FROM THE AMAZONIAN JUNGLE TO THE COLD PEAKS OF TIBET
I never planned to become a cinematographer. I found the profession almost by accident, and from the moment I stepped onto a film set I knew I'd found something I wanted to spend my life doing.
At first, it wasn't the camera that fascinated me. It was everything around it. The organised chaos of a film crew. The excitement of watching an idea become reality. The privilege of travelling to places I would never otherwise have seen and meeting people whose lives were completely different from my own. Every production felt like another adventure, and I couldn't wait to discover where the next one would take me.
Over the following twenty-five years, that journey took me to more than ninety countries. I've filmed in refugee camps, remote mountain villages, luxury hotels and yachts, football stadiums, television studios and deserts. I've worked with world-famous athletes, musicians and actors, but I've also spent time with people whose stories would never make the headlines. Looking back, it's those encounters, regardless of who they were with, that have shaped me the most.
Somewhere along the way, my relationship with filmmaking began to change and I became increasingly obsessed with the image itself.
I started paying more attention to light, colour, texture and shadow. I became fascinated by how small changes in composition or movement could completely transform the feeling of a scene. I realised I wasn't simply trying to record what was happening anymore. I wanted every frame to be as visually beautiful as I could possibly make it.
That pursuit still drives me today.
There are moments when I'm standing behind the camera and something unexpected happens. The light changes. A person moves in exactly the right way. The atmosphere shifts. Everything suddenly comes together for a brief second. When I see that image appear on the monitor, it fills me with something that's difficult to describe and it's the reason I still love what I do.
The challenge isn't creating beautiful images when you have unlimited time, unlimited resources and complete control. The real challenge is finding beauty when you have none of those things. Sometimes I have hours to build a scene. Other times I have only seconds before the moment disappears forever. Whether I'm filming a commercial, a documentary or a sporting event, I'm always asking myself the same question: How can I make this image as strong as it can possibly be with what's in front of me?
Documentary filmmaking has taught me that patience is often more valuable than control. Some moments simply can't be directed. They have to be recognised. You learn to observe, to wait and to trust your instincts when everything finally aligns.
Photography has strengthened that way of seeing. Although cinematography has always been my career, photography has become a deeply personal pursuit. It encourages me to slow down, to study light more carefully and to appreciate the details that can easily pass unnoticed. Everything I learn through photography inevitably finds its way back into my filmmaking.
I've been fortunate to receive awards for both cinematography and photography, and to work with broadcasters, brands, production companies and organisations across the world. I'm grateful for every one of those opportunities, but they're not what continues to motivate me.
After all these years, it's still the image.
The possibility that, for one brief moment, light, emotion, composition and timing might come together to create something that didn't exist a second before.
That's the feeling I'm still chasing.
