The photographs were made with a particular black and white film that Davidson remembers vividly: "The film I most used was Ilford HPS (hypersensitive) which means that it was probably pre-fogged (exposed to light or mercury vapours very briefly in the manufacturing process to break the threshold exposure and create a faster film). It had an effective speed of 1000 or 1500 when developed in Ilford's Microphene developer. More than twice that of other films at the time. The lab in London push-processed the film slightly when needed in dim light or at night. But basically this antique film had a character that matched the light permeated in sea fog, opal sky and the mist and melancholy prevalent in London, the open country side, and along the sea shore. The Ilford film recorded the mid-tones with a poetic British feeling for soft light. It had a beautiful grain pattern."

from Bruce Davidson, England / Scotland 1960.