I grew up in the 60’s surrounded by cameras and a family obsessed with taking pictures. Every moment was photographed… the first day at school, birthdays, the tooth fairy’s presents, holidays, the dogs, our neighbors, summer at the lake.
My paternal grandfather was a particularly prolific and a proud printer of all his negatives. While he worked with a variety of dark room equipment, I was drawn to his enlarger which for years became the prize of my toy collection. As a young schoolgirl, I found any reason to use the enlarger to produce image-based reports and projects. Printing became a fascination and my own obsession.
My family’s extensive vernacular collection of snapshots provided endless study and preoccupation. The snapshots, contained in volumes of books, were a fascinating insight into my family’s leisure time, circle of friends and way of life. It enabled me to connect with family and friends whom I never knew, but later felt I did.
My own photography began in much the same vernacular way. However, as it evolved, it became distinctly fine art focused. A brief career detour into the world of finance (The Chase Manhattan Bank - 6 years) brought me to London where I later went on to study photography at the School of Black and White Photography and Central St Martin’s College of Art. As I became more focused on the development of my own visual expression, my images started to embrace a strong appreciation for shape and physical form, contrasting light and shadow, which are still central to my work today.
I continue to shoot exclusively in black and white on film and in this digital world, I am proud to still exclusively produce silver gelatin prints.
