Behind the fashion lens

Well, a photographer named, Tim Hawkins shot my wedding day. A few weeks later I visited him at the Plough Studios to tell him how great the photographs were. I didn't know what to expect but there was something about the place that just got to me. There were a number of other photographers doing their thing so the place was a hive of activity. Such was my level of interest that I persuaded Tim to give me a trial as the studio assistant. As they say, the rest is history! Over the years I learned every aspect of photography, later becoming a photographer in my own right until the fashion world came calling, metaphorically speaking.

The toughest thing about being a fashion photographer is the ego, or rather the responsibility you are made to think you should feel towards the entire image. It's tough because if the piece is particularly successful, the average person attributes this to the designer or the model before the photographer. Therefore your instinct is to fight for the some of the limelight. 

I don't really have favourite jobs, but I certainly have ones which live in the memory more than others. One is a shoot I did in the Kalahari desert. I was shooting for an American client, Safari Consultants and managed to combine that with a shooting for Banana Republic. I spent a whole month in the desert, living with nomadic people. My camera loved that place, it was as if the lens saw everything anew. I arrived there with the raw materials of my education and left a changed person.

Every job has the element of stress. Even on a literal level, if you're shooting a model, for example, you may get a better shot if your model is over balanced and slightly uncomfortable, not too much obviously, but just enough to explore new expressions. Collaborating it this way requires mutual trust; the model has to believe I will catch them if they fall.

Fashion designers have different attitudes towards what they think they want. Some will let you take control and some won't. Whilst compromise plays a big role here, like in all human relationships, what's most important to remember is that everybody wants the same thing. In this scenario it's as simple as showing their collection in the correct light. They already know what they want from me and I know what they expect.

I just love photography full stop! When I'm not shooting fashion I would shoot even a pigeon in the park. There is a joke in that somewhere!

The main difference is that in fashion you feel as though you are photographing what counts artistically and with advertising you find youself counting what you photograph.

For me, the main man is Sir Norman Parkinson...look at his work and I'll say no more!

I know that 2011 is going to be a challenging year for me, apart from all the bookings, I've agreed to direct a 35mm (short) film. I have no experience whatsoever of working on motion pictures, but I will put what I've learnt in stills to the test.