Since the age of 16 there has always been a camera close to me, but I was never pushed in that direction. Like everyone, I started with a basic manual focus 35mm film camera with only two lenses, a old dust filled 50mm prime and a budget zoom lens for long shots.  Studied the basics at art college and some years later, became enthralled at the use of slide film during a trip to Paris with Batley School of Art and Design.

Although my course was centered on the virtues of commercial interior design, I secretly wished to be down in the damp and gloomy confines of a darkroom bringing images to life in trays of ugly smelling chemicals and clicking away with expensive cameras and subsidised film.

Spells of paid photography work at the odd horse show and the occasional natural portrait sitting had enabled me to expand my equipment but the costs were becoming harder to match as a designers salary did not stretch to expanding my photographic kit to a professional standard. Then at 24 I decided to sell my kit and focus purely on my aspirations as a designer.

Sound the digital revolution and the Olympus D340L followed by a the C-2000 that rekindled my interest in photography. Now I could use the computational skills I now possessed with digital photography. The bigger DSLRs at the time were startlingly expensive but I was prepared to wait and see how far the rabbit hole went. Various semi-pro digital cameras passed through my hands until a trip to Japan secured a full flight Pro-DSLR with a wide range of lenses, some of which I still use today.

Personally speaking, photography is ALL about the recording of history for everyone, not just a client, but for anyone that wants to relive a moment and reposition themselves at a scene to fully embrace the moment the image was taken. In the split second it took to capture, every element is fixed in time; Emotion, light, expression, balance, colour, feeling.

When I see a great photograph,  whether it be a simple news shot or a classic photographic portrait, I see and feel all of the components that make the picture work as it flows from the photograph and connects with my understanding of a shot.

Many hours have passed looking at photographic books from Bresson to Bailey, collections from the great photo agencies of the world down to the simplest of  novice holiday snaps. All have the magical beauty of maintaining that moment for posterity, future comment and learning.

I came across a specific international news shot taken just after the Haitian earthquake. Its content left me feeling deeply uncomfortable and highly charged with emotion, this is the embodiment of photography. Recently, I used this experience during a short lecture where I found myself, once again, struggling with powerful emotions as I described the image to a room full of people. I realised why it was so still difficult to accept the contents of the image and it was due to it being a reality.

Since then, I have developed an even deeper appreciation for the “Art of photography” which was unusual as I would never have used Art as a reference to photography. My recognition of what photography should represent has  changed vastly as the boundary of “what makes a great picture” has been widened as a varied work flow continues to open my mind to infinite possibilities.

To conclude, I believe in what I do and the way in which I execute my skills by fully embracing the spirit of photography as a medium to communicate time.

P.S i know its a little off topic but have a look at this, its my other little venture! It’s van hire, yeah i know not exactly creative but it is interesting.