When I was small I wanted to be a super model, then I wanted to be a chef,  then I grew up.

Since then I’ve done a variety of jobs under the sun. I’ve been a waitress, shop assistant in a children’s shoe shop, area manager for a fashion house, swimming teacher in a private boys school, PA and IT consultant.

My mum and dad own a ladies fashion boutique in Brighton. They’ve owned it since I was a young child. I couldn’t wait to be 8 years old and go to the shop every day after school. I tidied the stock arranging it by colour, making sure all the trouser creases were in place, checking all the buttons and zips were done up and that each garment sat correctly on the hanger, all loose threads snipped and price tags tucked in. Sometimes I got to fill out the petty cash slips and count the float in the till. The job I liked to do the most was to change the jewellery display on the front table. There were lots of hair accessories in baskets which I was allowed to tidy and make it look pretty.

So growing up I had a lot of insight into how women who aspire to be wealthy dressed themselves, and how the more middle class ladies dressed, along with the likes and dislikes connected with more modest people. I took it all in.

My dad taught me the importance of the right kind of lighting to make an already beautiful shop even more welcoming to one and all, I took it all in. On the other hand my mum taught me feelings. If you put two different colours together, if you put gold and turquoise together you are going to have a different feeling than if you put red and black together.

My dad also showed me how to create a vision and how to have the type of control necessary with the commitment required to see a project through from the beginning to the end. Growing up in Brighton wasn’t too fast a lifestyle, so there was enough time to kind of absorb things. These memories of things affect your feelings.

My first proper camera was a Nikon D750. Naturally I love it to bits. One day my great friend Greg, who is in a rock band, asked if I wouldn’t mind taking some pictures of the band while they performed at the O2 Arena. Naturally I said yes, I remember having so much fun taking those pictures, but the best part was the response I got from them. It was mostly really positive. One particular picture stood out, it was a portrait of Greg rocking his guitar on stage, afterwards the lead singer of the band Bexx said the picture had soul and though I didn’t fully know what it meant for a picture to have soul I decided right there and then to always aim to take pictures that have soul. Photographically speaking it was a true turning point for me. It became clear to me that taking pictures of people doing their thing in their chosen space is what I wanted to do from then on.

In my experience most people arrive at a photoshoot ice cold, tense, anxious and bothered. Why? I’m not 100% sure, but I think it has a lot to do with the fact that for most of us standing in front of a camera is an unnerving and quite stressful experience. I personally felt the same before I found my photo face. So I believe that my main job as a portrait photographer is to try to help the sitter feel as comfortable as possible in their own skin, which means getting them to a state of self-acceptance however they look.

I am an optimist and I believe that every human being has their beautiful side. The trick in a studio situation is for the photographer and the sitter to work together to let that beauty shine through.