I am a freelance documentary and fine art photographer born in the north-east of England and now based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, developing my love for photography since being presented with my first SLR when 17 years old in 1972. I initially trained and worked as a landscape architect, dedicated to addressing environmental issues as a designer and practitioner until making the decision in 2015 to fully pursue my photography passion.
During my time as a landscape architect the opportunity to work in China on a regular basis for 10 years, including living in Shanghai for the last 4 of these, introduced the adventure of travel and the experience and appreciation of new places, people and cultures which developed a desire to record and document these through my story-telling imagery.
I believe my subjects deserve to be represented with respect, humility and dignity and this I aim to achieve through a sensitive approach and gaining the trust of those people I am privileged to meet.
Although now committed to digital technology for the majority of my documentary work, I have a particular love of black and white photography, especially landscapes which have been a hallmark of mine since the early years and I still use black and white film, both medium format and 35mm, for my fine-art and much of my personal work and, when I can, for documentary projects. I believe that the strength of black and white is that it allows the very soul of the image to be expressed - the essence of which I strive to show in all my work whether landscapes, documentary projects or photo essays.
I am available for commissions covering both environmental and humanitarian issues as well as commercial projects. Fine-art prints, signed prints and stock images are also available.
"Seeing is not enough; you have to feel what you photograph". (Andre Kertesz)
Previous events:
March 2024: Open Gallery, Halifax: Group art exhibition 'Landscapes and Seascapes' - 1 image selected: Loch Fyne from Auchelick Bay
February 2023: Glasgow Gallery of Photography: exhibition 'Monochrome Pt 2'group international exhibition: 3 prints selected
December 2021: Linden Mill, Hebden Bridge - Group Art Exhibition - b+w landscapes.
September 2020: Luddenden Village - open air exhibition 'The Big Luddenden Key Worker Visual Shout Out!' celebrating the project undertaken in and around the village during the covid-19 pandemic lockdown
October 2018: Midgley Community Rooms, West Yorkshire: exhibition 'Midgley Open Gardens' series of black and white prints to celebrate local gardens opened to the public.
July 2018: Halifax Piece Hall: exhibition - '50 Years of St Augustine's Centre' series of portraits of refugees and undertaking 'pop up studio' sessions during the exhibition period.
August 2017: Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2017: 6 prints shortlisted to 2nd stage - 'Bugwema Villagers'
June 2017: Blank Wall Gallery, Athens. Group exhibition - 3 selected prints (Bugwema Villagers) in 'Portraits in B+W'
June 2016: Midgley Community Rooms, West Yorkshire: exhibition 'Gardens: East meets West' series of black and white prints of Chinese and UK gardens in connection with Open Gardens Event
April 2016: Blank Wall Gallery, Athens. Group exhibition - selected print in 'Monochrome'
November 2016: Square Chapel Centre for the Arts, Halifax: solo exhibition -'Living with the Dragon'. Series of b+w photographs reflecting 4 years living in China
27 June 2015: Shanghai Photo Conference - 'B+W South Korean seascapes'
May-June 2015: Jiashan International Art Museum: group exhibition - 'Homecoming' a series of b+w photographs taken in the UK while living in China. Photographs retained by the museum
21 March 2015: Shanghai Photo Conference - presentation 'Bali landscapes in monochrome'
20 October 2014: Shanghai Photo Conference - presentation 'Plant studies, Singapore Botanic Gardens'
23 July 2014: Sigma (China) - featured video in their blog: 'UK Landscapes'
15 July 2014: Shanghai Photo Conference - presentation 'UK landscapes in B+W'