My Story

Welcome to my website, which is dedicated to all those who battle with mental illness. It has grown from a small seed sown in the depths of depression and I have grown with it. I strongly believe in the concept of ‘action before motivation’ when your mind is troubled, and I know that utilising the gift of creativity can help you through the darkness. I hope that my photography and other artwork will serve as an example of what can be achieved.

My passion for photography began when, as a child, I would spend many hours in a makeshift darkroom waiting for my images to magically appear on the paper. I have always loved to capture the beauty in our world, and my cameras are faithful friends that help me to see. My first single lens reflex camera was a Zenith B, which is a bulky Russian camera with no light meter. This meant that I had to gauge the light myself, and in doing so I grew to understand my camera and the fundamentals of photography.

Adobe Photoshop is my darkroom now; you will no longer find prints swimming in my bath or inhale the smell of acetic acid as it fills the air. I miss those smells as much as I miss watching images slowly appear in the developer, but I could never go back to that long drawn out, hit and miss approach! My digital playground allows me to develop new techniques, and I love to paint with light using the screen as my canvas. The possibilities are limitless.

Please click here to read my personal chapter in Coping with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder by Professor Kevin Gournay, Rachel Piper & Professor Paul Rogers.