I started photographing aged 12 and photography was part of my curriculum for the first three years of my higher education. I spent at least one full day every week in the darkroom. I increasingly enjoyed actually taking photographs and developed a serious liking for street photography. It was 'easy' to take interesting shots in exotic locations like Paris, but my photography teacher taught me (maybe the most important lesson ever) to find the same images and the same energy closer to home. In classes we were introduced to photographers like Cartier-Bresson, Capa, Sherman, Evans, Mapplethorpe and many more. I got drawn into a documentary type of photography and made series of photographs of the people close to me. Towards the end of my education I was using photography mainly as a starting point for my portrait paintings and drawings of my dearest and nearest.

After I graduated in 1995 I hardly took any photographs, did not make many paintings nor drawings. It wasn't until 2004, after I moved to Ireland, that I purchased my first digital camera. It rekindled my love for photography I photographed everything that surrounded me. Discovering new things was not hard, after one year in Ireland I still felt like I was on some sort of an extended holiday.

I used to work in a place, south of Dublin, close to the sea and close to the Wicklow Mountains. The seafront in Bray was intriguing, in summer there seemed to be one festival after another, so there were always lots of people around. I remember one particular week when there was a fun fair stretched all along the coastline. In the mornings there was nobody around. All these turned off rides against the backdrop of the sea were quite surreal. I think that unused or static 'hubs of fun' are very sad, the opposite of their original intention. That fascinates me. They got me on the lookout for spaces that are used in a way opposite to their original function. They create this sense of surrealism that greatly appeals to me.

I see it everywhere around me, it must be my sarcastic nature, but it cracks me up all the time. It's easy to see it, but very hard to capture it in a compelling way. Most of these fun-free places are defined by a lack of people. To counter balance this I take portraits of people who are performing in one way or another. In my childhood our parents dragged us from one street act to another. Creativity, focus and entertainment in others all drive my own.

I joined the local camera club a few years back, which helps me in developing my technical skills. Looking at other photographers' work has raised my own bar. On a technical level I am getting a lot better, on a creative level I think I am on the threshold of a new chapter.