About me
Torridon, Scotland 2021
I don’t like writing about myself much, but since you’re here….
Ayers Rock, Australia 1983
I carried a little instamatic camera and took lots of people pictures on school music trips, but my passion for photography was really sparked by travelling around Australia in the early 1980s. I carried some thirty boxes of 36 exposure film around the continent in my rucksack, desperately hoping that the bumps and heat wouldn’t damage the contents. Foolishly I didn’t have any of the film developed until I returned to the UK after six months away, but was then very pleasantly surprised at some of the results.
Palmyra, Syria 1994
These early attempts encouraged me to try and capture interesting photographs of people and places on my travels rather than just occasional holiday snaps, a habit that has continued to this day much to the frustration of my kids. My defence is that these images often trigger memory that would otherwise have dissipated. Many times I think it’s only because I took a photograph that we remember that particular event or day. Isn’t this one of the reasons we carry a camera in the first place?
Sydney Opera House 1983
Trained as a classical musician, I have spent much of my working life immersed in creating sound; but a camera has never been far away - and I’ve needed very little encouragement to pick it up and fire the shutter. I’ve come to see these as complimentary activities: the one aiming to conjure a stimulating aural experience in an often captive audience, the other a silent, visual medium that at its best can kindle its own soundscape in the observer’s imagination.
At Wadi Rum, Jordan 1989, a dramatic location in David Lean’s movie Lawrence of Arabia
I was surrounded by National Geographic Magazines in my early years which taught me the value of documentary photography and the way the sound of a scene can be captured in a still image. Conversely the mood and colour of music can fire up and compliment visual stimuli, exemplified by the fact that “tone” is a somewhat technical word in both fields. The movie industry definitely appreciates this, a world where music is everywhere to be “seen”.
Freezing sunrise at Kars, Eastern Turkey 1986
Getting out of bed at an unholy hour to catch with a camera the magnificent vista of the Milky Way overhead or the angular light of a spectacular sunrise emerging from a freezing dawn, has its own special rewards. One of these is just being there when Nature puts on an outrageous display of light and colour that demands to be witnessed. Although I wouldn’t call getting out of bed early a hobby, it’s at this point that photography neatly intersects with some of my other interests such as hill-walking, earth sciences, astronomy and plain old peace and quiet.
Shooting landscapes at coast and countryside is wonderful, but more recently I’ve come to relish the hustle and bustle, the amazing lines and patterns of urban scenes, and to love the challenge of capturing candid portraits of those who live and work in that environment. So many people we fleetingly meet exude a particular character in the visual image we take home, yet I wonder many weeks later if what leaps out of the picture is a true reflection of their personality. Again, I’m often ascribing the sound of their voice to the photo even though I may long since have forgotten the conversation as I pressed the shutter.
Worli Village, Mumbai 2022
In my teens and twenties I enjoyed photographing musician colleagues at work or play - even if they didn’t. Both backpacking and working around the Middle East during the next decade, I found that engaging with and catching portraits of whoever was happy to have their picture taken (often children!) was just as fun and usually more challenging and rewarding than photographing the incredible sights themselves.
By the Nile, Egypt 1989
Some parts of the world I’ve been lucky enough to travel through have undergone major upheaval or tragedy in the years since, and in a number of instances I wonder what has happened to the people I photographed. In the case of youngsters, some of them must have children and possibly grandchildren of their own by now, if misfortune hasn’t intervened.
Orontes Valley, Syria 1994
In recent years I’ve rarely travelled any distance without a camera, entrusting valuable musical scores to the hold of an aircraft while challenging the hand-baggage allowance in both weight and volume with an assortment of lenses and other bits and pieces. I usually curse the occasions I don’t take a tripod - like an umbrella the best way to guarantee you’ll need it is not to take it with you.
Sassoon Dock, Mumbai 2022
Those early attempts with my Dad’s Minolta camera in Australia stimulated a real passion for recording and documenting the world around us. Nowadays I shoot portraits, formal and informal, as well as corporate headshots and workspace images, sports and events. Given my background as outlined above, I particularly enjoy photographing music and theatre. I can also undertake architectural and landscape shoots as required.
Petra, Jordan 1989
Many people are not comfortable having a lens pointed at them - and that includes me! I enjoy putting people at ease, helping them to relax in front of the camera and thereby creating a natural, unaffected look. I am fully DBS checked for any photography involving children. I am always looking for unusual angles and light when photographing inanimate subjects such as buildings, and to that end have a particular interest in creating black & white images.
Torridon, Scotland 2021
I live with my family near the Essex-Suffolk border in the UK, but travel much further afield with camera in hand!