Based in Yorkshire, I've been involved with the photographic industry for over fifteen years. The majority of my career was as proprietor of West Yorkshire Cameras, the exclusively analogue camera shop.
I am fortunate to have built a career around something I truly enjoy, and to be able to facilitate the enjoyment of others.
Now as a one-person business, I am delighted to offer a curated selection of equipment that complements my other services and reflects my personal taste.
When I first picked up a camera, I took photos of anything and everything. After exploring various disciplines and styles of photography, I developed a preference for the analogue, black & white medium. For me, taking photos in monochrome strengthens the relationship between composition, light and form. Being able to control the entire workflow from from camera to print, adds to this rewarding and tangible process.
My personal collection of equipment includes Hasselblad, Leica, Nikon, and Rolleiflex. This is in addition to various other highly collectible, esoteric and novelty cameras.
Straddling the boundary of my different interests, I am also a freelance photographer for Car & Classic, a specialist classic car marketplace.
I was the proprietor of what became one of the UK's largest specialist analogue camera retailers - West Yorkshire Cameras.
Back in 2012, while at university, my own film camera collection got a little out of hand. So, in partnership with a friend, we set up a dedicated website and held a regular market stall. We subsequently decided to take the leap of faith to open a small shop in Leeds Corn Exchange. After a couple of years, I took the business solo and steadily grew into larger premises and an expanding team. In 2019, we settled into the shop at the Grand Arcade with seven staff. We were selling and buying thousands of photographic items per month to and from many happy customers. This included new and used items, and a large selection of film.
In addition to the physical shop, we had a custom-built e-commerce website, merchandise lines, excellent customer feedback and a sizeable social media following. By many metrics, West Yorkshire Cameras was a very popular and successful camera retailer.
I am particularly proud of our charitable contributions. We raised approximately £12,000 for local charities by selling rejected, broken, or unsaleable equipment. Beneficiaries included Leeds MAP Charity, The National Science and Media Museum, Hyde Park Picture House, and Simon on the Streets.
But all good things must come to an end, and after 12 years I made the difficult decision to close West Yorkshire Cameras in late 2024.
