Alexandra J

I could neither contain my excitement nor my utter disbelief when Alexandra J first agreed to work with me, considering I was just a fledgling portrait photographer at that time. The shoot, which took place in January 2015, followed two months of regular correspondence and I felt warmly encouraged by the fact that she embraced so many of my ideas upon which she would, of course, sprinkle her own magic.

I honestly didn't know what to expect from Alexandra, although I knew whatever she would come up with was going to be fantastic, since her portfolio encompasses such an incredible variety of her amazing facets. However, upon presenting a few of my ideas to her whilst on set, she went over and above my expectations.

Being that this was my first shoot of 2015, I went in with the anticipation of a somewhat polite shoot and had quietly planned to push back the boundaries as the new year unfolded - but Alexandra simply blew the doors off!

Even though, owing to a slight technical mishap during the shoot, I had decided to shelve almost the entire footage from that day because I strongly felt the need to develop a few of the ideas which she and I had explored and shared together. Happily she agreed to a reshoot in June of the same year. It was one of the best decisions we ever made.

Alexandra J was, perhaps for me, the very first model I had worked with who would both topple and replace a small number of photographers whom I had looked up to at that period, and thereby she would became a huge inspiration for me herself. In the process, she would hugely encourage me to develop and nurture a photographic style of my own.

The first shoot, in retrospect, was a classic case of serendipity. It would also prove to be a turning point. Indeed, things may have gone according to plan and I would have moved on to my next model shoot, but I would have consequently missed out on getting to know Alexandra who would not only become a major influence on my photography, but she very quickly turned out to be someone who would me help me to re-evaluate my life.

Four shoots on from our first one in January 2015, I still can't believe, and feel just as excited as I did at the beginning about the fact that I have worked with this lady whose personality and talent as a model are equally as amazing as they are unique. While I am deeply saddened that our fourth collaboration would prove to be our last, I will always be grateful to Alexandra J for our wonderful quartet of shoots.

In addition to Alexandra, I also want to thank both Zoe Rebecca John and Loz Williams at Express Imaging who have both become such an important part of my photography and, like the hard working and high calibre models such as Alexandra, they have encouraged me to broaden my photographic horizons. I cannot express just how grateful I am for their contribution towards this album and I will always cherish their love and support.