About my work
Photography has many layers of meaning and purpose but is fundamentally about the art of observation. Or what I like to call the joy of seeing. After over 25 years of experience delivering international advertising campaigns for global brands, I hope I've got the hang of squinting through a camera and the technical skills required. However, although craft and technique are vital, they should remain behind the scenes.
The real magic of an image lies in a mysterious neural connection between the eye and the brain. This is what creates an emotional response. Nowhere does this connection matter more than when an image is framed on a wall, where it will be enjoyed for years to come. I do believe that a frame is the ultimate destination for a photograph. I am humbled, excited and grateful whenever one of mine finds a home on a collector's wall.
My photography career has always been driven by my diverse personal creative practice. This ranges from stylised animal portraiture to abstract floral art. Stills photography allows us to observe and marvel at the world in suspension, and make heroes of the small details which might otherwise go unnoticed.
The closer you get, the more you see. When you magnify flowers you appreciate them in a new way. Sometimes they may be less than 20mm wide, but these tiny marvels of nature can look extraordinary when scaled up as prints. When focus-stacked from many shots at different focal points I can achieve full depth of field in a way that is otherwise impossible when using a macro lens. Detail, form, texture and colour are emphasised in an almost hyper-realistic way. I like to think that these elements combine to create different personalities, which is why I call them flower portraits.
Fine art awards
I was proud to win first place in the Fine Art/ Abstract category in the International Photography Awards 2022 for my Botanical Opticals project. I won another first place in Nature/ Flowers category in the International Photography Awards 2023 for my Flower Portraits series.
Multimedia exhibition at the Crypt Gallery, Norwich.
The Botanical Opticals series of both stills and immersive 4K audiovisual installations, evolved from ideas explored while shooting timelapse films of flowers.
I arranged these clips into symmetrical patterns and realised that the effects can be mesmerising.
These ideas developed into an interactive relaxation app called Moodlapse. The user taps, slides, and tilts the screen to create beautiful kinetic, kaleidoscopic videos of flowers blooming. These moving patterns combine with soothing ambient binaural music to help stimulate different brainwave frequencies and promote relaxation and well-being. Available for Apple iOS and AppleTV.
Blog post about the Botanical Opticals show