July 31st 2026
Today marks a significant milestone for me, both on a personal and professional level. It is my one-year anniversary since leaving my position as a Programme Leader for a BA Hons Photography degree in the Northwest of England. Having only been in post for just over three years, the date should not really hold much significance. However, looking at the bigger picture (pun intended), it is my past, present and future that has made this anniversary significant.
I left Salisbury College of Art in 1986 at the age of 21 with a HND in Advertising Photography plus a Licentiate qualification from the BIPP. My career as a professional photographer started immediately where I was employed as a location photographer in Cobham, Surrey. In just under two years, I progressed to a position of Location and Studio Photographer based in Cambridge.
Just under a year later, I was recruited by a Manchester based company, where I held the position of Senior Industrial and Studio Photographer/Manager. Three years later, I was made redundant as the business went into voluntary liquidation.
For the first time in my life, I was faced with unemployment and uncertainty, a somewhat daunting and unnerving experience, as the governmental leadership of the Conservative Party through Margaret Thathcer and John Major had not exactly made society a place of hope or aspiration for the working class or unemployed.
As taught at college, I turned a disadvantage into an advantage and took the step of becoming a self-employed, Professional Photographer, based in Manchester, vowing never to put myself in a position of experiencing the pain and heartbreak of being made redundant again.
Thirty-three years later, I was still running my own business when the pandemic struck. Naturally, like many self-employed people, this had a huge, negative impact on my business. Once again, I drew on advice passed on to me, this time through business training, and decided to implement my exit strategy.
I undertook a second Masters, this time in teacher training, with the goal of putting my thirty plus years of business knowledge and photographic experiences back into education. A photographic education that I have always been extremely grateful for in respect of the quality of teaching, the positive experience I had, and the opportunities that opened-up for me as a result.
After an intense year of juggling the academic workload of the master’s with the practical teaching hours and running my business, I was appointed Programme Leader of a BA Photography Degree in the Northwest of England. The post was full-time and so, after over thirty years, I wound down my business and went ‘all-in’ as a dual professional and full-time educator.
As mentioned earlier, this came to an end on 31st July 2025 and for the first time in my working life, at the age of 61, I have spent a year without the need to work. Having found myself in similar circumstances to events many years ago, I turned a disadvantage into an advantage. My wife and I sold our house and relocated from Greater Manchester to the coastal town of Hornsea in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The relocation has enabled me to re-examine my practice, and work on photography that I want to do, as opposed to photography that I have to do.
Whilst the process of selling up, relocating and house renovation has limited my time to spend on personal projects, the future is exciting, not only in terms of my photography but also at the prospect of living in a small, traditional British seaside town. Having looked back at numerous challenging experiences, especially over the past 5 years, I am grateful for the path they have finally led me to.
