I experience the world as a photographer. Most of the time this ticks away in my unconscious, but from time to time the natural world provides a magical combination of subject and light which compels me to stop, compose the scene, choose a lens, aperture and shutter speed. Whether I have a camera in my hands or not the last step is to ‘take’ the photograph and record it to memory, either my own or to a digital chip. It all happens without conscious thought.
And perhaps being born with a photographer’s eye is why I choose to fly helicopters to make my living. What better way to experience the natural world in all its beauty than from above? An aerial perspective opens grand vistas of landscape, sea or sky, as the elegance and sublime perfection of the natural world is revealed in ways unseen when earthbound.
If the gift of a bird’s eye perspective wasn’t enough, helicopters also opened a door to India and its people. I hope these portraits offer some insight into why I return to India over and over again.