About

“A good photograph is one that communicates a fact, touches the heart and leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it.
It is, in a word, effective.”
– Irving Penn

This was the starting point for my professional photography journey which began over two decades ago when I was running a successful PR/Communications agency. Photography here was focused very much on understanding and then effectively conveying a specific message as part of a wider communication strategy. Whether product, production or corporate photography, success was defined by how effectively each image achieved this.

“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.”
– Karl Lagerfeld

Around 15 years ago, I combined my photography with my world as a singer/songwriter and branched into the world of live music photography and so began my passion for capturing moments and making memories. The careful staging and control of my earlier photography journey was now replaced by the unpredictability of lighting, stage layout, crowds, and even the artists themselves. Success now became defined by the degree you captured forever the absolute essence of a moment, of a song, of a performance that would never happen again.

This is more than simply being in the right place at the right time with the right settings, it can only come from a deep underlying passion for the world of live performing. Only then can you have the ability to immerse yourself into the moment, to read the direction of travel, and consequentially, be able to anticipate and be ready to capture that instant in time that can never be reproduced. As a resident photographer for a number of venues and festivals, I have been fortunate enough to work with many up-and-coming local musicians as well as photograph a wide variety of national and international artists. My images have appeared widely online and in print, from local papers and magazines all the way up to national artist/music publications.

“It is more important to click with people than to click the shutter”
– Alfred Eisenstaedt

Around 6 years ago however, I began expanded my work to include the world of live performance art, partnering initially with our highly respected local theatre. In addition to a range of adult panto and Christmas productions, the majority of this has been working with a number of different youth theatre groups and their passionate and committed leaders. Central to success here is the creative tension between being able to blend into the background allowing the actors their rightful place as centre stage while also being able to connect with everyone involved in the production and become part of the team. I can honestly say it has been such a privilege to work alongside such a diverse range of young people as they grow both individually and as a team along their own performing journey and to document the many performing highlights created along the way.