What inspired you to begin using moving image and why?
Film, the moving image, has always been my primary interest. I took up for photography at the age of 15 or 16 as this was the closet I could get to film making. Digitally technologies were not widely available so it was not possible (and probably not even conceivable) to get my hands on the right equipment and start making films.
Photography or more specifically, photojournalism, side-tracked me and it was on the medium that I exclusively focused for three or fours years. It was however, always my intention to make films and I began making small films (perhaps film is the wrong term, multimedia pieces using moving image, stills and audio) and gradually this led to my film 'Mother & Daughter' which was my first fully fledged film: it was the right opportunity at the right time. Rather than make a film for the sake of making a film I wanted to wait until the right opportunity presented itself to ensure it would be seen and not just vanity.
In this sense, I wasn't swayed my new developments in camera technology; it was always an intension to make films the invention of HDSLR's made the leap from stills to film much easier and more accessible.
My preference for film over stills is down to the greater control you have, as director, over the whole piece; the greater ability to control an audiences perceptions, to control the narrative in order to tell the story that you want to tell. As a working photographer, you are, in the main always producing work to fit into somebody else's design, be that a magazine or newspaper etc. As a film director you have control over every element - the visuals, the script, the sound, the lighting, the costumes. It is an exhilarating experience.
What equipment do you use to capture your moving image work?
I have predominantly used HDSLR cameras to make my films so far. These cameras though, are used in the context to full processional film shoots, working with cinematographers, using lighting ... professional sound recording etc. It is never just a matter of turning up with my camera kit and trying to film something ad-hoc.
How much of your moving image work has been commissioned?
All of my moving image work has been commissioned ... it is important that work is produced for a reason or has an outlet otherwise, otherwise the project can end up just being vanity; it can have no focus and no checks and balances to ensure you are making a refine product.
You have covered campaigns and trailers in your work, will you expand into any other genres or areas?
I will of course expand into other areas - fiction and longer form documentary maybe.
Has your moving image work influenced your still photography?
I was originally inspired by cinema and, as such, my stills photography as probably always been more influenced by film than other photograph; or indeed, I have been drawn to and influenced to photography that had a cinematic style or narrative such as Gilles Peress photography.
Do you think it is important for photographers to expand into moving image?
It is clear that stills photography has changed; developments in digital technology and means of production have had a profound effect on the way we take and consume media. Stills photography does not exist in a vacuum. It has to respond to new developments and this may mean that photographers should expand into this area but only if they have the required skills and passion. Stills photography as we know it is probably dead; at lest on a downward curve that will see it become a more marginalised art. How photographers respond is up to them
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