My lifelong love of photography began in the mid 1960’s and came from my father. An ex-railwayman he bought himself a new camera to aid in his quest to record the final days of the steam engine. He gave his old camera to me and I joined him on a few trips. Later I joined a railway enthusiasts club and photographed the diesel locomotives that had replaced steam. This brought my first sales – other club members were willing to pay for copies of my pictures!

At school a very patient and tolerant art teacher managed to convince a stroppy teenager that there was merit in the work Vermeer, Rembrandt, van Dyck, Renoir and a host of others – including a Victorian painter called John Atkinson Grimshaw whose work blows me away to this day. He also taught me about light, but most of all he taught me to see, rather than just look.

I fell in love with the work of the great 60’s and 70’s photographers such as Bruce Weber, Paolo Roversi, David Bailey, Terry O’Neill, Brian Duffy and the genius that was Terence Donovan. It was, however, Robert Ellis the music photographer whom I met whilst working at Reading Festival in the 1970’s that gave me probably the most profound piece of advice when he said: ‘great images are like great music, they should tell a story and make you feel something.’

My freelance photography business has always played a supporting role rather than being my main income, which has allowed me the freedom to pick and choose an eclectic mix of subject matter and clientele from landscapes to wedding dress catalogues or food for a vegan calendar to vintage style portraits for a student’s union magazine.

I have always tried to bring something of me to the job, rather than just shooting what was put in front of me. So I have gone through my photographic life, trying not to take pictures, but to make images that mean something to the observer.

In October 2018 I gained my Licentiateship of The Master Photographers Association

... oh, and I still occasionally photograph the odd steam engine!