About Me

Ooh this is the tricky bit isn’t it? What would you like to know?

As you may have gathered I am a photographer. Having lived in various locations around the country, I now reside in the Suffolk coastal area, between Ipswich and Woodbridge.

I was born in Chester but my family soon moved over to Grantham in Lincolnshire, where I attended Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School. As did Margaret Thatcher, although not at the same time. I met her twice on her occasional visits to the school and I don’t think she likes me. Unfortunately I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up and so I made choices based on what others thought I wanted to be. That’s not a good way to live your life. I moved down to London in 1989 and worked as a legal cashier until I had my son in 1995. It was only when my daughter started playgroup that I considered going to college to study something that I really enjoyed. I had a reasonable camera at the time and had taken some nice photos of family, landscapes and so on. Interestingly when I started at Huntingdonshire Regional College, I had notions of becoming a food photographer, as eating is something else I really enjoy. I loved every minute of the National Diploma, yes even the long Fridays afternoons in the studio trying (and failing) to get my head around Scheimpflug. But the smell of the fixer and the roar of the crowd had me hooked. Although mainly studio-based (designed to prepare students for studio assistant jobs) my favourite elements of the course were where I could indulge in photojournalism or documentary photography, especially on fast black and white film. With my finely-honed blagging skills, I secured a photo pass to the UFC 38 weigh in,where I took this portrait of UFC fighter Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral.

Around the same time I obtained my first pass for a live music performance – Supergrass at Roadmender in Northampton. Again, this was the olden days so it was all on fast black and white film – a medium I still love and could wax lyrical about, probably whilst sucking a Werther’s Original. I still take a roll of B&W film to gigs. You can say a lot for digital, but one thing’s for sure, you don’t ever miss a shot on film because you’re chimping! I learned a lot that evening – not to wear a white shirt probably being the main one, but also not to waste your allocated time (first three songs) singing along and pondering how you could time their shoelaces together if you really wanted to. I was hooked though and set about securing more photo passes to gain more experience.

I left college with distinctions in all the modules, as I am a big girly swot, a spring in my step, a song in my heart and a portfolio of images under my arm, determined to become the next Ross Halfin.

I might add, at this point, that  one of our theory lessons was dedicated to why we shouldn’t become wedding photographers.

I began working for the Cambridge Evening News as their music photographer, and photographed Blondie, Manic Street Preachers, Status Quo (where I got kicked in the face by one of the band) Beverley Knight, Paul Weller (who said I was sexy) and Donovan (who didn’t.) I continued grovelling to record companies and pr agencies for passes and also signed on with an agency in London. One of the highlights of my career so far was photographing the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Hyde Park in 2004. They had played there a few nights previously on a cold, grey evening and this was where the national press took their photos. They did a few more dates around the country and returned to London on a perfect summer day. I took some great shots of James Brown in the afternoon and they sun was just beginning to set when the Chili Peppers came on, lending a lovely warm glow to the photos. I was thrilled when Terry Wells gave me my own gallery on the Chili Peppers’ official website.

I also photographed the Prodigy in Brixton and Avenged Sevenfold in Norwich.

Meanwhile I was building up my wedding and portrait business. It’s only a fortunate few who are able to make a living at music photography. I began to realise that the photojournalism skills I had could be applied to wedding photography and it was no longer the stiff, formal, stress-fest our tutor had led us to believe!

I now live in Suffolk, which is very beautiful with windswept coastline, rolling countryside and great big skies. Perfect for weddings and lifestyle portraits.

I love music and have an eclectic taste, from classical, blues, pop through to German industrial metal! I am indeed an aging rock chick and on my list of things to do before I die is to photograph Rammstein. And if you’ve ever seen them live, you might reasonably think that it might well be the very last thing I do before I die!

My other passion is comedy, a trait I have inherited from my father, although I can’t tell jokes like he can. I love comedy films, TV and the 6.30 slot on Radio 4. Several years ago I appeared on the Radio show Genius, hosted by Dave Gorman. You could even buy the CD if you wanted.

I also love to drive – you know ‘proper’ driving, changing gear and turning that wheely thing that’s in front of you. I could barely contain my excitement when I recently got to drive a Lamborghini Gallardo and my favourite car, the Audi R8 around a track. Here I am with my ‘driving face’ on.

Other random facts; I can moonwalk, wiggle my ears, score a cricket match and juggle with three balls, but probably not at the same time. Sometimes I do strange things, especially if it involves dressing up and is for charity.

The Boxing Day Dip and Nip at Waldringfield, Suffolk for CLIC Sargent