My Photography
I think of myself as a Photographic Artist creating photographs exploring many different genres, camera techniques and experimenting in the digital and traditional darkroom.
I have a Sony DSLR camera and enjoy photographing the natural world, macro photography, abstract themes, NZ historical architecture and monochrome. I see the print as the final expression of the image. My current interest is in historical alternative photographic processes including cyanotype and more recently carbon transfer printing using digital negatives combined with the traditional analogue process. I enjoy this very “hands on” challenging process, often taking weeks to create a single successful work.
My Background
I was born in Surrey, England and studied Medicine in Scotland. A planned one year in New Zealand for further surgical training became a permanent move, eventually becoming a New Zealand citizen. I continued my training as an Ophthalmologist in Dunedin and then in Auckland where I practised in the Public Hospitals until my retirement.
Traditional painting was my first interest, using photography as a source of inspiration. I joined my first Camera Club in Manukau South Auckland in 2005. After retiring I decided to broaden my visual art skills first at NMIT in Blenheim, and then at Wellington’s Learning Connexion obtaining an Advanced Diploma in Art and Creativity in 2012. Soon however photography became my main interest and passion.
In 2017 I was awarded the Associate of the Photographic Society of New Zealand with a series of 12 images of historic Public Buildings in New Zealand’s South Island. This has become the subject of a book published in 2020. I was awarded the Fellowship of the Photographic Society of New Zealand in 2019 with a portfolio of 18 images telling the story of plastic waste in our Oceans. In 2020 I gained the Associate of the Nature Photographic Society of New Zealand with images of Sri Lankan Wildlife.
I now live in Richmond, top of the South Island, where I have a studio and darkroom.
Current work
I am experimenting with old darkroom techniques but continue to enjoy digital photography and hope to travel again overseas.