At the age of 8 or 9 I spotted a camera in the windows of my father’s shop (library, toys, stationery, etc.) and by being really, really good(!) I earned it, despite my dad’s warnings about the price of the film and cost of developing and printing. It was called a “clicky” camera, about 2″x3″, and took a picture when you pushed the shutter lever down and another when you pushed it up. Basically a slightly up-market pinhole camera. The prints were tiny – smaller than passport size, but I loved it. By the age of 15 I had progressed to a marginally more sophisticated model. I was very proud of that one because you could look through the viewfinder either from the top or from the back, plus it had a screw-in flash gun. The bulbs for that didn’t always work but, never mind, the camera went everywhere.
After leaving school and college I worked briefly for an accountant and then a Poole solicitors’ practice but, despite my course having touched on both accounts and law, I decided that photography was the way to go. Initially I worked on Saturdays alongside my normal job but eventually was able to take up an apprenticeship with Hartleys of Poole, a well known company at the time. After 5 years of thorough training, including at Kodak in London and work experience with IPC magazines, I was encouraged to open my own studio and, in 1972, found premises in Poole, where I opened one of the first all colour studios in the country. I achieved membership of the (then) Institute of Incorporated Photographers and rapidly became the “go-to” photographer with regular clients coming from abroad as well as celebrities of the day. My favourite was Eartha Kitt who was appearing in a Bournemouth Theatre season. She stayed with her daughter Kitt (McDonald) at the Bourne Hall Hotel and loved the window – large and stained glass – so much that she bought it and shipped it home to California. Kitt was a delightful 12 year old at the time, having a great time in England. I was put on a retainer by Pye Records after a photoshoot of a young female pop singer, with a request to move to London. I gained a reputation for being able to get good studies of some quite severely handicapped children. In the early days of the Arndale (Dolphin) Centre I regularly set up a mobile studio in the square by the fountain (old one, not new) and along with the Traders Association, held a baby and children competition. We also organised wedding fairs, sometimes themed. I was one of the inaugural advertisers on the fledgling 2CR, the new local commercial radio station, which was quite a novel experience.
At a time when wedding photographs were traditionally taken in the church doorway, I looked around to take something more interesting and different. According to Kodak I was one of the first, if not the first, photographer to sit couples on the ground, and enjoyed keeping one step ahead of the other photographers who copied my poses. Imitation is the best form of flattery!! Awards from Kodak and Sona followed, which was great. Wedding dresses for sale and hire were added to the studio and a portfolio of other wedding businesses compiled to enable us to help couples in arranging their weddings, a new concept at the time.
10 years or so later the lease on the studio expired and the building was eventually demolished and rebuilt. Work from home opened up a variety of different opportunities include a short stint as an Adult Education tutor. A 2nd studio in a Wimborne barn was relatively short-lived, unfortunately being defeated by damp.
I have photographed thousands of weddings and really wish that I had a record of exactly how many, but am barely into double figures for wet weddings and two of those were brothers! They were married a few years apart but it rained at both weddings.
At a time when anyone seems to be able to pick up a camera and call themselves a wedding photographer, I have been increasingly perturbed by the standard of pictures being produced at huge cost to couples and having been urged by many people to start yet again, I now offer a professional, qualified, artistic service, unique to each couple. Your wedding is special.