London College of Printing, where I
was trained as a commercial photogra-
pher. I studied photojournalism, fash-
ion photography, sports photography,
still-life photography, architectural
photography...all sorts of photography,
with many different cameras and for-
mats. Running parallel to this, I also
photographed the landscape, which I
suppose was my passion. At the time
I had no idea that I could and would
eventually make a living in this area.
What were your jobs before you
were able to make a living as a
fine-art photographer?
While I was a student, I worked every
summer, Christmas and Easter holiday
from the time I was of legal age, which I
think was 15 in those days.
The jobs varied considerably. I was
employed on building sites, on a sew-
age farm, as a groundsman’s assistant in
a sport complex, in a car factory work-
ing nights on an assembly line, nights
in a bakery. I delivered mail for the post
office. And in a local pub, I worked
behind the bar.
I needed money to survive. My final
job during the summer right after
graduation was at The Heiden Hotel in
upstate New York making beds, clean-
ing the pool and cutting the grass.
It gave me my first taste for the U.S.
What was your first job in the
world of photography?
After the summer in the U.S., I worked
for The John Hillelson Agency on Fleet
Street in London. They represented
amazing photographers such as Henri
Cartier-Bresson, Jacques Henri Lar-
tigue, Rene Burri and Robert Capa.
Every morning, photographs would
come in from the Gamma, Magnum
and Sygma photography agencies. My
job was to take these around to all the
London newspaper offices and try to
sell them.
I was pretty pathetic at the job, but it
was an amazing education for me. From
there, I became the printer for Anthony
Blake, a fine, all-around commercial
photographer in Richmond, Surrey,
where I was living.
That was enjoyable and extremely
educational. I then became his assistant,
and my first task of the day was to take
his two black Labradors for a walk along
the nearby River Thames.
The dogs’ names were Hassel
and Blad!
We traveled a lot, particularly in
France, and I learned a great deal
about how to be a professional photog-
rapher. It was a great time in my life,but eventually, I made the big decision
to move to the U.S.Whether in the U.S. or any
other part of the globe, do you
go out to shoot with precon-
ceived ideas and then try to find
subject matter to match them?
Or are you exploring with an
“empty cup,” so to speak?
I don’t have a standard or even con-
sistent way of working. Of course, the