I am a professional photographer and video creator based in London, and my purpose is to empower people and brands with my art. If you’ve worked with me, you’ll recognise these words from my invoices, my email signatures, my business cards and pretty much anywhere that my brand lives. 

 

My story begins as a child wanting to explore the world and document my adventures; just like in the films I used to watch. I watched your typical Disney cartoons and that only made me want to scuba dive with whales and sharks, go on safaris, visit the historical sites of Greece and more. My parents were always liberal around my sources of entertainment, for example I’d watch productions by Wong Kar-Wai, Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, Old Spaghetti Westerns and black and white silent comedies like Charlie Chaplin. This gave me an appreciation for a variety of colour grading, camera angles and more. At such a young age, my mind was like a sponge, and it made me think in unique and creative ways even in random scenarios like one head sticking out from a perfect row of everyone seated during school assemblies. Or, when it rained at night, and I was in the car, I’d be fascinated by the colourful dots coming through the window as water was trickling down and condensation built up. 

 

It’s been nearly a decade since I started travelling around the world and living in various countries to get a feel for life outside of my usual comfort zones. From the cinematic streets of Vietnam’s cities and villages, never ending stretches of pristine Pacific beaches in Costa Rica, the buzzing marine life in The Philippines, the stunning Roman architecture on the Adriatic … tell me when to stop? I developed a lust for photography and video creation and started to collaborate and learn with other creators. I was just having fun in an artistic way, but later these experiences would be the building-blocks of my profession today.  

 

I returned to London a few years ago, where I quickly realised that the content creation scene available to me was more urban, moodier and generally-speaking, very different to what I was used to in Mexico and South East Asia. As well as the lack of waterfalls and tropical virgin beaches, I also noticed that there was a commercial spirit to the content being produced. All the pro bono work in exchange for a $5 lunch or bed for a few nights and low paid side jobs were going to quickly become a thing of the past. Little did I know that my talents and skills as a photographer and video creator would soon rival my full time job as a marketing professional; that I thought was my calling. But first, I needed to engage with a community that gave me energy. The community I landed in is what most people refer to as the street photography community. You’ve seen those scruffy blokes and mysterious ladies holding expensive cameras waiting for the crowd’s next move? Moving through the streets of London all hours of the day. Snapping away at city bankers with top-hats and briefcases as they form a silhouette in an alleyway on their way to work. Catching cinematic gazes through the neon-lit windows of Soho with military precision without any flash equipment. That was and still is me. It’s my escape, it’s where I flex my creative muscles and connect with other creators, including mentors and mentees. 

 

I have a Masters Degree in International Management and before that my Bachelors was in Business and Modern Languages. I had so many options after graduating from Conference Interpreting to Management Consultancy to in-house Marketing roles … our choices are the threads that weave the patterns of our life. Being a Project Manager in Marketing for a Top 10 UK company helped me understand many things about life, business, communication and more specifically: content creation and commercial art in particular. 

 

My unique approach to what I do is that I’m able to blend the artist in me and the marketing/business professional. It enables me to think quickly in high-pressure situations and create smart solutions for stakeholders involved. I am always thinking 3-5 steps ahead in any given situation whilst communicating with stakeholders just like I would in a high-performing business function. I can then snap out of that mode and go back to being an artist making sure that my clients are at ease and can empower me without concern or taking away energy from other important matters. Having been on both the client side and now the creator side, I can appreciate the obvious things which get missed all the time. It’s one of the main reasons why word of mouth and repeat business have enabled me to grow.