These images give an insight into how my photography has developed over the past 6 years. (click to enlarge)
I developed my skills as a photographer shooting for a music magazine...this was shot on film but I primarily used a digital camera. (Paul Smith: Maximo Park)
I started studying photography at a tech college in 2006. This is from one of my early studio shoots.
I then started working part-time commercially and transferred to Napier University BA Photography & Film. This is a shot from one of several shoots I did for a hair salon in Edinburgh.
During my summer break 2008 I went to South India for a few months and started shooting documentary and portraits.
This man spends all day unloading cement from trucks into the store. His job is slowly killing him as the poisonous dust affects his lungs and eyes.
This young boy is cutting rubber. Old tyres are shipped from the USA to the slum where he lives and works. He and several other men process and repackage the rubber ready to be shipped back to the USA.
This young woman is a sex worker in Bangalore, South India. She is HIV +ve and had given birth to her first child not long before I took this portrait. Her baby was born in her small brick hut and unfortunately died a couple of days before we met.
The women I met found themselves in the sex industry due to circumstance. Poverty affects a large percentage of the population of India and many have no choice.
I value all of my experiences in live event and studio photography but the challenges and experiences of working on documentary and photojournalism assignments is what I want to pursue.
Mike.
Studio shoot.
