Background

I started taking photography seriously towards the end of 2015. Posting on social media provided the framework, scope and motivation to improve my skills. It became a passion and outlet for a surge of creativity.

Very much influenced by my Dad’s obsession with cameras and equipment, I was interested in photography from a young age, and grew up learning to take my camera with me wherever I went. I instinctively learnt to be aware of, and curious about my surroundings.

Combining smartphone photography with the restrictions of Instagram provided focus and discipline. I no longer went out consciously looking for shots. For one thing, with three young children I simply didn't have enough time. As a result, I had to learn to react quickly to what I saw, observing, taking a photo and moving on.

I’ve learnt to instinctively frame the shot, and work with the idea of only having a single roll of film. Photography offered a solution to my limitations as a painter and illustrator. I’m not sure I have any technical ability, but I can frame a shot.

Sources of inspiration? My home county of Northamptonshire, England, the nature poet John Clare, Blade Runner, Talk Talk, Edward Hopper, the impact of Brexit, and Jack Kerouac. I was only 17 when I discovered On The Road, reading it in the back of my parent's car on the long road down to Marseille. On The Road unleashed a sense of yearning and scope, fuelling a desire to explore. The movement and restlessness intrinsic to this novel continues to inspire me. Motion, always in transit and yet simultaneously always in limbo.

My photography is an attempt to capture these moments and ideas. Inflected with a sense of time passing, nostalgia, ambiguity, anxiety and timelessness. Maybe that's my own style. Shaping my world, for my own sense of place in the world. I wouldn't say I've produced anything earth shattering but I've learnt what is required to produce good work. I've unearthed my artistic voice through the camera lens.