A Life in Photography

My working life began as an engineer in the oil industry. Photography entered my life almost by accident, aboard the Esso Caledonia, a vast supertanker crossing the Red Sea. Somewhere between machinery, heat, and endless horizons, I discovered the camera, and gradually, it took hold.

Like many photographers of my generation, I didn’t go to photography school. I assisted. I spent three years in London working with John Claridge, whose studio was perched above Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho. We photographed musicians, actors, people, products, and everything in between. It was an apprenticeship in light, observation, and the craft of making images.

From there, I began shooting editorial stories, people, places, landscapes, and moments. That led naturally into fashion and lifestyle work, and eventually, almost by accident, into photography for the automotive world.

Over the years, I’ve worked with brands including Rolls-Royce, BMW, Jaguar, and Toyota, creating stills and motion in locations ranging from Iceland and Los Angeles to Tokyo. Each project brought new places, new challenges, and new ways of seeing.

But photography has always been about more than the assignment. For me, it is a way of paying attention, of noticing the details, the light, and the moments that might otherwise pass unnoticed.

Today, I live in the south-west of France, working from a converted limestone barn that houses a fully equipped darkroom and daylight studio. Here, I teach workshops, mentor photographers, and continue exploring the processes that first drew me to photography.

From wet plate collodion and salt printing to photopolymer gravure, large-format film, and contemporary digital work, the studio is a place to slow things down and spend time with the image.

Along the way, I’ve been influenced by photographers who found something beyond the obvious: Paul Strand’s quiet humanity, William Eggleston’s unexpected colour, Edward Weston’s attention to form, and Stephen Shore’s ability to reveal the extraordinary in everyday life.

They continue to remind me that photography is not only about what is placed in front of the lens, but about the way we choose to look.

If you’d like to learn more about the studio, join a workshop, or explore working together, I’d be delighted to hear from you.