00 Spiro Spero

Photos intended as a demonstration of my suitability for the Oxfam Exposure Brief. (Unfortunately I cannot access the laptop which contains the folders that hold the majority of the images that I took while in NYC, so I have been left to choose from 25 images that are still accessible to me from the internet. I have, in the years since these images were taken, graduated with a BA in Photography and English Literature, my technical skill has vastly improved since then, so please take this into account when judging if possible).

Whenever I'm in a hot country I often like to rise with the dawn because I love the secret time of sunrise, but living in Cornwall makes early mornings a cold affair. In April however I decided to brave it, I packed some coffee and drove out into the moors, with no real direction. The sun started to rise and I looked for some high ground, the first spot was overlooking a sleepy little village, I jumped out of the car and into the wind to enjoy the dawn, nearly froze to death, but I'm glad I went. The second spot was on top of a tor, which I decided to climb, for some reason, before 7am on that April morning. Again, I nearly froze to death, but it was worth it. I think everyone should rise with the dawn just for the sake of it every now and then, it's good for you.

Shot from May 2013 onwards.

I was born in Bermuda, and lived there until after I was supposed to start school. I was brought to England where my mother's family lives so that I could benefit from the education system and opportunities it would bring. I still miss what I call my home every day, my father's family still live in Bermuda in the same house and they're growing old without me. Flights over are expensive but in summer 2012 I was able to return for 21 precious days, in which time I took over 8,000 photos. The following set is some of those. To look at them, for me, is both uplifting and torturous, it makes my throat ache, because no matter how old I get, part of me will still be the confused 6 year on a plane flying a million miles away from home. Here is my home, I hope you go there some day.

These photographs are to demonstrate the project I would like to take forward with funding from the IdeasTap team. I invited people to think of one thing they would want to tell the people of the world, something which was personal to them and to their own experience of life so far. After choosing what to say, they chose a location and a medium of presenting themselves and their words, then I took their photograph to create a portrait of their thoughts and self. The result, with enough participation, will be a collaborative portrait of the people, of our era. Further images available at: http://peoplesportrait.weebly.com/

Everything here is as it was when I hit the trigger, no crops, no edits, and no photoshop. Summer 2012 I challenged myself to the task of taking the best photos I could, banning myself from entering the 'lightroom' afterwards to edit them. This is what I came up with.

This is your first set.