Biography
Broadly speaking I shoot people and places. Sometimes all there is to worry about is if there is enough money for the parking meter. On other occasions I have shut down roads and streets. I have worked in extreme clean rooms for silicon wafer production and shot in locations as cold as Greenland to the extreme heat of a Texan heatwave. I have hung out of helicopters, shot from balloons and even underwater. Been rescued by a model from drowning, been chased by lions and have shot with authors, rock stars and royalty.
In portraiture I gauge the situation very quickly as it is crucial to establish a rapport with the subject. A portrait to me should reveal the character of the sitter not the photographer. I have maintained a base in London where I initially studied photography.
A former Chairman of The Association of Photographers (Scotland) I was a committee member of the 'Scottish National Photography Centre', which was dedicated to establishing the first International Photography Centre in Scotland. The project sadly never came to fruition however I also was a founding mewmber of Retina, Scotland's first Annual International Festival of Photography.
Amongst my personal projects I have completed the world's largest live exhibition. It takes place at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The exhibition was unusual in that it was ever evolving with fresh work being added each day. I spent the day shooting the authors and in the evening I printed the work ready for hanging the next day so each day there was new work to be seen. To compound the stresses I was shooting the work in an outdoor studio and the work too had to be hung outside with only minimal protection from the elements. I am unaware of any other exhibition quite like this. I generally get anything from two minutes to half an hour with each subject so it has been gratifying to hear the reaction the work has received.
Asides from photography I completed a course in screenwriting and am currently writing both screenplays and short stories.
I enjoy most sports, playing tennis, golf, swimming and occasionally running when the occasion demands having competed in several 10k's and a half marathon and took part in the first four mass participation open water swims in the UK; swimming a mile in Lake Windermere. Given my sense of direction it was nearer a mile and a half! Please do not hesitate to get in touch with any queries, quotes or questions.
Chris