Yes absolutely. My eyes have always been open to how people live differently around the world but also to how similar we all are. I moved back to the UK when I was a teenager and so had already seen so much diverse culture, religion, lifestyle and perspectives. I have loved re-visiting this as an adult and with a camera in my hand!

I choose all the images I take very carefully. No matter where I am in the world, I connect with the image I am taking, whether it be a portrait or a still life image, each and every one of them has an emotion attached and this is what I think makes it feel more personal to the viewer.

The most demanding of my projects has to be the female boxing project, Ringleaders, because there are so many incredible boxers to cover scattered in all corners of the globe and in the midst of a global pandemic with travel prohibited and fights cancelled, it has been a year of disappointment in some ways. I’m hopeful that everything will resume soon and when I can photograph these female boxers in their natural environment of training and fighting, the project will regain its momentum.
Everything I do is rewarding so it’s hard to choose one project, but I have to say, the book based on the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, By The River, is proving to be really rewarding and interesting as it focuses on where I live. I’m enjoying being local for a change and discovering some wonderful historical features of my town and celebrating them through my photography.

During the first lockdown, we were allowed to be outdoors and walk for exercise. This really caused me to stop and appreciate the town I live in, with the river Thames running through it. Many other local people did the same and gathered around the riverside, eating and socialising from a distance. In recent years, I was always rushing through the town to get to a meeting or the train to go to a photoshoot and did not always stop to take it all in. I noticed the hub of the town was the riverside more than ever this year and I loved observing life going on despite the lockdown and global worries. The portraits I took and the scenic photography will always be a reminder of this year.

Yes I do, but it is encouraging to see artists and photographers are showing diversity in all areas of life more now than ever. I have always seen my subjects as equally interesting, since they all compel me to capture them in my work. I love the story telling aspect of photography and if that means people get to see different lifestyles, cultures and relationships that they otherwise wouldn’t, that can only be a good thing.

Yes. You can see that in my work! I love to celebrate human beings in all their forms. I feel that this is my purpose as a photographer.

A good friend and regular stylist of mine is involved with Sink the Pink events and connected me up with a magazine looking for non-commercial portraits of the performers. They liked my style of photography and I wanted to capture the strengths, confidence and vulnerabilities of each person the moment before going on stage. The results were raw, human interactions making them feel more personal.

I worked on a shoot with an Afghan Sikh model and found his life story very interesting. I did not know much about Sikhism and I felt this would be of interest to many other people too. So, we decided to collaborate on a project that would be informative and visually educational, documented through stills and video.

I think, I perhaps feel like I am getting to know the subjects of my photography through capturing a snapshot of their lives but in fact that is the magic of a photograph. It is only a moment in time and we can all form an idea of that person’s life and background without getting to know them at all. We may never know more than what we can see in the image. That is the mystery of photography that I thrive on.

Digital photography does have a place and I do still use this medium depending on the project. Analogue is my preference because I personally feel that it’s closer to what we see with our eyes. Photographing on film forces me as a photographer to slow down and spend more time observing before taking the shot. This for me, is a more authentic way of shooting and I love the depth and quality of film images.