About you
I am a professional wildlife photographer who lives in a small village on the outskirts of Derbyshire’s Peak District National Park with my wife Claire. Although I have traveled widely I have spent the last two years working exclusively on the wildlife of the UK and my images are marketed via a network of international agents including Getty Images (USA), Corbis (USA), RSPB Images, NaturePL, Lonely Planet Images (Australia), FLPA and FotoNatura (Holland).
Tell us a little about your project:
I am frequently drawn to subjects that lie on the periphery of the public’s awareness and the mountain hare fits this brief perfectly. While it is our only native lagomorph it is the one about which we know the least. This gap in our knowledge was part of the reason why I have worked extensively with mountain hares over the last 5 years.
Bright white in winter it moults to a summer brown, an evolutionary adaptation that might make it susceptible to climate change as declining winter snowfall leaves them dangerously exposed to predators. Yet as their numbers decline it may be the persecutory hand of man that seals their fate.
A recent link between hares, ticks and grouse, is seeing widespread culls of mountain hares in order to protect grouse stocks and it is these notions that I want to explore further. Should moors be protected just so that people can continue to shoot grouse or are they valuable enough habitats in themselves to warrant protection? Whilst sheep and red deer, both moorland inhabitants, also carry ticks it seems that the mountain hare is being apportioned unreasonable blame?
What are your aims as a photographer?
My main aim as a photographer is to use my photography to try and bring the outstanding beauty and importance of our natural heritage to a wider audience. To share this fragile beauty with others who might not otherwise get to see, and therefore appreciate it. If an image can inform and inspire then it can also generate the passion needed to conserve and protect.
What aspects of what you do are most important to you?
Working closely with wild birds and mammals means that you are frequently living alongside animals that exist on a knife edge of survival. As such photographers are duty bound to never to put an image before the welfare of the subject and I am proud of the growing number of fantastic images that I have sacrificed because of my integrity.
What is your greatest photographic achievement?
Although the decline of our humble water vole was already very well documented the two photographic features that I produced for BBC Wildlife magazine, including previously unrecorded behaviour, hopefully brought their plight to a wider audience. I was also pleased to be the first photographer to produce a portfolio of images, again for BBC Wildlife, on the feral Siberian Chipmunk population that were living wild in the UK countryside.
Where or what do you most enjoy photographing?
Growing up in rural Mid Wales I have always been drawn to wild, remote places and the peace and solitude that they afford. Having spent several weeks exploring the Shetland Islands last summer I was particularly inspired by the wildness and rugged beauty of Hermaness, on the Northern most island of Unst. I also enjoyed a wonderful week camping alone on a small island called Mousa and I am delighted to be returning this summer for an even longer visit.
What does ‘Conservation Photography’ mean to you?
Conservation photography is about capturing images that can effect change. Such images move beyond the realm of simple pictorial content and instead strive to tell a story, to communicate a message about a subject, place or issue. To achieve this they must have impact, they must have a point but above all they must be honest and present a fair and balanced view.
How can nature photographers make a difference?
The desire to achieve this should, I believe, be the main motivating force behind every wildlife photographer working today. We are in the privileged position to be able to communicate important environmental messages to massive audiences but these people must be able to trust in the integrity of our imagery. We live in a time when the conditioned response to seeing a powerful image is to question how it was captured, whether it has been digitally manipulated, is it captive but made to look wild. It seems that people are losing their trust in photography and if this continues then the immediate impact of an image will simply be replaced by indifference or doubt.
What advice would you give to aspiring conservation photographers?
You need to be clear about what you are trying to achieve so focus on subjects/issues about which you have a real passion, you don’t want apathy reflecting in your images. It’s also a good idea to work locally as this will allow you to immerse yourself more completely in what you are trying to achieve and it will also be easier to stimulate interest from local people or the media.
