I’ve been in awe of the natural world my whole life. I’m lucky enough to have parents and family who share my love of wildlife and the environment and also fortunate to have spent my earlier years between southern England and Kuwait.
In the Middle East geckos would scurry across my school desk and weird and wonderful insects and sea creatures could be found. Camping in the desert meant birdwatching and searching for reptiles. My dad, a keen birdwatcher and photographer, took me on my first snorkelling adventures in the warm clear waters of the Persian Gulf when I was still wearing water-wings. When we relocated to the UK I missed the heat, exotic sights, smells, sea and animals, but soon discovered local populations of lizards and intriguing insects. Year round early morning birdwatching trips as well as visits to family and friends provided more captivating natural wonders. During all this time, nurtured by my mum I created art. I was happiest drawing, painting or making something, learning about life, materials, processes, how things work and how things interact with each other and the world.
I‘ve always appreciated composition in images and objects, long before I really knew what it was, just the things that pleased me aesthetically. My parents encouraged me to explore art and design, taking my brother and me on trips to inspiring places both near and far.
I longed to try diving, so when I was 13 I joined the British Sub Aqua Club, but couldn’t use an aqualung until I was 16. The prospect of three years of snorkelling in a swimming pool in Basingstoke with the possibility of a few trips to swim around in murky used quarries wasn’t so appealing. I left after a few months…
Just after this I discovered skateboarding which has been a constant throughout my life since. It has given me my best friends and has taught me so many life lessons which are applicable to many aspects of existence.
As the years passed and after a selection of unfulfilling jobs in various towns around southern England I put my efforts into becoming an illustrator. I persevered and for the last two decades this has been my career, adding model making to my skills during this time. This has been instrumental in my personal image making aesthetic and I strive to be original in all my artwork.
In the last 15 years I’ve become more interested then obsessed with photography. Initially for gathering reference material for drawings and models, but on a trip to the Red Sea in 2006 I bought a Kodak disposable underwater camera at the airport. The results, to me, were wondrous and idea inducing. Snaps of an exciting other world which took me back to my childhood in Kuwait. In 2009 I had a Canon G9 digital camera with underwater housing and again, went to the Red Sea where I spent seven days snorkelling six hours a day and taking photos. I can pinpoint this as the moment in my life I became really excited by photography.
I created a series of mirrored images of the reef from these photographs and was interviewed about them by It’s Nice That.
I studied A-level photography in the 80s but after so long using point and shoot with digital auto settings I had all but forgotten what the dials and numbers did and meant. So three years ago I decided to start from scratch and relearn how a camera functions, purchased a Sony a7iii mirrorless model and haven’t looked back. During this time I lived in London and as I’d always been intrigued by the Ring-Necked parakeets that live in the city, I began to study their daily movements and flight-paths. I’d stand in the River Lea at sunset year round taking shots of them as they flew in their hundreds inches from my head, as well as making graphic shots of their neon forms on the large white wall, opposite my bedroom, where they had a nest inside an air-vent. I then purchased a 90mm macro lens and flash. After a while I discovered a macro photography community on Instagram. I’d never used a flash properly before but daily trips to my local park looking for small subjects to photograph and document helped me learn. Shooting macro was my replacement for gathering underwater images, but after finally moving back to Cornwall I’m able to spend so much more time in the sea, snorkelling and marvelling at the incredible underwater world of the Atlantic Ocean.
I love animals so when photographing them it’s important to me to treat them kindly. I only have images of subjects as found with natural backgrounds. I endeavour to never put an animal in distress or an uncomfortable position. Finding a scene or an animal acting naturally in a visually appealing situation is what keeps me excited to keep creating images. With all wildlife on the decline I think it is important to document what incredible planet-mates we have and how essential it is to be respectful and caring towards all of them.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy my work.
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