What inspires my photography style
My style didn’t appear out of nowhere. It’s been influenced by the places I’ve lived, the things I’ve seen, the places I’ve been, and the people who’ve let me photograph them when they were being completely themselves. It’s a mix of coastline, city life, mountains, folklore, and a lot of slightly unhinged ideas that arrive at inconvenient times. All of it affects into the way I shoot now.
Growing Up by the Sea (Ramsgate)
I grew up in Ramsgate with the coastline right there, and for years I didn’t realise how much it was influencing me. When you live by the sea, you stop noticing how dramatic it is. You take the tides, the wind, the colour changes, the sound of it for granted. It’s just there, part of every day life.
It wasn’t until the Covid lockdowns that I started paying attention again. The sea became the only place that felt open. The coastline had this mix of calm and restlessness that stuck with me. That’s where I learned to start noticing the little things around me, the things I had walked past without a second thought before.
That early influence still shows up in my work.
Eight Years in Cardiff
Cardiff was a completely different world. I went for uni and stayed for five years after, and it taught me how much I love the mix of city life with nature just outside the door. You could spend the morning in a busy street and the afternoon by a lake or on a mountain. That contrast shaped the way I think about atmosphere.
Cardiff gave me:
colour
movement
people watching
the rhythm of a place that’s always shifting
the ability to find hidden gems in loud environments
City life has a way of stripping away the idea of “perfect moments”. You take what you get, and sometimes what you get is better than anything you could plan.
North Wales and the Landscapes That Don’t Behave
I’ve technically lived in North Wales for six years, although with the army stint in Estonia and travelling Southeast Asia, it’s been more of an on‑and‑off relationship. But this place has had a huge impact on my style.
North Wales doesn’t do predictable.
It doesn’t do calm for long.
It doesn’t care what you planned.
You can stand in sunshine and watch a storm roll in like it’s been summoned. You can walk into a woodland that feels ancient and alive. You can find a patch of moss that looks like it belongs in a storybook. The landscape has personality that makes it not just a backdrop, but a part of the story.
Shooting here taught me to stop waiting for perfect conditions. The weather, the wind, the light, they’re all characters in the photo. They shape the mood as much as the person does.
Folklore, Odd Ideas, and the Little Things
I’m drawn to places that feel like they have stories attached to them. Ruins, forests, lakes, anything with presence and history. Not because I want to recreate the past, but because the past feels like it is part of the present.
A lot of my inspiration comes from tiny sparks:
a colour combination on someone’s coat
a strange dream
a bit of Welsh folklore
the way light hits a wall in passing
a “what if we tried this” idea that refuses to leave
I like mixing the everyday with the slightly surreal. Not in a fantasy way, more in the sense that real life already has enough magic in it if you pay attention.
People Being Themselves
The biggest influence on my style is how people behave when they stop performing. Kids running in circles. Couples laughing because they’ve messed up a pose. Families falling into their natural rhythm once they stop trying to look “photo ready”.
I’m inspired by:
movement
personality
the moment someone forgets the camera
the way people interact with the landscape
the small expressions that say more than a perfect pose ever could
My style isn’t about perfection. It’s about atmosphere. It’s about catching the moment someone’s guard drops and their real self shows up.
So What Inspires My Style?
All of it.
Ramsgate’s coastline.
Cardiff’s energy.
North Wales’ moods.
Folklore.
Weather.
People being unfiltered.
Odd ideas that arrive out of nowhere.
The mix of real life and the slightly surreal.
It all feeds into the way I see the world, and it all ends up in the photos whether I plan it or not.
