I have been shooting medium format film since 2005 when I picked up a Holga toy camera. Prior to that, aside from a few darkroom lessons I was mostly self-taught and I had been shooting portraits and street photographs on my tactile, but cumbersome, Nikon F2.

Once I started using 120 film I rarely returned to 35mm. I like the slow pace of using film and the fact that I cannot see the results of what I'm shooting at the time. The analogue process slows me down and gives me time to think and to look. With only a dozen precious frames per roll, I cannot afford to waste film taking the same shot over and over, so I have to be confident and trust my ability, my camera, and my exposure meter.

I'm hugely inspired by the Photo-Secessionist movement of the early 20th century and I like to create blurred and dreamy images that evoke a sense of nostalgia and emotion. To achieve this, I use a variety of mostly vintage cameras, some that I have tampered with, and cheap plastic cameras with fixed apertures and shutters. I love the idea of trying to create something magical out of something so basic and rudimentary. I also experiment with expired film, often waiting for it to deteriorate even further before processing.

Although I have never stopped taking photographs, I took a long break from processing my film. My latest project is a series of images from 2012 onwards, taken during trips to China and Hong Kong, and was shot solely on expired film which has been left unprocessed and unrefrigerated since 2012.


Grey Wings exhibited at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London