When I began my architectural education I had more than a passing interest in photography. Needing to record the built environment and my own work, I bought my first 'proper' camera; a secondhand Olympus OM10 and I loved it. At university, we were introduced to the darkroom and shown how to develop and print black & white film. However, nobody explained how to use my camera. I spent my entire degree and post-graduate diploma pressing the shutter button and hoping what I was seeing would be reflected in the prints and negatives.
Once I had qualified and started earning I bought various 'decent' digital cameras, thinking that they would magically improve my output ...
Roll on to 2018 and a good friend introduced me to the online photography course 'A Year with My Camera'. Emma Davies' course started from first principles, carefully explaining how the camera worked and what all the dials mean, the intention being to move the dial off of 'auto' setting. A year later I could confidently capture an image in any given situation.
I joined Emma's camera club soon after and have loved being involved with a bunch of photographers who are very supportive of each other's endeavours. I am still developing as a photographer, trying all sorts of different genres. Inevitably, my architectural training shapes the way I view and make photographs. I also enjoy exploring analogue photography which I feel informs my digital work.
In the summer of 2022, I gained an LRPS distinction from the Royal Photographic Society.
A photograph I made of the Bodleian Library, Oxford was shortlisted in the RIBA Photo Festival and subsequently accessioned to the RIBA Photographs Collection in the winter of 2023.