It’s been a year in the making and now our collaboration to photograph 48 sports groups in the London Borough of Waltham Forest has come together and will be touring in the run up to and during the Olympic Games.

I photographed Volleyball, Hockey, Taekwondo and Weight lifting.  It’s been an absolute privilage to be involved in this project and a mighty big thanks goes out to all the clubs who let me come along to observe their activities and shoot (I hope) some images that reflect the enthusiasm, passion and sheer dedication they have to their sport whether it’s to win medals, keep fit, or simply have fun.  Thank you!

Here are the selected shots for the exhibition and in the coming weeks I will publish some more images so do check back…

Please visit the exhibitions because seeing the images in large format print beats a screen hands down!  And check out my fellow ‘Image 17ers’ images now at www.image17.co.uk.

The exhibition schedule, with different images at each venue, is as follows:

-  24 March – 22 April 2012

-Taking Part I – Leyton Library, High Road, London E10 5QH

-  5 May – 27 May 2012

-Taking Part II – North Chingford Library, The Green, London E4 7EN

-  9 June – 1 July 2012

-Taking Part III – Leytonstone Library, 6 Church Lane, London E11 1HG

-  21 July – 19 August 2012

-Taking Part IV – Walthamstow Library, High Street, London E17 7JN

-  21 August – 16 September 2012

-Taking Part V – Walthamstow Library, High Street, London E17 7JN

More About Image 17

Image 17 is a group pf photographers who work together to capture and celebrate various aspects of lives in their local community of Waltham Forest.  The group met and formed in 2009, and have worked together on two large scale projects previously.  Photographers include Mark Burton, Claire Byrne, Udall Evans, Dan Green, Katherine Green, Paul Greenleaf, Fabien Ho, Matt Scandrett, Jo Sealy, Paula Smith, Matt Thompson, Nicola Tree and Simon Warren.

Visit us: www.image17.co.uk

My photo ‘Charing Cross Road Ladies‘, which was selected for the Fitzrovia Photography Prize last year, is showing again in an open air street exhibition “Where Creativitiy Lives” on hoardings around the newly named ‘Fitzroy Place’ development on the former Middlesex Hospital site, Mortimer Street, London.  The quality of the display is great and well worth passing by if you’re in the Goodge Street/Oxford Street area.

St John’s Church Hall (entrance to hall opposite Matalan’s)

823 High Road Leytonstone

London E11

2 mins from Leytonstone tube station (on Central Line).

This shot was taken during a student protest outside a venue hosting the ”Miss University” beauty Pageant.  I loved the interplay between the protester about to be arrested and the word ‘Liberty’.  Not your usual picture of the famous London department store!  This one makes a great fine art print and I’ve produced it in black and white too for an even gritty feel.  Visit the print sales page for more or get in touch direct.

Good luck with it and of course if you are interested in finding out more please get in touch.

 Images courtesy of Remploy 

This shot was recently selected for the Fitzrovia Photography Prize 2011.  It’s from an ongoing series of black & white images featuring life in London’s Soho.  For me it’s one of those shots that raises a smile and draws you in deeper as you wonder ‘what’s their story?’

The shot came out of nowhere really.  I was on one of my strolls with the camera when these two ladies crossed my path on Charing Cross Road.  They had the most amazing matching hair styles – bright peroxide blond!  They were about to cross the road when I went to take a shot.  At that moment the lady on the left turned and looked me dead in the eye.  I pressed the shutter, she looked away, they crossed the road and that was it.

If I was braver, I’d have liked to ask her the story of her life…but then half the fun is imagining what those stories are yourself.

A big thanks to Peter, Lucy, Martin and the folks at Direct Photographic for making the hottest October weekend on record even better!

Here are some images from the first club I’ve photographed so far…

Thanks guys for welcoming me so warmly, and doing a great job of not pegging me with the ball!  More about the club can be found here.

This project is commissioned by London Borough of Waltham Forest and will be exhibited in the borough during 2011/12.  To keep up to date with the project why not connect with me via facebook or twitter…

“This shot will stay with me forever…”  
Visitor comment from Royal Photographic Society, 151st International Print Exhibition.

A couple years back I was doing a big trip down under.  I was travelling with a small bus group and our driver made a stop off at an outback bar.  The owner (out of frame to my right) was busy telling us the story of how he saved this dingo as a puppy from a baiting programme.  As he talked, I caught sight of the dingo looking out of the window and suddenly all the components came together – the leg, metal chain, expression, light, texture… I brought the camera up to my eye, a quick turn of the aperture and click…

I have to be honest, at the time I thought ‘that will be another shot that only lives in my head!’  You see, on this trip I was using an old fashioned manual film camera, loaded with Velvia 50, so the combination of slow shutter speed, metering challenge with the bright light vs shadow, mixed with the split second nature of the scene, I thought no chance!  But there you go – always trust in your instinct for a shot!  A couple months later, when I got the roll developed I was delighted to have captured exactly the moment.

It’s still one of my most favourite photographs, and as an added bonus it was selected from over 2700 images from 700 photographers around the world to place 2nd in the Royal Photographic Society, 151st International Print Exhibition.  A really proud moment for me!