How, when and why did you decide to work as a photographer?
I always liked photography, I remember asking for a roll of black and white film for my 11th birthday and then making my poor younger brother dress up and pose in a field for me. But I never really considered it as a career. I went to University to study Graphic Design, but I wasn’t enjoying it that much. I did one module in photography and just loved the class and the tutors so switched to photography and I guess from then on just followed what everyone else was doing.
How you would describe your work and what early influences you think you had?
I find it really hard to describe my work. That’s one of the reasons I take photographs, so that I don’t have to describe in words what I’m seeing. Early influences..? Dan Eldon, Steffi Jung – a great friend and photographer I studied with, a book about Derek Jarman’s garden, Hannah Starkey and Tom Hunter.
How do you approach your work – how and why do you choose your subjects?
I think my approach is based on creating a personal bond with the person I photograph. I like spending time with people, talking to people, being in their homes, I spend a long time not even taking photos (in fact sometimes I even forget that’s what I’m there for). When I have a slight bond with a person, and if that person is interested in having their photo taken by me, I think that is when I ‘choose’ a subject. And generally if someone is open to talking to me then I’m drawn to take their photograph.
What do you aim to communicate through your work?
It changes with every project so it’s difficult to put it down to a single aim. I usually concentrate on the personal experiences of individuals to humanise a wider and more intangible, political or social subject.
What kind of projects you would be interested in working on next?
If it means meeting new groups of people or traveling to somewhere new I’m interested in working on it! I’m working on a number of different personal projects at the moment. One is about the English/Scottish border. I’ve been doing a series of road trips with a writer looking at the culture of the people living in the area. The Scottish referendum is in September and we wanted to look at people on the English side of the border (who don’t get to vote) looking at how the possible independence in Scotland would affect their life.
