This week I had been asked to put a few words together for a biography on our work Facebook page.  Actually not the easiest thing I have done if I am honest!  Harder still was the effort (and time) required to go through my back archive to find some images to include.  With ten years as a working professional, you inevitably gather a fair collection and even when you concede that half of that time was working with the more secret aspect of the military (and therefore have no imagery to show for it), I was surprised just how difficult this was.

 

This was one of those situations that is surreal, I captured this shot before understanding what had happened.  At the time there had been a couple of shootings by Iraqi troops and this was taken on a training day.  This guy was keen to point his AK-47 at me for the photo and there is a magazine fitted, I never knew if he had live or blank ammunition in it.  I was lucky I guess.

I think at times it is good to look behind you, to see and consider what you have done in the past because the reality is the past is what has shaped who you are today.  I am a believer in the acceptance we are really only the sum of our experiences, they shape us, they mold our character and personality.

 

One of the things we like to try and do is get the story in one picture.  This was the Hajj pilgrimage, and the first time since the conflict that Basrah international airport had been open for the pilgrims.

As I have stated before, Buddhists believe that life is suffering, and we all endure hardships in life, some more than others granted but it is there.  The real test is how we come to deal with these tests, and in this case I mean the emotional response rather than the physical one.  How we look at a situation will inevitably affect how we deal with it, but any response will also involve a measured adjustment too.  What I mean by this can be illustrated by nature.  Two male lions fight to take control.  A fight ensues that could easily mean the death of one of them.  Both probably begin the fight with the same kind of emotional response and aggression, however pretty soon one will realise they are probably going to lose.  How do they respond?  Well they have a choice.  They can continue or flee, if they continue they could get lucky (if they are thinking rationally) and if they flee they may survive.  Is either response wrong?  Probably not but they are worlds apart.  You could even consider that the weaker one may have entered the fight without really expecting to win but understanding that to fight is expected.

 

Sometimes it is simply about an aesthetic, during a military music show, this one soldier was lit by a spotlight as he shouted his commands, I just liked the shot for its controlled lighting, 

 

 

 

Life in the military has a reputation of being tough and much of the time it is, however humour is also so important.  The bi-annual ‘Red nose day” provides opportunity.

The longer you consider the situation you can start to see different motivations or responses.  These days as human beings we are not exposed to these kind of choices, but the reality remains.

It’s all about the lighting and finding a way to tell a story.  This shot, taken at sunset is a simple story of water being dropped in the middle of a desert for an operation.  A tiny bit of flash was needed to bring out the boxes of water, otherwise they would just have been silhouettes.

 

There are times when you are just in the right place at the right time.  This shot was taken as the sun set on New Years Eve 2007.  The Lynx was coming in to land fast and I had the time to capture this shot.

Anyway I kind of digressed there.  To have the opportunity to look at my past work was good and bad.  I remembered some of the experiences and cringed at some of the images.  Any creative process is simply that, a process.  I see images today vastly differently to what I did ten years ago.  But I do that because of the experiences I have been through.  My experiences are my own and each of us have had completely different ones.  I feel now that the past has improved me and I only hope that it continues to for many years to come because this is the future and it excites me that the best is yet to come…

This is one of those shots that is technically dull but it is the details in observation that make it work.

 

This shot was taken on a routine patrol outside Basrah, looking for rocket rails.  This shot was just a part of a selection used for a bio slideshow of trooper Whittfield that can be seen here; http://vimeo.com/26632974 This shot did also end up used by the Guardian to illustrate a story they did on budgets in the MOD.  You can never control the use of your images I suppose.

Bring on that warm fuzzy feeling.

I loved this shot for what it stood for rather than the breathtaking quality (ha ha), this was a common sentiment from the Iraqi troops, they were generally proud of their involvements.

 

This shot does need some explaining.  This is a drill (not real), the injured soldier is made up to give soldiers the realistic chance of dealing with an horrific injury, one they may expect to come to deal with.  All I really remember now is the sickening smell of the fake blood, it smelled of overpowering make up.

Thank you for listening.

 

So then, why the title?  Having just read it back it seems a bit of a tangent and perhaps it is.  I was actually referring to this blog.  I have been struggling with how to follow my last entry.  What on earth do you follow an article on Belsen?  Then I looked further back.  This blog is personal, that is a fact, I am sharing my experiences and as an Army photographer I can deal with the full range of things.  The horror of Belsen one minute, to soldiers skiing the next.  They are not connected but as I experience them they are all important to me.  I want to approach each situation with professionalism.  I only hope this comes across.