I was born in New Zealand to a father who dabbled in photographing for the local newspaper, it was inevitable that one day, given time, I would ignite a prolonged desire to understand and master the art of photography.
As an avid traveller, my initial love lay with Landscape and Nature, however, the Institute of Photography’s Advanced Diploma in Photography opened my eyes to Street and Portraiture – two areas I would never have dared venture into.
‘Street’ niggled away at my subconscious for some time before I took the plunge to undertake the Diploma in Street Photography course and realise my dream.
I can’t lie that it was all plain sailing – there were moments, particularly as a woman, when I felt I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but using common sense and following my determination to succeed usually resulted in the most satisfying sense of elation when the shutter captured that “decisive moment” Henri Cartier-Bresson spoke about.
The portfolio was an ultimate goal and took many hours of contemplation and re-shooting to achieve the end result; the reward being a feeling of immense satisfaction and self-achievement.
Progression is towards obtaining a Licentiate distinction with the Royal Photographic Society, having spent many years embedding the theory of ‘it’s never too late to learn’ into my children, and now setting out to prove the point.
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