I have been a professional photographer for over 50 years, throughout my career I've embraced both a contemporary and traditional approach to my work. My commercial photography has consisted principally of photographing people, within the fields of fashion, advertising and portraiture. My career has spanned three continents, having had opened studios in London, New York and Tokyo. My philosophy towards photography has always been based on my simple belief that a photograph can be taken in one of two basic ways…  A photograph can either be 'created' or 'recorded'. The difference being that in photo-journalistic or similar genres of photography, the image must be the ‘recording’ of events happening within the camera's 'field of view’, without any intervention by the photographer… Purely a case of situation, composition and timing. Although I have on many occasions ‘recorded’ photographs in this way, my personal preference has always been to ‘create’ photographs. Having control over all the elements contained within my composition of the photograph, regardless of whether my subject matter is a live person or an object. I rely heavily on direction of the subject, similar to the way a  movie director works. And of course lighting is of paramount importance. I have always preferred to work in a studio or controlled environment. Basically starting with an empty canvas that I can fill.

My approach to a contemporary style of photography has always been based on the principle that a photograph is only an 'illusion' of three dimensions. Look at a photograph from the side and it is simply a flat piece of paper. I have trained my eyes and mind to 'selectively' perceive the things I see through the lens in ‘two dimensions’, enabling me to see objects, (including people) for the form they take, as opposed to what I know them to be. Effectively this reduces everything to abstract-form. Using the negative space between the objects as part of the composition, into what appears in my 'mind's eye' as a series of straight lines and curves, which is ultimately what everything becomes in a two-dimensional photograph. This for me, is the essence of composing photographs within the boundaries of my camera's viewfinder. In addition, I often work close-up, using a wide aperture on my lens, creating a short depth of field. The result being almost 'abstract-composition', an enhanced image of an existing real life object, person or scene, in the style that might be considered similar to that of 'impressionist' or 'super-realist' painting. 

Finally, the feeling of spontaneity is essential, this can be achieved by something as simple as the 'flick of an eye'. A photograph can look as if, 'something is about to happen' - 'something is happening' or 'something has happened'... The trick is to catch the action 'as it is happening !', even in a controlled studio environment. The measure of a great photographer is the ability to simultaneously compose and capture the critical moment... Which in the final analysis is the one and only true essence of great photography.