As a teenager, I thought I was going to be an artist. Unfortunately, nobody stopped me.
Somewhere between watching my first print bloom with shapes and shadows, and becoming someone who finds comfort in the acrid smell of a darkroom – which probably says a lot about me as a person – I fell completely in love with photography.
Was it a healthy obsession? Probably not. Was it an affordable hobby? Nope. Did I care? Absolutely not.
Fast forward to 2009 and I had: a diploma, a photography degree (by the skin of my teeth, thanks AuDHD), and a strong aversion to ever working in photography professionally. Iconic.
3 years later, I began retraining in an entirely different field, which miraculously I’ve stuck with for the middling part of a decade now. But I’ve still always got a camera with me.
I’ve played with landscapes and portraiture and street photography and live music. In 2018/19, I fell into roller derby photography, which is a very niche and very chaotic way to spend your weekends. Then, 2020 happened to all of us, roller derby went into hiding, and I just… never really went back.
These days, I shoot whatever I want, with the energy of someone who spent far too long making art for other people, and has since fully abandoned the concept of a niche.
(Sometimes I write about it too.)