My Photography Journey
Where it all began.
A lot of people have asked me. Why photography? What got you interested in it?
The answer is far too long winded to sum up in a few words.
Let me explain.
I grew up in a loving home filled with nature, animals, folklore, fairytales and books. The young me was surrounded with family members who were artists and poets, creatives and animal lovers. We’d spend holidays on farms in the U.K. going on nature trails, documenting the animals and plants we’d seen in notebooks, filling scrapbooks with leaves and sketches and traipsing through fields and woodlands in wellies. My dad always snapping us with his camera.
A beautiful camera with a Leica lens and a leather case lined with red velvet. He’d show me how to use it and I loved the sound of winding the film on, pushing the shutter down and freeze framing a memory. My first ever photo was slightly wonky but I was only 4 at the time and at least it was in focus even if I did chop my sister off at the neck!
Such a wonderful childhood that painfully came to an abrupt halt when my beloved dad got sick and died when I was 12 leaving my mum to care for me and my 2 siblings. It was an extremely tough time which I won’t go into here, but we had so many photo albums full of cherished memories to look back on which helped us through our grief and continues to do so. One image has always stood out for me… a simple B&W photo of my mum pregnant with me; It’s an image I’ve looked back to time and time again. The light and the shadows, the contrast and the rawness.
Fast forward a couple of years and I was given a film camera for one of my birthdays. Art, dance, the sea and the downs was my therapy, and photography was my escapism when I didn’t feel like talking to anyone.
I’d spend hours taking endless photos of my friends and family, my horse and the rest of our pets, in fact anything that moved (or didn’t) learning composition and how to use viewpoints with creativity. Back then I had to wait for the images to come back (I didn’t have a darkroom) and I’d just hope that I’d have at least a few that weren’t duff! I learnt a lot.
I then progressed onto my first digital camera and started getting more creative. Friends would ask me to take their pictures and I booked my first wedding a few years later. I was inspired by great fashion photographers I saw in Vogue and other magazines - the likes of Mario Testino, Annie Leibovitz, Tim Walker and Nick Knight. I loved the fantasy and the storytelling and I wanted to create for others.
Cuttlebone was born in 2004 and I love nothing more than telling people’s stories through photography. I love work that takes me outside, and I’d say most of my sessions take place amongst the wild of nature. I’m fascinated by the way landscapes are redefined by the changing weather, light and seasons and it’s why I may use certain locations many times, but they’ll always appear different as it’s the people that make them unique.
Sunshine, snow or rain I’m up for it all and I have many hilarious stories of being caught out by unexpected soakings when it’s been forecast for a dry day.
It’s what makes it so much fun and I wouldn’t want it any other way!
My dad’s beloved camera (and a long gone fringe)
One of my most treasured possessions.