From Nothing To Noticing Everything.

It all started with old photographs.

I didn’t grow up planning to be a photographer. I actually wanted to be a marine biologist and then a math teacher… then came photography. If anything it started quietly with a box of old family photos. Some dating back over 70 years! Black and white, slightly faded, edges worn from being handled. They weren’t perfect and that’s what made them REAL. Every photo held a moment I’d never lived but yet somehow felt connected. People who I recognised in pieces, They were a part of my beginning too.

I found myself spending more time than I expected just looking through them. It made me realise how powerful a single image could be - not just to look at but also as a time capsule.

Around the same time as being introduced to these images, photography became a new option available at GCSE. I wasn’t sure if it was something I’d be good at, but I knew I wanted to try.

So I chose it

At first, it was just experimenting - learning how cameras worked, figuring out settings, taking photos of anything and everything. But the more I used the camera, the more I started to understand what had drawn me in from those old family photos. It wasn’t about perfection, it was about capturing something meaningful, even if it seemed small at the time.

Looking back now, it makes sense that it started there. The same way those old photos had frozen pieces of the past, I started to realise I could do the same.

I didn’t pick up a camera with a clear plan, but somewhere between those old photographs and that GCSE choice, I found my passion.

How did you find your passion?