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About / Bio

I started taking photographs when I was about 10 and it's something I've always done. My father taught me virtually everything I know, and while I feel sure the various 'rules' like compostion, for example, should have been learned somewhere along the line, it certainly wasn't a concious effort. If my images don't conform, ask yourself if you like what you see before sending me an e-mail...

I always developed and printed my own black & white and colour material, even while spending 6 years in the desert, and it took me a while before I 'invested' in a digital camera - to this day I still work with negative film for medium format work, but otherwise most of what you see here has been made with conventional digital reflex and/or mirrorless cameras.

There are far too many pompous artists statements, so I'll try to keep mine really simple - what you see in my photographs is what I see in my viewfinder, nothing added, nothing taken away. If I manage to stir an emotion in the viewer, the picture is a success, but don't for one moment think that what you see is what I saw - make the moment your own, I'll understand.

Despite what Ken Rockwell or the 'know-alls' in local photo clubs try to tell you, there's absolutely no difference between any of the 'serious' camera manufacturers in terms of image making capabilities (Just look at what can be done with fruit-flavoured portable telephones) - it's the photographer that makes the image, not the camera. Give any kind of camera to an experienced photographer and see what the results are...

Oh, and one last thing: Photographers do not take photographs - they make them. The only people who take photographs are people who can't make their own and steal from the Internet, from the people who can.

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"Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures"
Don McCullin

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"In my opinion, my photos don't need too much information - it is more interesting to me when the viewer uses his or her imagination, and fills in his or her own story to the picture."
Jaques Sonck

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"I don't know if photography is art, but there are a lot of photographers who are artists"
Jean-Loup Sieff, 1974

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E Q U I P M E N T
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I use modern digital reflex or mirrorless cameras for most of my work, and a slightly less modern analogue 6x6 reflex as well. I have also been known to use a 4x5" monorail. Sadly, I am not sponsored by anyone, which just means all the equipment I use, I've bought and paid for - this can make one quite fussy. I purchased my first 35mm reflex in 1974 and my first 6x6 in 1978 and for both formats I have stayed with the same brands ever since for two purely practical reasons - A: The design ergonomics fit my hands perfectly and B: I can use every lens I've ever purchased on any of my camera bodies.

I do very little post-processing. The images you see here are pretty much what I see in the viewfinder - yes, I clean up blemishes but I'm not a Photoshop artist like some 'photographers'- I'm not against this in principal, I just A: can't see the point, and B: I' not very good at it.

I personally don't give a monkeys what cameras other people use, and I'm certainly not going to be drawn into this ridiculous argument regarding who makes the best etc. I just don't care. I make an effort to test before I buy, and I freely admit I might read a review or two written by people I trust and as such have a collection of cameras and lenses that I can count on. I have taken the time to learn how to use my equipment, rather than blaming the camera everytime I cock something up, and it seems to work for me.

Cameras are not magic - what you do with them can be though...sometimes...if you try...