Born on the Isle of Wight on 5th March 1962 I had a fantastic childhood playing and learning in a rural, seaside environment that has given me a life long love of nature and experiences that have and will last a life time. That is me in the middle with brothers Nick (left) and Neil.
Although I would describe myself as an educationally able child with a real hunger to learn I was always more interested in learning by experiencing – a trait that has followed me through life. This thirst for experiences led me as a teenager to the world of photography, a talent that I have tried to hone over my life and something I use to this day both as a hobby and source of income.
A relatively successful education was eclipsed by a natural aptitude for all things sport and a junior career covering a large array of sports that led to me representing my county in athletics, cross country and football to name a few. This love of sport was encouraged by John Jones and Gus Baker (two of my sports teachers) who helped me on my way and directed me towards a career in Leisure and Recreation Management. Three years later and with an HND in Business I took on my first role as manager of a large private sports centre. At this time I was introduced to the beautiful game of Squash a love that stayed with me for many years, until the body gave up!!
A young man’s thirst for new experiences led me first to London and then to Yorkshire where I managed a snooker and club facility before my growing interest in the licensed pub trade led me to more study and membership of the BII (British Institute of Inn-keeping).
It was whilst managing a club in the village I have made my home, that I met my Partner, Jayne. 25 years on and with two beautiful teenage daughters we share a love of wildlife photography and spend much of our spare time together photographing the diverse bird life of Yorkshire. Jayne is a talented photographer who encourages me to ‘up my game’ to keep up with her (you can see I still have that athletes competitive streak, even if the physique has disappeared).
I guess I should outline my connections to CameronLife at this point. I had been aware of Dad’s talents for many years and as a keen amateur photographer in my teens and early twenties I always had the feeling that it was a real shame that his talent was lying ‘dormant’. I was fortunate to have an old school friend who had become a magazine editor in London and with encouragement from us both Dad took up his camera and began to produce and sell images again. Moving forward to the early 2000s and with real interest in his 1970 Festival images we got together as a Family and began to plan an exhibition of his work. This was the rebirth of CameronLife and a Partnership between myself and brother Neil in the CameronLife Photo Library ably assisted by other family members.
Whilst Neil looks after the day to day running of the business, amongst many other things I assist Neil where needed; but concentrate on social media marketing, promotion management and creation of social media and promotional content. I also create audio-visual and video content for our exhibitions, shop and for CameronLife clients.
I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight Jayne’s vital assistance to me and the Photo Library now and over the years in research, ideas and assistance – She is a gem.
We are now entering even more exciting times moving forward with the relaunch of our social media presence and new on-line shopping facilities. Onward and Upward!