About Me
My Work
My inspiration often comes from the landscape of the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, where I have made my home. I am passionate about the extraordinary light and colour present in this place, the dramatic rhythms and textures of the ocean and the constantly changing weather patterns and cycle of the seasons.
I follow what inspires me, responding to the energetic interplay of what I see and feel; a direct response to an intangible experience of the wonder, mystery and beauty of nature.
The gift of photography is the fundamental practice of seeing and noticing what is around us, it is a visual Art, however for me the source comes from the physical, emotional and spiritual experience in the landscape; an opening of the 'doors of perception' and a yearning to communicate this through my unique sensibility, sensitivity and appreciation of nature.
Being creative, connected and immersed in the moment is essential to me as a photographer. An authentic response and relationship to the natural world is what I hope to communicate through my images, in this sense each photograph reflects an aspect of myself.
Biography
My first serious encounter with photography was when I was 16 and an innovative Art teacher at my school started teaching photography and installed a darkroom on site, it was exciting and there was a great energy amongst the students, we learnt about composition and processing, studying past masters such Bill Brandt, Edward Weston and Man Ray.
At the time my family had inherited my grandfather's camera equipment who was a keen amateur, photographing in the Himalayas when he was stationed out there, my dad then traded it in for a more modern camera which he then gave to me.
I went on to study painting at Goldsmiths College, London University and had a studio in my twenties, expanding into sculpture as well. I also travelled India and Nepal at the time, photographing the rituals, temples and shrines.
In my early thirties my son was born and I began working in the field of Family Support, initially with young fathers and broadening out to the whole family support, this continued until 2016. I have found that expressing myself creatively is essential to my wellbeing, and during this time I was also leading drumming classes in the community and schools, initially African rhythms and later Taiko (Japanese) drumming. At the same time I taught Tai-chi , having studied it since my early twenties.
In 2016 I had a kidney transplant and shortly before had moved to a beautiful house by the sea, where I continue to live. I began responding to the environment around me through writing and photography, it was both a therapeutic and creative practice for me. I found the learning from all those years ago at school transferred smoothly over to digital image making, processing with software was a steep learning curve but there is a familiarity and comfortableness in using a camera.
