Initially I was a pictorial photographer rather than a people photographer; so the overall pictorial quality of an image is very important to me.  This is a major reason why I specialise in black and white photography – because I greatly value the powerful graphic abstraction of monochrome.

At the same time, it is also very important for me to try to capture the unique character of my subjects.  This is another reason why I primarily photograph in black and white: it focuses the eye on what is most important to me and minimises all the other elements in the picture.

I never pose the people I photograph because I feel that body language is just as important as faces in recording and explaining what someone is about.  I tend to set up a particular context for my subjects, either in the studio or on location, and let people arrange themselves as they feel comfortable.  Feeling physically and emotionally comfortable while we are working together encourages the development of a dynamic and productive session.

Of course light is the essential facilitator of photography, and particularly of photographing people.  Light reveals the physical identity of my subject and also creates the emotive moment we are exploring.  When we change the quality, direction or intensity of the light we are using we immediately change the reality we are considering and recording.

My sessions are rather like performances on both our parts: I give as much stimulation and encouragement as I can, and my subjects respond and give a lot of themselves back to me.

I love taking pictures and feel that with time, thought and effort my pictures are getting better; although I know that my best images are the ones still inside my head.