Profile

I am a professional photographer operating from a dedicated studio and office in Honley, near Holmfirth. I began freelancing after earning my degree in 1995. My professional work is in mainly in wedding and events photographemphasis on theatre and the arts.

Through my professional career I have developed an approach that combines my interpersonal and engagement skills with a sharp and creative eye for the moment.
I believe in communication as the key to producing great photographs of people. When I am documenting an issue or event I try to work in partnership with my subjects, and I use all the communication skills I can conjure to maximise the working relationship and outcomes for the project. I like to think that I bring something unique and personal to any project and that my presence is seen as a bonus, not a hindrance or annoyance; that I become part of the environment for the time I am there and am seen as part of the team or family. The feedback I receive from people I have worked with seems to support this element of my approach.
I studied at Bradford College and earned an Honours Degree in Photography and Book Design. I was trained as a wet photographer with specialist black and white printing skills learnt from my mentor Harvey Dwight, archival printer for the highly successful American photographer George Tice. My influences include photographers Brassai, Lisette Model, Mary Ellen Mark and Annie Liebowitz and painters Degas, Rembrandt and Toulouse Lautrec.

At an early age I became involved in theatre and have spent much of my life in theatres, both on and off stage. Much of my work today is taken of theatre companies, artists and performances across the country and I have steadily gained a reputation for excellence in this area of my work. Recent clients include theatre companies and arts organisations such as The Arts Council, Chol Theatre, Faceless Street and Community arts, CIDA, Pontefract Liquorice and Beyond the Borders Storytelling Festival.

Over the past fifteen years I have had many images published in newspapers and magazine nationally such as The Independent, Voice, Touch, Shelter UK Magazine, and The Times Educational Supplement and the BBC Online.

Exhibitions of my work have been shown in the Design Centre in Bradford, Huddersfield Media Centre, The Lawrence Batley Theatre, in the HOST Open Trail, Holmfirth Art week, Sleepers in Huddersfield and internationally in New Jersey USA. In 2008 five images from the Chol theatre project Beast Market were purchased by Kirklees Council to hang in the Huddersfield Open Market cafe as a permanent feature.