simon dowthwaite's photostream

I've been taking photographs for many years and since a child I've always been interested in capturing small pieces of this life we all share, in images that will stay with me forever... I think I can probably remember where I was and how I felt whenever I view any one of my photographs.

My first camera was a Zenit ET SLR and I even remember fashioning a homemade extension tube for it, before buying some real ones to allow me to shoot macro. My brother passed down his Ricoh KR10 and then I saved up for a Yascica 230 AF. I later bought a Mamiya 7 and felt like a pro! I now use another Ricoh - GX100 - which has catapulted me, somewhat reluctantly at first, into the digital imaging world.

Back then, some of the time I felt confident and justified in being happy with my captures, (..a younger and more self assured me...and, embarrisingly with a bit of an ego!), at other times I wondered if any of my images would stand up against comparison. And, after viewing the thousands of images on Flickr, I think the 'other times' were well justified...I discover amazing work every time I log in, and now I realise that photography is ALL about the personal journey, and that what you see through the viewfinder, and then the instant you decide to press the shutter release, is the part that turns us all into artists/documentarists/film makers, and it's this record of each of our personal travels that is why photography is the most sought after and influential artform today....I would definitely be lost if I was unable to record my own journey through time...for me, it's quite simply one of the loves of my life.