My interest in photography started as a small boy, looking through the photo albums my father compiled during his time in the Royal Navy. His Kodak Retina IIB with separate Weston light meter seemed rather daunting, so supported by settings determined by my father, my first venture in photography was with an old box camera. Sadly a darkroom error meant my first ever photographs (from Bristol Zoo) never saw the light of day, having seen too much light in the darkroom. However, when my father sold his darkroom equipment I was given a Kodak Instamatic 133X from the proceeds and I was away. Most of my first prints are lost or faded beyond recognition but my interest in photography was rekindled with the purchase of a Pentax K1000 with a built-in light meter, in 1980.
To learn more I joined Oxford Photographic Society and like most self-taught photographers went down the road of entering competitions and eventually National and International Exhibitions. This undoubtedly provided a very good grounding in the art and craft of photography and provided opportunities to try many styles and avenues of photography. Another influence on my photography has been my wife, Tricia. one of her most valued gifts has been a book of photography by Shirley Baker. Streets and Spaces: Urban Photography opened my eyes to something more than the rather constrained and clichéd work of camera clubs.
In pursuit of my new direction and with additional inspiration from the work of Martin Parr, Roger Mayne and Elliot Erwitt I set out to take pictures of people, streets and life. I found myself working more and more on portfolios as I realised that to communicate through photography a panel of pictures was a far more compelling and enduring approach. I have worked on themes that I have stumbled across or sought out, always hoping viewers will be able to make a connection with the image in much the same way as I did when taking it; I hope the connection is meaningful and personal to each and every one.
I have documented life in Oxford for over 40 years and this book explores my archive of photographs and the meaning of archives through my personal narrative. The project, Activating Our Archives, was lead by artist Sunil Shah at Modern Art Oxford and provided the stimulus for creating this collection. https://www.blurb.co.uk/b/9506749-activating-our-archives
Oxford Photographic Society (OPS) are displaying members work for all to see at Mathematics Institute inrom society members (including two of mine) and covers many photographic styles.
I was delighted to accept an invitation from Jay Charnock FRPS to be one of the three selectors for the 2017 exhibition by the Visual Art Group of the Royal Photographic Society. We had a splendid array of pictures to choose from and doing this with co-selectors Cathy Roberts FRPS and Lucilla Phelps FRPS was a pleasure.
I am thrilled at my success in the Marwell Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. I entered the Marwell Zoo Residents category and won with 'Congo buffalo'; two other entries 'Giraffes' and 'Giraffe feeding' were both commended. All winning entries will be displayed in an outdoor exhibition in the grounds of the zoo. My prize is a free annual membership. More details will appear on Marwell’s website in due course: https://www.marwell.org.uk/zoo/keep-in-touch/competitions/photographer-of-the-year
I am delighted to have been selected for 2nd place in the Wanderlust Photo Contest! My prize is an amazing $250 Adorama.com gift voucher. The top prize was a spectacular holiday with the talented photographers Robert Caplin & Peter Lockley who run MauiWorkshop.com ...I'll just have to enter next year and try again!
I have been named as a short-listed photographer in the 2016 competition, which attracted 230,103 entries in total across all categories; up 28% on last year. My picture 'Jump' features in the 'Split Second' category and you can see it here: http://worldphoto.org/images/image/1275336/?FromImageGalleryID=31793
Copies of JUMP can be ordered from the official SWPA Print Partner https://art.tt/zdq
Join me on Monday 29th June for a workshop as part of the MCS Festival. Learn how to use your main camera controls and leave AUTO behind! The workshop will also take a brief look at popular photographic genres with hints on how to get involved; as well as a guide to photographing Oxford. For more details click here
It was great fun to be an invited member of a judging panel that assessed the level of photographic creativity demonstrated by participants in a research study lead by Dalena Van Heugten of Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences. Dalena's paper has been published in Frontiers in Psychology and can be read here. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how all the photographers involved had risen to the daily challenge of submitting one picture taken on a theme emailed to them each morning.
My picture of a puppy at Stow Gipsy Horse Fair was selected as one of the three winners in the RPS competition Hidden Spaces. The picture is printed in the March issue of the RPS Journal. Click here to visit the site
My latest book "Cowley Road Carnival" has just been published. This annual event is a huge community celebration and the theme for Carnival 2014 and my book was 'faces' ~ you can review the whole book here. For more details about the 2015 Carnival and how you can get involved click here.
I am delighted that my picture "The Butcher" has been selected for the 2015 Members’ Biennial Exhibition, which will tour the UK during 2015. Only 100 images have been selected for the exhibition from 3,284 images submitted worldwide, so it is a very pleasing achievement. You can see all the winning pictures here.
It's great to have an image in the Creativity feature in the Dec 14 issue of PhotoPlus!
My picture of a family at Stow Gipsy Horse Fair was selected as one of the three winners in the RPS competition Family Life. The picture is printed in the Decemebr issue of the RPS Journal. Click on the logo above to visit the site.
I was working at the London Tattoo Convention and hope you enjoy the 2014 gallery.
I am pleased that judge Dave Stevenson loved my picture Bonobo and chose it as his winner in the Photocrowd All Creatures Great & Small competition. Find out what Dave said about all the top photos here: Top 10 and Commended lists.
I was delighted that two of my images featured in Photography Oxford Festival 14 as part of the Selektif competition on the theme of glass. All the winners can be seen here.
I was delighted to have a portfolio of images from the Stow Gipsy Horse reviewed in The Guardian. For more details click here.
It was a privilage to be invited by The Big Issue to judge "What Oxford means to me". A photography competition for local vendors. Issued with disposable cameras for 5 days and a brief to record the city as they saw it, the results were very impressive.