How it all started
As someone who hated being in front of the camera, I had often been the one to volunteer to take photos for family and friends at social events and nights out. I had never been one for an audience, I would rather be the stage hand working away in the background happily watching from behind the curtain. This is something that my loved-ones would say I was known for, as well as walking for hours every day and problem solving/playing with tech. If given the opportunity they would more than likely mention other characteristics like being a literal thinker, compulsive when working on a task and a few other things we can save for a blog post but for now lets say I have some personality traits that arguably made photography appealing to me.
In 2016 I took up photography as a hobby, a way to unwind. Having worked in IT education for 8 years by then, the need to leave the office and stretch my legs, together with me being someone who liked a daily routine at work, meant I would take my lunch break at 14:00 every day and walk around London, looking at the buildings and landmarks around the EC2 area. I enjoyed the architecture, shapes and the contrasts between the new skyscrapers and offices infused with historic landmarks, memorials and listed structures. It seemed as though buildings were going up around Canon Street and Liverpool Street every day, so every day I would see something new in a setting I had seen hundreds of times before. With all the rapid developments I decided to document changing London. Armed with those personality traits mentioned above, I began to look into what camera to buy, which predictably lasted longer than necessary and after a few months of research, procrastination and indecisiveness I finally settled on my first camera and lens combination. I bought the Nikon D7100 DSLR and Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8. My journey in to the world of photography had begun.
View from the Royal Victoria Bridge
How it grew
Now armed with a camera and lens I was ready to hit the streets and capture the ever changing skylines of London. After the initial fear of embarrassment with pulling out a camera in public subsided, the city noise and bodies would fade in to the background with only the subject in focus. I loved shooting buildings as they didn’t judge the images you took of them, they were the perfect models with flawless posing, no need for direction or anxiety of whether they were performing well or not. I had found my comfort zone and was very happy in that space. I went out and shot for 47 days in a row, always on my lunch break and sometimes after work. Colleagues would complement and family suggest I share the results on social media. Having never been a fan of social media and not having had a presence online, I saw it as an opportunity to let the images be judged while maintaining anonymity, I created an Instagram account called _mistershutterbug, sat back in anticipation with a hint of nervousness about whether the images would be of interest to anyone who had no direct relationship with me.
Small numbers of people would like, comment and follow my page which reinforced my confidence and I would get direct messages complementing the work. As I kept posting the direct messages kept coming in going from complementing the work, to questions from new photographers about settings, to whether I did photoshoots of people as well. The ‘do you shoot people/portfolios’ question would pop up more and more so it felt as though it was something that needed to be explored but as my interest had always been about buildings I would debate with myself whether I should do something I wasn’t really interested in because it was something people kept asking about. I found equilibrium when the idea of shooting dancers or gymnasts presented itself to me. It would allow me to see the shapes and angles I enjoyed from architecture but with human subjects that still didn’t need to be put in positions as they would do that naturally, taking the pressure off me to direct.
After posting more and more results, gaining more experience with shooting people and continuing to shoot cityscapes and landmarks, messages went from positive feedback to ‘how do I book you, what are your rates’. I would receive these message now and then and already knew there was interest in my architecture work. I decided to figure out some rates for what I now call my corporate and personalities photography. I used my interest in tech to develop a website, my love of creativity to make some marketing material and created a second Instagram page (mistershutterbug_) to keep the corporate and portfolio work separate visually, while giving them each a platform to promote.
Photoshoots for personalities, artists and fun
Today
Over time I learned to direct and started to offer free image consultancy and posing lesson prior to photo sessions. This boosted confidence in the client and helped to provide clarity on what they did or didn’t want.
I’m now at a place where I enjoy both types for different reasons. Whether its shooting landmarks or skylines that have been shot thousands of times before in a way that I feel is different, capturing the motion and expression of a performer loving their craft, presenting images for a brand or business who then continue to commission me due to the work, or showing the back of the camera to a client who booked a boudoir photo session to boost their self-esteem or confidence and seeing their uncontrollable smile and change in body language.
Although I’m still the person who hates being in front of the camera, my love for being behind it and producing results that others value continues to grow daily.