In 1998 I bought my first SLR (a Canon AE1 Programme) in response to some of my close friend’s holiday pictures looking way sharper than those I was getting from my own point and shoot. I was an engineer at the time, yet little did I know how much buying that camera was to change my journey.
I retrained in photography and digital media and left engineering behind and began a path where understanding cameras would be part of my life. Along the way I would work as a freelance photographer for well over a decade, teach photography for about nine years as well as working within the photographic sales industry for eight years. They were hard years, but a lot of fun.
Somewhere in there, in 2007 I emigrated to New Zealand, a move for which I am forever grateful. I timidly call myself a Kiwi now and a connection with this land runs deep within me.
Along that journey I made a move from trying to be a photographer, to using those skills in a parallel career. Ultimately while I now have a career, the longer it’s gone on, the less I’ve created images for myself.
I have enabled New Zealanders the world over to connect with their heritage via opportunities few others will ever have. It’s humbling. I’ve built studios from scratch, pushed the boundaries of imaging science and technique and made photography a visual vocab others have hung their hat from. I’ve made images with virtually every format film and digital has to offer and I’ve probably tried almost every lighting modifier made.
But that’s work…
These images here are for me. I don’t shoot much any more, but when I do, it’s usually from the heart.
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