My (photographic) story
Although I was born in London, I had lived in four continents by the age of sixteen. I started school in Northern Ireland but soon afterwards we moved to Brunei, where every evening I would happily sit on the veranda looking out at the view of the South China Sea. In the holidays we would go and swim in waterfalls in the jungle and visit the orangutans. Next we moved to Namibia, which is the most beautiful country I have ever seen. I ran down the sand dunes, played with cheetahs and breakfasted with Elvis the baboon. My mother is a photographer and back then I was constantly asking to borrow her camera. I remember being particularly proud of one photograph I took in Namibia of a cheetah with a rugby ball. My mum thought that the picture was hers but I knew it was mine.
Back in London I began to take my photography more and more seriously, posing for self portraits with my new Pentax (and soon after with my Rolleiflex), and making my brother and friends sit for countless photographs. It was during this time that I got offered my first job photographing a wedding. I was terrified. (I still am.) On the way to this wedding we got stuck in solid traffic, but my dad, a law abiding soldier, sped up the hard shoulder and managed to get me there just in time. I don't think I exaggerate when I say that this may have affected the rest of my life. I shot that wedding (and many others) on film and processed it all in my mum's darkroom. I am still proud of the images I shot that day.
It was around this time that I decided to be a photographer. We then lived in Colombia for a couple of years before the family headed back to London. It was soon afterwards that my mum bought me my first camera, a Pentax K1000. This camera would accompany me on my first solo photographic trip to Cuba aged eighteen and would, more importantly, capture my first wedding photographs.
I then lived in London and started working as a photographer. I started shooting actor's head shots, concerts and musicians and lots and lots of weddings. Although I always found photographing people much more challenging than photographing buildings or food, I knew it was for me right from the start. I sought out actors, writers, politicians, anyone with an interesting face or an interesting story. I couldn't stop.
In 2009 I moved to Mexico where I continued working as a photographer. I shoot for magazines, have made books and have had exhibitions. My work has been published in Vogue, The New York Times Magazine and countless Mexican and Latin American publications. My work has been displayed in The National Portrait Gallery on two occasions.
I continue to work as a wedding photographer, mostly in Mexico and Europe. I have photographed weddings in haciendas, ranchos, pubs, thirteenth century abbeys, on beaches and in castles, in the pouring rain and in baking sun. I cherish the variety. Photographing weddings has allowed me to walk into worlds beyond my own and to witness other people's lives at their happiest moments. It is incredible work and I consider myself privileged to do it. Please get in touch and maybe I can photograph yours!
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