#endausterity
9
1
72
#smalltowninertia
Pretty damn good. £10k raised from around 110 participants. I’ll make a video tomorrow. All I can think of is how amazing photography is, our community is & how much can we help if a million photographers took part. The task is at hand!. Spread word. XO
#photoprintday
@photoprintday
I’ll be posting an end of festival video tomorrow but for now… via emails, 66 of them, the total is £6807… add to that all the ones via Insta & in my mail boxes here &
@JAMortram
I think we’re looking at (low estimate) over £10,000 ✊❤️🙏
1
5
69
7
13
70
#smalltowninertia
#isolation
Day 117 I’m not ‘professional’ as I look after Ma first... but for fucks sake, without the arts the UK is a dead island.
#SaveTheArts
3
13
71
#smalltowninertia
David in the church his parents were married in and the church they are buried in.
2
6
70
BBC News - Life magazine and its women behind the lens
0
34
68
#smalltowninertia
Just off the phone from a chat with David. He's in for a biopsy in Dec, all my wishes are that he's ok.
4
4
69
#smalltowninertia
I’ve kept a lid on my upcoming show with the wonderful
@photofusionUK
for ages… so pleased to share the news today. If you don’t already follow
@photofusionUK
I strongly suggest you do!.
9
10
66
#smalltowninertia
#isolation
Day 316 I’ve been a huge admirer of Nick Hedges for a long time, hunting down old books, features... this new book by
@bluecoatpress
is by far the best rendering of his incredible work & importantly the book the people within truly deserve.
9
13
69