I’ve spent over thirty years making portraits and telling stories through images. Having lived and worked in London, New York and now Sydney, my work has taken me around the world, but my focus has always been simple, people.
For me, a portrait isn’t just about the final image. It’s about the sitting, the space between two people, the shared time, the subtle shift as someone begins to settle. Less performance, more observation. A slower pace where something real has the chance to surface.
One of my most valued possessions is a letter from Seamus Heaney, written after a portrait sitting. In it he wrote, “I know from other occasions how difficult it is to ‘get’ so many things that need to be gotten – some sense of the sitters being, the photographers technical and artistic standards to be met… a certain otherness in the likeness, all triumphantly achieved… Mastery work. I’m honoured by it and deeply grateful.” The letter sits framed on my desk as a quiet reminder of what can happen when everything aligns.
Over time, I’ve come to understand that a strong portrait comes from a shared understanding, a space of trust and ease, where something unexpected can quietly reveal itself.
That’s what I’m always looking for. And with the right space, it appears.
the sitting room studio is a natural extension of that way of working.
A space where time slows down, and the focus returns to something simple: sitting, looking and making something real.
