I have been blessed to grow up with a father who was, and still is a remarkable Wildlife Painter, and thus my passion for the arts was sparked at a very early age. Furthermore, I was encouraged to be creative, and thus over the years have found that I have an uncanny ability to do well at any creative discipline I put my mind to, such as drawing, painting, design, ceramics, sculpture etc, however its photography (and digital arts) that I’ve excelled and pursued as a career.
I have been immersed in the photography world since school. My first job was a salesperson at a camera store (Hyperama Photolab / Foto First), where within 18 months, I became senior manager of the entire franchise because of my uncanny ability to sell camera and video camera gear, more than doubling turnover regardless of which store I was stationed.
Whilst there, I developed a keen understanding of not only camera’s and the way they function, but because it was still in the film era, got to explore the magical realm of developing and printing.
At this time, I imagined myself to be a salesperson, and never in my wildest dreams imagined that photography would become my career.
My first real big move into establishing this as my future, was starting work at Quickcut as a Photoshop operator, and this became my specialty for the next 8yrs or so, 1998 onward working as a professional retoucher. This would prove to be a monumental asset as the film era transitioned into digital, and I became equipped from the onset to understand how best an image can be finetuned to be truly captivating. Furthermore, I took it upon myself to question, in a world where we are bombarded with images, what makes a person get drawn to any particular image, be it colour use, composition and/or subject matter, and began to understand the nature of visual communication. Combined with my innate creativity, I quickly established myself as a sort after retoucher by some of the leading photographers in the industry.
in 2006, myself and 2 other gentlemen started our own commercial photography business, personally making a move to spend more time behind the camera, which I now still run on my own 18yrs later, due to one of the partners passing away, and the other moving into a different arena. As a result, I have taken on all the aspects of the business, and have thus acquired a multitude of skill sets, coming to understand the in’s and out’s of the photography industry as a whole. I have also recently been endorsed by CANON SOUTH AFRICA
