Biography

I had a couple of encounters with photography as a youngster. I remember a Lomo camera for my 12th birthday and a darkroom course at college. Unlike a lot of photographers those early experiences didn't kick-start an interest in photography for me, that came later.

I was good at art, but I was unaware art schools existed. Instead I found the recruitment brochure for the Royal Marines, and more importantly the image on it's cover, a bunch of Marines in a fast boat racing across a tropical ocean, that's what I wanted to do. Besides I’d read a bunch of Commando comics as a kid and spent a few months in the Army Cadets......! How prepared did you need to be? I ended up serving eight years, had some amazing experiences and did the speed boat bit - unlike the brochure it was often at night and in the rain or snow!

After the Marines I travelled for a while, worked odd jobs and took photographs to document my journey. I returned with no money, took a job on a building site and by chance stumbled upon an evening class prospectus that had courses in photography. This is where photography really started for me. Naively I thought here's a career where I can travel and get paid, so I enrolled. The portfolio I put together got me a place at Bournemouth Art College. Bournemouth had a great reputation for photography and the tutors looked for students from varied backgrounds. It certainly set me on the right path.

I moved to London looking for assisting work. It was 1997, digital wasn't on the scene yet, and I met photographers through the photo labs and the pubs they frequented while waiting for their film to be processed. There was a real community in those days and I assisted all kinds of photographers. I soon realised that I preferred to be outside, so landscape became my thing.

In 2001 I made a trip to the US to shoot my own work. The pictures I returned with had a concise style to them and in 2002 I landed my first commission, which became the catalyst for my advertising career. Commissioners often come to me to solve complicated concepts. A mountain goat on top of a Land Rover on a mountain peak. A New York Avenue filled with beds for British Airways or a cityscape where the streets are swimming pools for E.ON. I love the challenge these commissions present along with the collaboration and teamwork needed to make them a success. More recently, I devote time to extended personal projects, I’m not sure where this will take me, but I'm enjoying the journey.