Photographer

Photography is the simplest thing in the world, but it is incredibly complicated to make it really work.

When I fly British Airways, I can't help but read the free Daily Mail, which makes me glad I am leaving the country.

I would urge everyone to start looking at the world in a different way. Spend some time looking at everyday objects, at their design, their shape, their individual characteristics. Think ahead and imagine their significance.

In the '70s, in Britain, if you were going to do serious photography, you were obliged to work in black-and-white. Color was the palette of commercial photography and snapshot photography.

Sepia in particular tends to make everything look a bit romantic and almost sentimental, hence the fact that it remains such a popular choice for wedding photographs.

By default, I am a travel photographer. I work on a combination of commissions and personal projects that take me around the world.

I am not as cross about Thatcher now as I was in the '80s. Begrudgingly, I can see that some of her policies helped modernise Britain.

One of the things I regret is that magazines now are so lifestyle-orientated that the opportunity to do bigger projects is gone. This is a serious misjudgment on the part of magazine editors.

There are elements of irony in my work, of course.

Criticism is hypocrisy; society is hypocrisy. I'm a tourist. I'm a consumer. I do the things that I photograph and can be criticized of.

My father was an obsessive bird-watcher. The genes of observation passed down.

I avoid Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and if I need to communicate with someone, I email direct.

Fashion pictures show people looking glamorous. Travel pictures show a place looking at its best, nothing to do with the reality. In the cookery pages, the food always looks amazing, right? Most of the pictures we consume are propaganda.

Places change all the time, and the type of people who live there change.

We live in a homogenized world, where it's hard to get excited when everything is slick and professional. The interesting things are the dull things.

We live in a homogenized world, where it's hard to get excited when everything is slick and professional. The interesting things are the dull things.

I love curating, because I'm lucky and privileged that I have a platform and I can share my discoveries with other people.

I pride myself in being an aficionado of the British seaside. Throughout my career, I have visited and worked in many of the famous British resorts, from Great Yarmouth to Largs.

The knack is to find your own inspiration and take it on a journey to create work that is personal and revealing.

I get up early and open my emails, write cheques, and answer the phone; whatever needs to be done.