About Me

I have been a professional photographer for almost 60 years, I left school just before my 16th Birthday and went to work for a photographer on the Antrim Road at Carlisle Circus, His name was Lionel Salem and he and his wife ran the Jaymar Studio. He was a brilliant inventive person and he would just have loved all this mobile photography. I then joined Robert Anderson Photography a commercial and Industrial photographers. I learnt a lot while working there in the Commercial/Industrial field. I eventually moved on and worked with the NI Tourist board for a while but I was then asked to join with Leslie Stuart photography to run a new department doing commercial/industrial work along with the well known artist and designer Rowel Friers. I finally decided self employed was the way forward for me and I have been working as a photographer ever since. I also started a picture framing business along with a new partner Victor Kennedy. This business thrived and I was still doing my photography. We turned two front rooms of our new premises on Belfast's Lisburn Road into my new Portrait studio "Lasting Image". The framing and Photography businesses were split into separate companies and the framing was taken over by Victor's son Charlie who still runs the business "Frame & Picture Centre" to this day. I retired from my studio in 2015. I have covered almost every aspect of photography, from portraits, weddings,commercial, industrial, aerial ,architecture,press and PR. I have used many different cameras from Large format 10x8 to 35mm, Digital and now iPhone. Over the years I have been awarded Fellowships from the major photographic organisations, The Royal Photographic Society, The Master Photographers Association, The Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers, three Fellowships from the British Institute of Professional Photographers plus an honorary Fellowship. I have also won the Peter Grugeon award from the BIPP for best Fellowship panel of the year twice, first person in the 120 year history of the BIPP to have done so. I also got the first ever Fellowship for a panel of images taken on my iPhone. Although I am no longer working professionally I am now using my iPhone to explore new ideas and to show people what can be done with a mobile device.