I have been interested in photography for many years without really knowing what I was doing. I always took my compact camera with me on my travels and invariably came home with SD cards full of snaps. There is something fascinating about bagging 1/125th of a second of time which for that instant has some form of relevance – at least to me – and bringing it home preserved forever. But it was when I saw a collection of Leon Levinstein's work that I had an epiphany and knew exactly what I wanted to do. I took the plunge and bought a professional camera and a couple of decent lenses and have never looked back.

I began to research the subject of street photography intensely and acquired some technical books and many collections of the top photographers from this genre. These included Bruce Gilden, Leon Levinstein, Elliot Erwitt, Robert Frank, Garry Winograd, Vivian Maier, Joel Meyerowitz, Beat Streuli and Sergio Larrain. I acquired anthologies of work from the Magnum agency and other collections of photo journalism. I realised how photography over the past 100 years or so has provided a fantastic and inspirational record of society and social change. Somebody once said that street photography is 99% failure, which I would agree with - but getting that one percent right and the feeling when you have bagged 'the shot' is addictive. I compare it to going out on a hunt, but not knowing what you are looking for until you find it.

For me though street photography is about capturing the essence of what is there. A good poem does not read, "A girl in a red coat was walking on the opposite side of the road under a sign." A good poem has focus and precision and moves you in some way. In that sense, I strive to do that with my pictures, whether it is the unusual mood or atmosphere at the time of the shot or the very personal story that lies behind the eyes of my subjects and that could be one of melancholy, mischeviousness, insanity or happiness. I certainly don't always succeed but that's what my mission is.

Another area I am keen to explore futher is street portraiture, which by my definition is stopping complete strangers and asking them to take their portrait. This is in marked contrast to what I normally do but something I find very enjoyable.

I have sought other opportunities to learn and develop and in 2016 participated in a 4 day Masterclass with Bruce Gilden which was an amazing and informative experience. I also completed a portrait photograpy course with Rory Lewis.

Stephen Shore in his book, “The Nature of Photography” perfectly sums up what photography is for me. He writes, “Photography is inherently an analytic discipline. Where a painter starts with a blank canvas and builds a picture, a photographer starts with the messiness of the world and selects a picture …… a photographer simplifies the jumble by giving it structure. He or she imposes this order by choosing a vantage point, choosing a frame, choosing a moment of exposure, and selecting a plane of focus."