I am a photographer based in Leigh, north of Auckland, New Zealand.

After accidentally graduating in 1988 with a BA/LLB (Political Studies and Law), illness (M.E.) resulted in several years of severe disability: I was totally bedridden for seven years at my parents' place and twice, for a year at a time, was too weak to transfer from bed to a wheelchair.

Being confined in a room for seven years forced me to reinvent myself. Once I had got over the initial claustrophobic state of desperation, and with nothing to do but think as hours, days, weeks, months and eventually years passed, I came to focus on things I have always loved: music, art, books, photography and writing – and so changed from being a white-collar worker, to following creative pursuits. As a result, my (usually short) periods of productive time are now at least spent on things I love and which come naturally.

Around 1995, medical treatment for allergies and management strategies for food intolerance led to an improvement in my condition, which enabled me to move to the family holiday cottage by the sea, early in 1996. I knew no one here and was still hardly able to walk – and was getting around the house on a skate board. I spent several months at a time unable to leave the house, as I wasn't well enough to drive (and in any case, had no car). Due to being largely housebound, it took years to build a network of friends up here, but I now have a close circle of local friends in the artistic, musical and book-reading communities.

Photography became my vocation around the year 2000, when I realised that my severely limited stamina meant I could never practice enough each day to attain my goal of reaching a professional standard as a guitarist (I'd started late, buying my first guitar at the age of twenty). I started taking classical guitar lessons around 2009, which has been a great experience; short, regular amounts of disciplined practice have resulted in progress. Eventually I want to focus more on jazz guitar, however.

A relapse resulted in my being housebound and having to rely on a wheelchair again last year. I was too weak to touch a guitar for ten months, but in the last couple of months, have restarted guitar practice (both classical and electric) and reduced my reliance on the wheelchair, which are signs that my health is improving once again.

My main photographic project since around 2008 has been to document the changing rural environment of my locality. The reference point I have chosen is that of the back roads, as the sealing of existing roads and building of new roading and subdivisions gradually transform the countryside and Rodney District becomes more accessible, via the extended motorway from Auckland. This work has been exhibited and well received. Two galleries of my back roads photos exist on this website, from the work that has been exhibited so far: Leigh by Road (my first series of back roads photos) and the current series, Gone Tomorrow. Ultimately, the Gone Tomorrow series will become a book.