What draws me to photography? There are a number of things, and I am sure that it has changed over the years.

When I first started taking photos, I wanted to photograph the show jumping shows I went to. At university, I still took photos of show jumping, I shifted focus a little to street and photojournalistic photography. I also started to develop my own black and white film. I continued my street and photojournalistic photography when I came to London. Within a few years, I shifted to architecture photography as I became tired of either being told off or people playing to the camera.

Over the last year or so, I have been trying to figure out where my photography is going. While I am on the journey, what I am really tapping into my photography is the narrative. So, what do I mean by this?

The exhibition I was in during November 2013, much of the feedback that I received was people seeing their own stories and narratives within the photos I was exhibiting. I found it fascinating what people saw in the images – often things I hadn’t seen myself, or personal stories they had.

The images I showed were architectural, and so it wasn’t perhaps the most obvious subject matter to have narratives. What I found was that it invoked either people knowing the areas I took the images in and it provoked some memories or feelings of the area or it reminded people of other places they knew. The narratives were place based.

Seeing the narrative, and allowing the viewer to read their own narrative, has become more important in my photography.

I sometimes come across stories of areas, graffiti, etc after the fact. One good example is the graffiti image I took in Islington. It was a man standing by a utility box on the street. A number of months later, while reading the metro at Waverley train station in Edinburgh, I found out that the image was of the cleaner who removed some graffiti (Graffiti artist paints image of cleaner removing artwork). I appreciated the story behind the image, but for me, my narrative of the image was an office worker pausing while heading back to the office during his lunch hour. 

As a photographer, I notice how the change in seasons affects the sunlight. The sun’s position changes throughout the year, and I enjoy capturing this in my images. A harsh summer light contrasts a soft winter light. The longer summer days give me a much longer time to photograph while a shorter winter day has me chasing its shadows. 

I find myself the most creative in the winter light. My leanings are toward black and white photography, and so light for me essential. The gentle and moody winter light shines highlights onto the season’s harshness. 

I am drawn to the shadows and the moodiness of the seasons. While visiting Dover a year ago, I was able to play around with sunlight, and shadows. I enjoyed the capturing the moodiness of the season on the windswept Dover Castle. 

Founded in the 12th Century, Dover Castle dominates the cliffs along the Kent coastline which look over the channel to France. It is the largest castle in England and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history.

The weather, history and the people passing through the Castle have certainly left their mark, particularly on the walls. While visiting the Castle last January, I wished the walls could talk, and in many ways they did.

The weather has worn the thick stone walls and the sun peeps through the windows, casting its shadow down the hallways and stairs inside. People have written their history on the walls – and am sure they will continue to do so – giving a human face to the grey stone walls. 

I was drawn to photographing the buildings in black and white, and had wished I hadn’t run out of film. The histories presenting themselves on the walls, as elsewhere in the Castle, seemed timeless in black and white. However, the vibrant colours of the furnishings – giving them an almost childlike effect – demanded colour film. 

Even the walls in colour gave a very textured effect – as did the black and white. 

It was a shame I didn’t have time to finish wandering around the Castle, and hope to revisit – along with my camera and some more film. 

Visiting Folkestone, Kent, late last year, my friend took me to the Folkestone Harbour station, a disused train station at Folkestone Harbour. The harbour station provided a rail connection for boat trains from London which connected with the ferry services to Calais and Boulogne.

The station closed to regular passenger train services in 2001. However, the line and station continued to be used by the Venice-Simplon Orient Express (VSOE) and railtours.

It is part of Folkestone history that is slowly being eroded away by the elements, and is hidden away from city view. My friend had only recently found it through a recommendation through a friend, and I was very happy for her to show me. We spent a bit of time photographing it, on a moody day where the rain threatened and the sea waves were high. 

The surroundings, and the weather, asked to be photographed in black and white. I couldn’t resist the haunting moodiness of the place.

In the middle of the tracks was a random statue of people. Neither of us really knew what it was for, but I was able to incorporate it into my photos of the train station. They add something to an otherwise derelict and lonely station – a gentle reminder of those who passed through in days gone by.