About my photographs

Behind the Hayward Gallery, London, 2008

The photographs displayed here are a tiny sample from my collection of images amassed over some fifty-plus years. Hopefully they convey something of the areas that interest me in photography. This collection is added to from time to time as new work is produced. The influence of photographers that I admire, such as Edwin Smith and Raymond Moore, is no doubt evident in some of my work, but my interests and way of working were already set before I even knew about these practitioners.

The suffix ‘F’ or ‘D’ in the menu denotes film or digital originals.

I still use film sometimes and process my own black & white materials. I am a member of various groups connected with traditional photography: APUG (Analogue Photography User Group and FADU (Film and Darkroom Users), amongst others. In the distant past, I was a co-founder of The Cambridge Darkroom gallery.

For digital work I predominantly use Nikon cameras (D800) and often the impressive little Fuji X100T. All image processing is done in Adobe Lightroom, with the occasional round-trip through Adobe Photoshop.  I always make my own prints using Epson 3800 or Canon Pixmar pigment ink-jets, usually on Hahnemuhle papers when I can afford them!

For film-based work the camera choice is variable, but can range from a Rollei 35S or Nikon F4 through various medium format models including Fuji GW690III and GSW690II, or Hasselblad, to 5×4 format using either an MPP or Sinar P. Some work is also done on a 10×8 Sinar Monorail. All film is processed in my own darkroom and currently I am favouring pyro developers.
Prints are made on fibre-based paper, usually Adox or Foma brands, but occasionally Ilford. Enlargers are both from De Vere (bench 203 with Multigrade head and 507 floor-standing with dichroic head). I tend to mix most chemicals myself from basic ingredients.
I maintain another site devoted entirely to chemical-based photography at www.real-photographs.co.uk where a lot more information on techniques is given.

In the past I have experimented with making digital negatives; transparencies printed by ink-jet from digital image files, which are then printed conventionally by contact on to fibre-based paper. An article about this work may be found on this site.

Prints of all images are available for purchase. Please send me a message via the contact form, stating the image of interest and the size of print required and I will get back to you.
There is a bit more history about how I got involved in all this over here…