Any Given Day

My wonderful daughter Chloe helped me to edit Any Given Day, and just before she left us she said, “Dad, you need an elevator pitch!” Now I know what elevator pitch means, it seems this is the place for it. Although you might need 60-odd floors of elevator ride to read it! Here goes:

This book aims to show two things: how my life and career have been shaped by the technological revolution in photography; and by the ever more urgent need to take a stance on our relationship with the natural world.

My photography was learned through the limitations and strict discipline imposed by film, and later on by the technical view camera. When I felt compelled to adopt digital the effect was temporarily disastrous, but with time and perseverance, digital capture and print has brought creative expression and freedom.

As a landscape and nature obsessive it was inevitable that the rights and survival of the wild world would become my mission.

The book combines autobiographical elements, and a portfolio of my work shot with the Ebony 4x5inch film camera which gave me my photographic “voice”. But the creative core of the book is imagery advocating for the wild beauty that can still be find around the British Isles. Accompanying these images I explore – in words – the ideas, compositional concepts and philosophy that help guide my photography.

The final chapter is work from abroad, which has allowed me to return to true wilderness, a gold standard on our planet of beauty and wonder. This is placed in a context of concern and care for the future, one that is overshadowed by climate change and ongoing habitat destruction.

Beginning and ending the book is the story of an accident I had on a Scottish mountain in 2024. This brush with my own mortality was the catalyst for the book, so from my point of view, it was a story that had to be told