"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."
Marcel Proust Over the years, my photographic journey has taken me from black & white and street photography, wildlife and landscape, to the abstract photography I enjoy so much today. When going out with my camera I do not have a particular image in mind, there is no shot that I want to bring home. Instead, I strive to let go of any preconceived ideas and to be open for the unexpected, my photography is solely guided by intuition, I wait to see what I find (or what finds me) and what inspires me. Therefore, my images are personal interpretations of the world and how I see it at a certain moment in time. It is not my intention to show an accurate or realistic picture of the world that surrounds us but to create a different reality by focusing on the beauty in those details or angles that are often overlooked or lost in the bigger picture. Multiple exposure, intentional camera movement, close-up and macro photography are the techniques I use to create my images. Whether it is a small, out of context detail, a different viewpoint, a flipped, a distorted or a double exposed image, I like breaking the rules of representational photography and the unforeseeable outcomes and surprising results these techniques bear (well, at least for me they are still largely unforeseeable) along with the fact that each photo is so unique that it is almost impossible to reproduce it, even for me. I hope that my work encourages the viewer to look at the world that surrounds us with an open mind and from new perspectives. Influences My photography is not only influenced by photographers but also by a wide range of painters and sculptors, namely by the expressionist and impressionist abstract artists of the 19th and 20th century. Contemporary photographers whose work I admire include Valda Bailey, Bae Bien-U, Al Brydon, Doug Chinnery, Graham Cook, Chris Friel, Inside the Outside, Paul Kenny, Joel Sternfeld, Hans Strand, Charlie Waite, David Ward and many others. A special thank you goes to Jane Simmonds for her inspiration, her support and her patience. Exhibitions Winter Showcase, The Found Gallery, Dunbar (2022) Solo Exhibition "Dreamscapes", Gallery 6, Newark on Trent (2022) Open 2022 Tarpey Gallery, Nottingham (2022) Open 2021 Tarpey Gallery, Nottingham (2021) Solo Exhibition "By the Lake", Gallery 6, Newark on Trent (2020) Group Exhibition Off-Centre, Nottingham (2019) Group Exhibition Connected, Nottingham (2018) Awards International Garden Photographer of the Year 16 (IGPOTY 16), 3rd place in the category 'Abstract Views' Close-up Photographer of the Year (2022), Shortlisted in the category 'Manmade'. Close-up Photographer of the Year (2021), Shortlisted in the category 'Intimate Landscape'. Close-up Photographer of the Year (2020), Finalist in the category 'Plants & Fungi'. |