Lesley Fleming Photography

14/05/2026

It’s hard to know for certain just how long I was unwell before I got the news that a gnarly bone spur in my spine was decompressing my spinal nerves and unfortunately, my spinal cords. Maybe 18 months? Maybe more. In that time I had been diagnosed with long covid, been assessed for sleep apnea and been prescribed countless pain medication that have (mostly) helped me to get through the day.

The thing is I was still trying to turn up, still trying to feel better and well when you’re a Mum with responsibilities, I didn’t have much choice but to keep going.

The keeping going part was the hardest, it was intertwined with grief at losing my Mum, post natal depression, loneliness and a real loss of self.

Photography became an enemy, I’d berate myself for not being able to do what I used to do and in the process gaslighted myself that I was fine. That I just needed to eat better, move more and start meditating again.

The truth was I was very nearly completely paralysed. I had said to my sister the week before my surgery that I felt disabled and that I was certain it was only going to get worse. Little did I know just how true that was.

Since the 8 March, when the gnarly bone spur was removed and I had a fusion fitted, I am further away from all of those feelings. Somehow the surgery and diagnosis legitimised how I was feeling. It’s crazy to think just how poorly I had gotten before I stuck to my guns, dug deep and advocated for myself.

This photo for me represents that. I am owning my illness, the medical help I need just now, my mobility challenges and pushing that little bit further every day, where I can.

It’s still a challenge, but a different challenge. I know to rest. To understand my limits and to believe, rather than blame, myself.

Recovery from surgery is gradually becoming finding my new norm managing pain and trying to figure out who this new iteration of myself is.

To all my chronic illness and chronic pain warriors, you’re my heroes.

14/05/2026

My name is Alexis, I run Lexi's Takeaway on St. Clair Street in Kirkcaldy and in August it'll be 3 years since we opened.

I started in this world working for a friend at Freuchie Garden Centre before moving to Mitchelston Industrial Estate here in Kirkcaldy, after she became unwell and sold up, I moved back into home care because that's all I knew really.

I decided one day to just go for it, used my savings and on a whim, I went for this place. I thought "I'm just gonna go for it, it'll either work or it won't" and here I am. My partner, Tam, has been a massive help, and we've got Gayle in today as well who you've met!

The community has also been a massive part of this place, we opened in the August and in the October for Halloween, we opened that night and decorated the shop. It's just for the bairns, we don't sell anything or that. It was my way of introducing myself to the area by getting to know people, opening my doors to them quite literally. The kids will come by and ask if I'm doing the Halloween night this year, so it's become something people enjoy and we love doing it. We get selection boxes at Christmas that go up to the Gallatown Hub for their appeals.

We wouldn't be here without this community, we have our struggles with chains opening up nearby but that will never stop us because we love it here. We've also just started deliveries and we're adding new things all the time, today we started making vegetarian breakfasts because nobody else was doing them.

I love speaking to people, hearing what they've been up to, I love being able to give back at Halloween and Christmas. I've also been sponsoring Templehall United 2016s for 2 years too which is something I'm proud of.

When I'm not here I have 4 dogs keeping me busy, I also run the Bark and Go dog exercise park in Glenrothes, we've had that place almost 5 years, another venture on a whim! My son thought I was mental because it looked like a mud bath when we got it but it's going well.

This is my happy place, for doing something on a whim, it just is and I'm so chuffed that it's been popular, you've got your workboys coming in, the school kids stop by too as well as the usual faces we see. I've known girls who came in when they were pregnant and they'll bring their wee ones in here, so it feels like home.

We've had a few unfortunate people come in and we'll always sort them out with a hot pie or a roll with a drink because it costs nothing to be kind as you said, there's a few chancers mind you but that happens!

I just love being here, I never want to do anything else and I'm just so grateful for the support we've had, it's a brilliant community here and all around Kirkcaldy and it's nice to be a part of it"

Please support my new friend, Lexi by stopping by and saying hello or sharing this post. Thank you 🫶🏻

This shot was taken by my good pal, Lesley Fleming Photography 📸

02/05/2026

The beautiful 8 years ago during the

I have wonderful memories of photographing GI in 2018 and Govanhill Baths was a real highlight that year.

26/04/2026

Hello

So for the last few weeks I've had something planned with the help of my good pal Wayne from Wemyss Scenes. Whenever I'm on my travels, I'm always asked questions about The Human Collective

So on June 28th, I'll be able to answer them properly if you fancy coming along to The Kings in Kirkcaldy.

In a year, so many braw faces and their stories have featured on the page, with the view count at almost 16 MILLION in that time.

I've given my heart to this page and through some of the stories, I've lost myself for a bit.

I'm making nothing from this because whatever is taken in that goes my way, I'm donating it to my pals at the Lower Largo Friendship Group.

I'd love for you to come say hello 👋🏻

We've got music from Romays Music and the Dirty Bams.

I'll have a link for tickets soon hopefully

Thank you for supporting the page, it really means the world to me ❤️

22/04/2026

I reached out to Ryan a while ago to ask if I could join him on a photo walk one day. Thankfully he said yes (pure riddy if he hadn’t btw) and when we met up I saw first hand what he does best; connecting with people and making it look easy! He was warm and friendly and I was inspired by his energy and confidence. When we met up earlier this month I had the opportunity to ask him more about the Human Collective. I have been intrigued by the project but in all honesty it confused me. I started off my photography journey taking candid shots of people in Glasgow, on the street and at events so I’m used to seeing the various ways that photographers approach this type of portraiture. However, the Human Collective didn’t fit with my traditional view of what a street photography project might look like, for instance the captions Ryan presented alongside his photographs were longer than one or two sentences and his focus didn’t appear to be on finding interesting faces or eccentric characters.

When Ryan started to talk about the Human Collective, he was mentioning stories, connection and community. What I understand now of what he is doing is that he wants people to pause on their scroll, to find out more about the people we live around and the magic part? That when reading we might find some commonalities and it’s that that has the ability to bring us together.

For me this is where being a part of the Human Collective gets more impactful.

Community has meant something different to me at different points of my life and the truth is I have never felt a sense of belonging. I have struggled since moving to Fife to feel settled and in recent years felt isolated and lonely.

So, on a personal level this type of work really matters but I think if we all stopped to think about life today, reconnecting with neighbours matters to us all and the communities that we live in.

I hope my photography adds something to Ryan’s project and it helps to get the stories of fellow lang toun’ers out there.

Thanks to Gayle for being the first to agree to me taking your photo, you were fab! 💓

Hello

Over the course of the next few weeks, I'm making some changes. You'll have seen a post i shared the other day of a photo of me (which I'm not keen on at all😂).

My friend Lesley Fleming Photography will be joining me in Kirkcaldy and I'll do the chatting and she will be capturing the images, we'll also be working on a short project that I'll reveal as soon as I can.

We met today and I stopped by Lexi's Takeaway on St. Clair Street as it was a place I'd been told to go to ages ago. We spent 10 minutes there chatting, taking photos and me being me, I threw poor Lesley into the deep end and said "right, get your camera oot" and Gayle here was the first willing participant.

As you can see, the shot turned out amazing. You see, Lesley has a gift and when someone has a gift, you find a way or a reason, to show that gift off. Kirkcaldy is her home so if you can, please support my friend by following her page.

Thank you to Lexi, Tam & Gayle for their time yesterday, there's a story due soon!

Thank you 📸

18/04/2026

Humbled by Ryan’s words and the kindness he has shown to me.

Sometimes the kindness of strangers, is just what it appears to be; true connection and a genuine desire to offer someone a hand up.

I met up with Ryan, the legend behind , on Monday for a wander and a catch up.

Ryan encouraged me to bring along my camera and I captured this shot of him in the courtyard of whilst we chatted about life, photography and finding purpose.

The energy and commitment Ryan gives to his story telling & photography project is beyond measure.

I’m glad I now know more about his passion and I am glad to know him.

Thanks pal for the gentle encouragement.

18/04/2026

I met up with Ryan, the legend behind , on Monday for a wander and a catch up.

Ryan encouraged me to bring along my camera and I captured this shot of him in the courtyard of whilst we chatted about life, photography and finding purpose.

The energy and commitment Ryan gives to his story telling & photography project is beyond measure.

I’m glad I now know more about his passion and I am glad to know him.

Thanks pal for the gentle encouragement.

09/04/2026

It’s been four weeks since my spinal surgery and in that time we have managed to get prepared to move house!

I’m tempted to say it’s worst luck but actually, it was perfect timing. Not least, because if I hadn’t got surgery when I did who knows where I’d be just now.

Last night Archie tidied out his playhouse and I supervised whilst capturing the little moment in his life.

It is bittersweet packing up a house where we have experienced all our firsts together but is also the house where I have felt trapped in for such a long time.

Despite the long years of ill health, both physical and mental, we created a home were this little guy thrived.

As I am starting to experience days where I feel better, it feels like the perfect time to reset and start over in a new house; leaving the difficulties behind us and taking all our amazing memories with us.

Much like choosing what goes in a bin bag, or not, we are at a point where we are deciding what we take with us and what we decide to part company with. And, hopefully for me at least that means learning to live with better with chronic illnesses and perhaps doing some thriving of my own.

14/02/2026

A little love for an old photograph I took in Portabello, February 2017

06/01/2026

In the lull between Christmas & New Year, I picked up my camera again.

A simple act that felt completely out of reach for a very long time.

But, this might just be what recovery looks like for me and I wish I could bottle this feeling.

Recovery after mental health difficulties has looked different for me each time. This time photography didn’t help. Instead, it made things worse and in ways I could never have foreseen.

I battled in 2025 to get to this point, to find ways to get better and part of that was to figure out what place photography had in my life, if it had a place at all.

It does have a place but not like i thought it did.

It was always meant to be me documenting what I see in the world and in life so that’s what I will be focussed on from now on.

I already feel clearer and more importantly, lighter.

I may write more about recovery at some point in the future as I start the New Year as part of a peer support group facilitated by NHS Fife, adult mental health services.