A photograph of my little sister, aged 10.
I thought I would write a little about why I do what I do… and when I first realised I loved to take photographs. When I was 15, I went to a school in Surrey, where our only neighbours were cows in a field, and where many a winter evening was spent in the school’s darkroom. One autumnal November weekend, I decided to document my family and do ‘a day in the life’ in photographs. I used a bashed up old Pentax and two reels of black and white film that I was given by Mr Arthur, our (rather dishy) Photography teacher. Digital cameras were not an option at that time which I’m now glad of, as we had to thoroughly understand our tools and craft right up to the printing stage, rather than using ‘auto’ and sending a file off to a lab. Also, I think that working in monochrome helped me to gain a better understanding about light, texture and tone. Sadly, today I only have a few of the prints that I developed back at the school’s darkroom. But these images are really precious to me. As well as being images of my loved ones,who I dearly missed whilst I was away at school, they signify the point at which the seed was planted and my interest in documenting everyday life began.
This photograph is an unposed snapshot of my youngest sister. At teatime we would always put a pot of Earl Grey and something delicious on the table. It seems quite funny seeing people sitting down with proper cups and saucers, this being the age of tea in the Cath Kidston mug whilst on the move, but it’s little details like this that become more important with the passing of time. It’s also nice to see an image of my sister that is totally relaxed and unselfconscious… by that time in the day she had become completely unaware of the camera’s presence. Although this image is technically floored (and this is a bad copy too), it’s one that I treasure.
Now that I’m photographing other families as well as my own, the most important part of my work remains the same; to spot fleeting moments that will grow in meaning with each passing year. I want to make authentic images for my clients that reflect the richness of the life they are living, and to me it’s the best job in the world to be able to provide others with images that truly matter to them. Each of my family sessions is unique to that one family, and no two sessions are the same. Whilst I now have a signature style in the way I edit, I go to each family and each wedding with fresh eyes. I always aim to capture a range of moments and emotions from within the life of a family, from those that show an optimism and a sense of humour, to the quieter moments that are more pensive and soulful.
