RT

About your local photographer

I made my name capturing the Southern Ocean at its most treacherous as a crew member of various yachts in the Whitbread Round the World Race. I started with freelance pictures published in Yachting World and Seahorse from Drum in 1985 and finished my 4 Race Whitbread career with a commission from National Geographic onboard Team EF.

Born in 1958, I grew up on the Isle of Man, where I established a serious interest in sailing, spending much of my time on the water racing dinghies dreaming of one day competing in the Whitbread Race. My enthusiasm for photography began whilst I was boatbuilding and sailing, particularly with my friend Nick Keig, who campaigned the Three Legs of Mann and VSD multihulls. Veteran yachting photographers Alistair Black and Christian Fevrier came to photograph the boat inspiring me into the world of professional yachting photography.

In 1983 I joined the build team of the Whitbread Maxi Colt Cars. The yacht ended up in the hands of Duran Duran's lead singer rock star Simon le Bon with the new name 'Drum'. Through working on the build team I was given the opportunity to crew aboard Drum.

After the near fatal roll in the Fastnet Race when Drum's keel broke off, the boat was quickly repaired for the start of the Whitbread Round the World Race 1985. I was one of the crew. On Drum, I offered to take some pictures and set off on the race with one Nikon and 20 rolls of film, my photos were a huge success and redefined onboard photography with my trademark slow exposure night time shots of the Southern Ocean.

Eventually I sailed in four Whitbread Round the World Races, onboard Drum, The Card, Intrum Justitia and with the two EF teams in the 1997 Whitbread where I was commissioned by National Geographic.

I was the official photographer for the Volvo Ocean Race 2001-2 and 2008-9 races. The GBR Challenge at the America's Cup in Auckland, Team SCA and numerous other projects. Between projects I undertook assignments all over the world, usually chasing yachts from a helicopter or chase boat and always on the lookout for a unique angle. I am also involved in marine advertising photography undertaking commissions for many of the worlds leading Production and Superyacht builders.

Yacht racing aside, I have extended my skills into expedition, workshops, project photography to such places as the Arctic and Antarctic, Chile, Alaska, Caribbean and Africa, plus special assignments for the RNLI. In 1992 I was awarded with the RNLI Bronze Medal (with Nick Keig) for saving the lives of two fishermen off the coast of Northern Ireland, while on assignment for the RNLI. At the 2012 Volvo Legends event I was awarded the "Volvo/Inmarsat Pioneer of Media award" in recognition of my work in the Whitbread races and inspiring the full time role of media crew member on Volvo Ocean Race yachts. In 2013 and 2015 I was voted the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image of the Year (peoples choice).

My most recent expeditions were in Svalbard, Norway and Falkland Island where I led a group of photographers photographing wildlife onboard Skip Novak's expedition yacht Pelagic Australis.