I liked the QEST team enormously from the moment I met them and am thankful for the trust they placed in me. On day one, I met Natasha Mann, Christabel Anderson, Deborah Carré and Jennie Adamson. I realised I was going be spending the next four months in the company of extraordinary people and my photography had to do them justice. The camera guarantees a likeness, but a portrait has to be more. Jennie said she was nervously excited; I felt the same!
The thrill of being a professional photographer is walking into a location, ‘finding’ the picture then ‘making’ it; I have to leave with the shot or I am no more that just a camera owner. There was a challenge. Creative people love their workspaces, but this could not be a book of photographs of a hundred workshops. Lateral thinking was needed. I am grateful to those who went along with me and ventured to other places. I discussed the portraits of Rod Kelly and Manasi Depala, Graham Ashford and Niki Simpson with them for weeks beforehand. Other scholars made pieces especially for their shoot.
On the day, it was immensely satisfying to have several hours with each person. While we talked, my mind processed their words and the surroundings to find the essence of their craft before taking control to apply the technical process: composition, lens, lighting…and some coaxing patter to get a performance. Most of the portraits chosen for the book came from last fifteen frames, testament to the fact that we built them together.