About Me

My name is Gianni, I am 61 and retired, I grew up in South London and  I have a very interesting family history.

My paternal grandfather’s family are farmers from Cheshire, who have owned the same piece of land since the commission of the Doomsday Book by William the Conqueror.

My paternal grandmother’s family however, we have little knowledge of, other than her grandmother arrived in the U.K. as a single parent in 1847 from Calabria in southern Italy.

My maternal grandmother’s family, are all from the East London for many generations. They were all connected with the rag trade. My mother’s grandfather notably, was a silk hat finisher, an extremely unique profession and skill that was lost many years ago.

My maternal grandfather’s family, were tannery yard proprietors from South London. The business was passed from father to son for many generations. Finally the business was sold in the late 1950’s, as neither my grandfather nor any of his 12 siblings were prepared to take over and  continue the business.

I left school in 1979. However, I started my career after leaving London in 1982  joining the Royal Navy. It was whilst undergoing basic training that I discovered my niche in life surveying, gaining all my qualifications whilst I served. For 25 years after leaving the Royal Navy I was a Land Surveyor, with 15 years at chartered status. For many years I was self employed, which had led me to live all over the U.K. 

Since the age of 5, I have always had a passion for photography, leaning how to use a rangefinder camera from my father, who owned a Zorki 4 camera and later a Canon model 7.

I purchased my first camera in 1979, a Zenit E SLR, which was always loaded with Ilford HP5 or FP4 and on rare occasions Fuji colour film. However my daily use camera, is still my father’s Canon model 7. The camera was given to me after his death, to this day I still use Ilford HP5 and FP4 35mm and 120 film.

I live in Corellajo, on the island of Fuerteventura, after leaving the U.K.  just before the Brexit referendum. The island, is a fantastic location to immerse myself in my life long passion, due to the 327 days of sun annually and the diversely photographable material.

Additionally, my eldest son is 22 and a professional music producer. However we restore, then sell 3 to 4, 90’s Japanese motorcycles annually. This is a passion we both share, being life long motorcyclists. My youngest son is 17 and although interested and owns a motorcycle, is in education, training to become a chemical engineer; his passion.

I left the U.K. in search of a better quality of life and better weather. I was also unhappy with the political direction the country was taking.  As well as the outrageous increases in the cost of living and indirect taxation; which has worsened year on year. Finally, the disabled and the vulnerable being the focus of discrimination.

The political climate at that time, prompted me to find a release for my disgust, so I decided to study for a degree in law. The express intent of this decision, was to help and advise vulnerable individuals, during their greatest times of need. Using this qualification to benefit others.

I am a Law Graduate, and I have attained qualified legal status. Additionally, I am currently studying for the solicitors qualifying exam. Whilst I will have this qualification, I will not be registering with either the Law Society or SRA, as I no longer wish to practice.

It is my intention to use this qualification in the pursuit of helping others. Primarily, disabled and vulnerable individuals, who appear to have become the focus of many discriminatory policies. As well as British citizens experiencing government oppression.

Another purposes of this blog, is highlighting violations of the long established common law rights and using the system of equity to arrive at a fair outcome. This Includes advising people of their legal rights and how to enforce these rights, using both statutory and the common law.

Furthermore, it is also my intention to bring into the public domain, violations in environmental policy. Now more than ever, it is extremely important that government agencies, businesses and individuals in the U.K., adopt a positive attitude to environmentally sustainable practices and the development of facilities to enable better recycling and disposal of waste.

Here in Fuerteventura, we recycle everything, we have a refuse collection daily,  including Christmas Day. Local authorities in the U.K. are not providing enough facilities to dispose of waste. It is also common policy to limit what can be disposed of at the local tip. Additionally, there is some still going to landfill and increased levels of fly tipping nationally. This is an unacceptable practice, especially since the introduction of energy from waste facilities (EFW).

Firstly, EFW facilities that use anaerobic digesters to extract methane; predominantly from food waste, to power gas turbines, with most sites contributing 2.7Mw annually to the national grid. These companies will also buy waste and collect it.

Secondly, EFW facilities that use incinerators, to extract methane, again to power gas turbines to send power to the national grid. The residues left from both processes are recycled into the farming and construction industries.

Public interest stories. Since Brexit, the cost of living in the U.K. has soared to levels way above the rest of Europe. British businesses have attributed rising costs to increased costs to them, then conversely post record profits. Government agencies and local authorities are cutting services, as well as implementing unlawful policies. All excellent topics for debate.

Finally, I will post articles on my passion for photography, moreover violations of photographers rights and more recently those of drone pilots.

In the past I have suffered abuse and the threat of physical violence. The pursuit of Architectural and Street photography attracts an enormous amount of negative attention for the photographer, even though  they are carrying out a lawful activity.

FACT: like it or not, U.K. law states, no one has an expectation of privacy in a public place. It is completely lawful to photograph any one or anything, so long as the photographer is stood on public land, or private land that is publicly assessable, individuals can be photographed without permission, using the journalism or artistic exemption of U.K. GDPR. Furthermore ignorance of the law is NO excuse to verbally or physically attack a photographer.

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