I was born in Tokyo and raised in Japan, the UK and New York. Educated primarily in the Rudolf Steiner system, I studied economics at University College London.

A serendipitous encounter with coach thieves in Northern Italy precipitated a life-long obsession with photography. I am an entirely self-trained and highly experienced professional photographer. My practice spans commercial, social and editorial imaging.

As a commercial photographer my client list includes Unilever, the Marine Stewardship Council, the Bourne Group, C3i (Metropolitan Police), NASA, Philips Healthcare, Europa Worldwide, Greggs, Interflora, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Iron Mountain to name a few.

I have photographed hundreds of weddings, and countless portraits, christenings, events, babies, animals, and makeovers. Known for my distinctive style and easy manner with clients. I have photographed weddings throughout the UK, Europe, the United States and beyond. Couples routinely make bookings years in advance.

My work has been published in newspapers and periodicals around the world. It is in the permanent collections of the British Library, the Bodleian Library, the National Libraries of Scotland and Wales, and the libraries of Cambridge University and Trinity College Dublin. My prints are in many private and commercial collections. I have exhibited work in a number of group and solo exhibitions in the UK. In 2020 I won the Portrait of Britain Award. I made the shortlist for the same award again in 2022.

A world first

I was the first photographer ever to get a newspaper by-line in orbit. In October 2008 astronaut Richard Garriott took a special issue of the Metro Newspaper containing my work. It was later verified as the first newspaper in space, to the International Space Station. The paper is now on permanent loan to the British National Space Centre in Leicester.

I am a member of the Chartered Institute of Journalists and a former Chairman of the Royal Photographic Society’s Visual Journalism Group and the photography coordinator for UK Skills. A firm advocate of assisting others develop an understanding of the power of photography, I routinely offer work experience placements, and am a mentor for the Ideas Foundation and Venture Thinking, providing young people with the opportunity to unleash their latent creative talents. I sit on the Creative Advisory Board of the Ideas Foundation, and on BNI‘s International Board of Advisors having been a member of BNI for 22 year. Along with being a primary school governor and an ambassador for the Evelina London Children’s Hospital, I am the Commercial Director of Versant Ltd.

I was a skilled baker prior to becoming a photographer and enjoy travelling, hiking, and mountaineering, along with cycling, politics and history. Oh, and planes – ask anyone I grew up with – I am nuts about flying machines. I speak a little Japanese, and even less French. I live with his wife and three sons in Kent, and am available for assignments worldwide.