“I’m inspired by the way that light makes objects and people look magical and ethereal”

It is essential for me to have a directional light, as I use the shadows almost as much as the highlights, playing them off each other, almost as if they belong together.

I developed my own personal approach instinctively and through dedication and experience. Once you apply all the rules of technique, you then find yourself making up a few of your own unusual rules, inevitable and obvious, but the true source of creativity and a natural flow of consciousness.

I apply the philosophy of the law of the opposites, as I’m fascinated by the contrast, the sharp and the soft, the smooth against the textured, and the bright against the dark. I have taken direct influence from the “chiaro-oscuro” technique applied by many painters throughout history, Vermeer in particular, capturing the light that reflects from the light subject-matter against the darker background. It emphasizes shape and creates composition almost immediately. My backgrounds are constructed from sheets of dark velvet to help absorb the light, the sitter reflects light and glows against the dark, illuminated by a soft projection of side light created by a diffused soft box.

Photographers that inspire me

Richard Avedon
Julia Margaret Cameron
Bill Brandt
Man Ray
Cartier-Bresson
Sebastiao Salgado
Michael Kenna
Kenro Izu