As well as animal rights and protest images, I also make vegan creative and fashion images which can be found on instagram under the handle @vegancreative.uk
I started to get interested in the genre of fashion photography in the early 2000’s when a close friend of mine was studying textile design and asked me to photograph her fashion show. I had previously not had an interest in shooting people at all, but the experience opened my eyes and gave me an appreciation of fashion photography as a means of artistic expression, story telling and the techniques of studio lighting.
I spent the next few years shooting in the studio for a few designers, and also runway shows of all levels which eventually lead me to attending London Fashion Week as a British Fashion Council accredited photographer. My images from this period were published in several magazines, newspapers and websites.
But as much as I enjoyed the creativity, ultimately fashion is not a very vegan friendly or environmentally friendly industry, and I decided to no longer compromise my ethics and give it up around 2015, just dabbling again in 2019/2020 having heard that more designers had become more aware of environmental and ethical concerns in the fashion industry, and I started to notice there were vegan fashion designers and even vegan fashion shows.
Then the global pandemic hit, and like a lot of people I had time to reflect on what my real interests and priorities were – and fashion photography was still on my list, but I didn’t want to compromise my ethics either. So in 2021 I re-launched myself as “veganphotographer.uk” my belief being that you have to act as if the change you want to see has already happened, you can’t wait for the change and then join in. So while there might not be much demand for vegan fashion photography right now veganphotographer.uk is here ready and waiting for the rest of the world to catch up – in a similar way that in my life, being vegan since 1980, I’ve been waiting for the rest of the world to catch up with veganism, which is I think starting to happen.
In the meantime I will be honing my skills and developing my photography style. I am starting to re-learn and reskill in aspects of studio lighting techniques, to make plans for test shoots, to network with other creatives such as vegan designers, vegan stylists, vegan hair and make-up artists, vegan models etc. I created the Facebook group London Vegan Fashion Creatives as a channel for this.
In terms of style, I aspire to create standout images featuring avant garde vegan designs, statement accessories, cutting edge hair and makeup. I’m inspired by photographers such as Nick Knight, David La Chapelle, Helmut Newton, Stuart Weston, Tim Bret-Day, Paolo Reversi, Micha Klien (of course I am no where near as talented, but its good to set out some goals).
Fashion Photography Experience:
Trained in fashion photography at London College of Fashion
(2009)
Studio fashion photography, including flash lighting techniques and styling.
ProFashion Magazine (Russia) – photographer
(2011-2014)
British Fashion Council accredited photographer covering fashion events such as London Fashion Week for Russian fashion industry magazine.
Demotix – freelance photographer
(2013-2015)
Freelance contributor covering fashion events in London for the Demotix photo journalism agency through which my images were published world-wide in newspapers, magazine and websites.
Alamy – freelance photographer
(2019 – 2020)
Contributing photographer supplying the Alamy photo agency with London Fashion Week images for publication by their clients.
Other Genres of Photography
veganphotographer.uk is not only about fashion though – I realised that there is a wide scope of possibilities for a vegan only photographer, including protests and demos, vegan food and product photography, nature and wildlife, and of course animals, such as sanctuary images and sadly their commodification. I aim to try to be competent in all these areas and offer services to vegan organisations.
Vegan Photographer UK 