“The Invigorating Effects of Uncertainty”

I can promise you this is no April Fool!

Today marks a rather significant day for me. After 10 incredible years of working as Arne Maynard’s PA in London, I have finally given up the commute to live full time here at Hawthorn Cottage. Whilst still working part-time with Arne, I have decided to follow my heart and continue where I left off nearly 15 years ago, as a photographer.

My first Kodak camera was given to me when I was 7 and unbeknown to anyone, photography became second nature to me. In my school holidays I used to process the film at home, hanging negatives over the bath to drip dry. I would set up my grandfather’s enlarger on the kitchen sideboard and as soon as it got dark my darkroom came to life, the smell of chemicals wafting through the house.

After achieving a BA in Photography at Nottingham Trent University I began my working life as a PR photographer, mainly in the travel industry. This led to some incredible trips worldwide and gave me a taste for exploring which I then left the UK pursue. With 80 rolls of slide film in my back pack and my Leica R8, I set off for Costa Rica, beginning my journal at a remote turtle reserve on the Caribbean coastline. I let the journey begin and over the course of 8 months, travelled solo through Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and finally Brazil. It was an extraordinary trip and the most memorable of all was finding myself walking through the rainforest with a group of Kogi indians. I will hopefully share a few of these images as my website unfolds.

Upon returning to the UK and submitting work to various picture libraries, I began working as a PA. Being naturally organised and capable, the glove seemed to fit and my love of photography just simmered away. In more recent years I have been fortunate enough to capture some wonderful gardens designed by Arne Maynard and have a valuable collection of work of which some has been published over the years.

Having moved from London nearly 3 years ago I am overwhelmed by the extraordinary amount of creativity here in the Stroud valleys and am excited to explore even further.

I have begun with the creation of my letterpress business cards which were handmade by Rod Shaw of The Nonpareil Press, based at The Vatch in the Slad Valley.

My website is also underway, but not yet ready to share, so please bear with me. I am setting out on this first day of April more of a free agent than I have felt for a long time. It’s a nerve-tingling feeling, but one I’m getting used to. The sun is shining and the future looks bright.