Over the last few years, I’ve become increasingly interested in photography. Firstly, taking images on my iPhone – capturing moments with landscapes, architecture, and still life. And then getting the opportunity to take pictures with a digital camera, a Nikon D700 and more recently on analogue with a Leica M6.

Through being inspired by the images created by such iconic photographers as Don McCullin, Vivian Maier, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Lee Miller, Dorothea Lange, Robert Capa and Garry Winogrand, this has encouraged me to explore photography and what I want to say with the pictures that I take.

In 2019, I was part of the Conway Photography Group, run by the renowned portrait photographer Grace Gelder at Conway Hall in Holborn, London. Over a period of 9 months, the monthly workshops were a mixture of tutorials, theory, and practical exercises, covering topics such as portrait photography, public vs private, photography ethics and photography and psychology. The course then culminated in a month-long exhibition at the space in November 2019.

Following the success of the Conway Photography Group, I and a number of the photographers from the 2019 course decided to continue to meet each month, nominating a different host for each session to set photographic tasks for the group inspired by a current London exhibition. We would then discuss and critique each other’s photos as a group at the end of each workshop. The group is currently (and affectionately) called the ‘ExCons’ Photography Group and it provides me with a continued source of inspiration to explore my photography process in our once-a-month meetings.