My photography history
My introduction to photography was as a child. I had a small Instamatic 110 with the chocolate block flashes. It was great fun. The pop of the bulb as it exploded in its little sealed cube signalled the start of a process that would end weeks later when I got back the developed film. The photos didn’t matter. The act of making a photo was what captured my attention.
Life through photography continued like this until I got a job in a pawnbroker’s where I bought my first SLR. A Praktica BC3 35mm camera. I still had no technical knowledge, just an eye for an image and enthusiasm.
For a few years this suited me perfectly. Then digital photography started to emerge. I got myself a second hand Konica digital compact camera and started to try to learn to be a photographer. This is when I became hooked on photography. I outgrew this camera within a year and upgraded to a Canon 350D and started a personal project. 356 self portraits. One a day for a year. I learned so much from this experience. It helped me develop my creative thinking alongside my technical abilities.
When I moved to Edinburgh I became involved with the Beltane Fire Society and this catapulted my skills and experience as a photographer. Learning how to document a cultural event, really understand the purpose and ethos of the community and tell its story and then deliver images for that community as well as news channels was the final piece of the puzzle and from that my career as a photographer began.