about

I admit I’ve always been an acutely visual person, with an instinctive appreciation of the visual and musical arts, although growing up as a post-war kid didn’t give you much room for exploring any pretentions in that area.

I wasn't much of a painter at school, preferring instead the precision of a line drawing to the ‘atmosphere’ of a watercolour wash; but perhaps that's where the seeds were sown. That was also the driver to me starting my working life as a Design Draughtsman, later an Environmental Engineer, a specialist in Algorithmic Design and Optimisation and finally, returning to my ‘roots’, a professional Photographer.

Thinking back now, I can’t recall exactly when I consciously realised that photography and much later, video and music would be my ways of distilling ‘moments’ from a compelling scene, but I knew I would never make a painter. Who knows how these things get triggered? These days we might more accurately call ourselves ‘artists’ - with cameras.

the dawn of the darkroom

I was in my early twenties when I first became interested in photojournalism and 'candid' images or, as it’s called these days, Street Photography. I was fascinated by the visual impact of monochrome and with the images made by the great photographers working in black and white. To me it was visual ‘poetry’, capturing and crystalising the drama of a visual moment; condensing it into its essence – devoid of distracting colour, but packed with potential interpretations.

There was something deeply appealing about conceiving an image, in monochrome, in the mind’s eye, discovering the unique location or choosing the ‘decisive moment’, composing and exposing the frame and then, in the darkroom, working diligently from the latent film image all the way through to a beautifully printed, mounted exhibition print. So, I apprenticed myself to a local photographer, Peter Gant ARPS, who taught me the whole gamut of in-camera and development techniques, the chemical formulations and processes, as well as the darkroom, printing and mounting skills, every part of which had to be thoroughly understood and repeatedly practised. I was deeply fascinated, and progressed rapidly under his guidance. Peter was a true Master and I’ve been trying to get it right ever since.

the digital horizons

It’s wonderful to see how photography has changed since my first 'serious' efforts with a newly acquired Canon FTb-N in 1973. Then, one couldn't have foreseen how photography would evolve. Fast forward to today and digital technologies, for me, present a new freedom, with even more creative potential. I still pursue the very same photographic values and standards Peter taught me, but now have so many more possibilities for self expression.

Leaving aside the technical changes since the seventies, astounding though they are, the abiding themes have been my constant love of image making, my search for personal improvement and the never ending pursuit of photographic excellence. Hard task masters. So I have applied myself, with cyclic obsessiveness, to this infinitely rewarding journey and I wish you the greatest success on yours.