Hi ,

Well, we've somehow managed to get through another year and are well into 2023. Already. I honestly don't know where 2022 disappeared to!

The year was one of both ups and downs. I've worked on some brilliant projects and been in contact with some wonderful people, but I have also had to deal with covid and a several-months-long ME-related crash, seeing my energy levels and cognitive function plummet, as well as the frighteningly sharp rise in the cost of living that many of us are trying to adapt to. Since September, it's been hard for me to just ... well ... function.

However, as the spring approaches, I've started to see some improvement in my energy and a gentle lifting in the brain fog, so here I am again. Hi! 👋

In this email:

• Projects of 2022
• Twitter vs. the world
• A year of Tiny Egypt (including a new project timeline, gift memberships and brand new community pages)
• A big thank you to members of the Tiny Egypt Society

Projects of 2022

During 2022, I've worked not only on Tiny Egypt, but also on several commissioned projects.

Earlier in the year, I worked with the Garstang Museum of Archaeology in Liverpool to photograph a number of artefacts for the museum's outreach program. Including an actual, real life throwstick ('throwing the throwstick', anyone ...?), which I found strangely exciting in a very geeky way!

I helped produce (designed and typeset) the EES's new edition of Amelia Edwards' 1000 Miles up the Nile, which was a wonderful project to get my teeth into. I can't wait to see what they come up with next!

I've also been back working with Manchester Museum on Golden Mummies of Egypt. The museum has been shut since August 2021 to accommodate the building of a new temporary exhibition space. The museum opens again on 18 February 2023, and Golden Mummies will be the first exhibition to be shown in the new space. If you're planning a visit, you need to book (free) tickets for Golden Mummies, which you can do via the museum's website.

Golden Mummies being set up at Manchester Museum

The museum are using some of my photos for items in the gift shop, such as tote bags and bookmarks. I got to have a peek at the revamped shop when I was in the other week, and I can tell you ... start saving your pennies before you visit! 😁

And finally, I've been working on a project run by Dr Jenny Cromwell and Dr Caitlin Nunn at Manchester Metropolitan University called Ancient History, Contemporary Belonging. The project is a creative exploration of the migration of ancient historical objects with migrant-background young people, who are creating new narratives of objects in the collection at Manchester Museum from their own home regions. My part in the project was to photograph the objects at Manchester Museum, and then photograph the students' artworks of these objects.

I will - when the calendar overlords add extra hours to the day - get some of the photos from the Garstang and Manchester Met projects up online. I'm so excited about some of the objects I've photographed for them! (You can already see my Golden Mummies photos over on Flickr.)

Twitter vs. the World

As I'm sure many of you are aware, Elon Musk (of Tesla and SpaceX fame) bought Twitter a few months back, and the chaos that has ensued has left many of us ... well ... gobsmacked is possibly the best word to describe it. And it's left a bad taste in my mouth.

Whether you agree with Musk's particular political leanings or not isn't really what I'm talking about here. What's irked me is how he's treated Twitter's workforce (I'm a firm believer in companies treating their employees with respect and dignity, which I don't think Musk has been doing), and how he's damaged Twitter's ability to moderate abuse and keep the site secure by firing teams of moderators and software engineers.

So, although I'm still on Twitter, I'm not giving it as much of my time right now until it sorts itself and regains stability. So, like many others, I've hopped onto the Mastodon bandwagon to give it a try.

I've seen a lot of archaeology-based academics open accounts, and I've found lots of friends - old and new - over there. So, if you're already there, or considering giving it a try, come and find me at https://mastodon.me.uk/@tetisheri. Be sure to say hi and I'll give you a follow back!

And, don't forget, I'm also on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Come find me wherever you are!

A year of Tiny Egypt

With 2022 being the first full year I've worked on Tiny Egypt, it's been one of experimentation and learning.

I've had such fun exploring the collections at the Garstang, at Manchester, at Bolton and at Warrington. I've worked with some amazing curators who have been wonderful and accommodating and patient. I honestly can't thank them enough.

I've been so excited to photograph amulets and scarabs and statuettes and clay seal impressions, and to get them up on my monitor and see these tiny pieces in all their glorious detail.

One of the Middle Kingdom wooden statuettes I photographed last year

I've also discovered the joy of creating very low key, black and white artistic images in the form of my Shadow series - it's still in its infancy somewhat, and I haven't had the chance to upload a gallery to the website yet, but I'm working on it.

Amulet of Thoth at Manchester, from the Shadow series

I launched a line of Tiny Egypt merchandise in the Tetisheri store, which makes me feel perhaps a little bit weird and self-centred (I've never been much of a show-off!), but also a great sense of achievement: you can't be doing too badly if you have your own merch, right ...?

Yeah I love my Tiny Egypt t-shirt and mug!

I've made some updates to the Tiny Egypt site:

Project timeline

I've created a project timeline, where you can see the history of photography sessions and other project landmarks.

Gift memberships

Having recently added annual membership options to the Tiny Egypt Society, I've now launched gift memberships.

If you'd like to buy membership as a gift for someone else, all you need to do is purchase one of the annual subscriptions. Fill out your details in the form, check the box to say it's a gift and choose your payment method. You'll be charged for a single year's membership at whichever price level you've chosen.

You'll then get a pop-up box in which you enter your name, and the name and email address of the person you're gifting it to. You can also pop in a personal message, if you wish, then they'll be sent an email with a link to activate their membership. No wrapping paper, no postage and no delivery hiccups! 😊

New community pages

I've just launched a brand new set of community pages on the Tiny Egypt website for members of the Tiny Egypt Society. Members now have their own profiles and timelines, as well as social feeds and the ability to connect with me and other members, a little like Facebook. But with fewer people. (I haven't quite managed to reach half the world's population. Yet ... 😈)

My aim is to make it more like a Patreon site, but without the soul-suckingly huge Patreon fees.

As well as making the site more interactive and fun for members, it'll allow me to share quicker, more frequent updates from the project.

I've written an article giving a whistle-stop tour of the new pages, including a few screenshots of the pages, so if you wanted to get a peek, go have a look at The Tiny Egypt Society community pages: an overview.

Part of the members' dashboard page over at Tiny Egypt Towers

Next up for the site, I'm looking at developing a mobile app, and a proper database of the artefacts I've photographed.

Tiny Egypt Society members: thank you!

I'd also like to take a moment to thank members of the Tiny Egypt Society. Your patronage over the last year not only helps finance Tiny Egypt, it also means a lot to me personally that you love my work enough to commit to a monthly or yearly contribution - especially as you've all helped support me through the covid and my ongoing struggles with energy. And your opinions on my work and how I should be shaping Tiny Egypt has been invaluable. From the bottom of my heart, thank you 🙏

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On a final note, Pharaoh: A New Era - the remake of the classic 1990s PC game Pharaoh, is being released later today on Steam. So I'm off to go get a few things done before I treat myself and spend a couple of hours building some ancient Egyptian cities. If you're playing too, let me know so we can swap notes on the game! You can find me on Steam by searching for @tetisheri13, or just reply to this email 😊

Anyway, I think that's all for now. Because it's been a difficult winter for me, and I still have a lot of catching up to do with stuff, I'm going to continue with this current format for the newsletter for now, in that I'll stick with telling you about my photography, and sharing my photos. Trying to keep up with all the other bits is a bit too much right now.

Thank you all for staying with me. I'm working on a few things that make me really excited for 2023, so who knows where we'll be in a year's time!

Please do hit that reply button if you have any thoughts or interesting news. Or if you'd just like to tell me how your Christmas and New Year went. I love hearing from you all 💖

I wish you all life, health, and prosperity for 2023!

Julia