I used to think that adjusting the sliders was what made a photo powerful. I believed that the difference between an ordinary image and an extraordinary one was just a matter of finding the right combination of settings. Every photo felt like a puzzle waiting to be solved through post-processing.

There’s something magical about cities in the rain. The quiet moments when lights stop being lights and turn into colours instead. On dry nights, things are sharp, ordered, obedient. But add a wet windscreen and a slow shutter, and suddenly everything starts to breathe. Shapes begin to melt, headlights start to stretch, and reflections ripple across the pavement. What used to be a street becomes something else entirely. Something that is half real, but still half a dream.

For years, I thought good photography meant hunting for striking subjects — the dramatic building, the unusual face, the postcard landmark. But the images that stayed with me weren't about things at all. They were about light.

Photography has continually evolved with technology. Film gave way to digital. Darkrooms gave way to Photoshop. Now we’re in the middle of another major shift: artificial intelligence. But this one doesn’t just speed things up, it’s changing what it even means to create a photograph.

A profound sense of calmness is inherent in simplicity, a soothing essence that emerges when the unnecessary is stripped away, creating an open space that allows us to breathe deeply. This intrinsic tranquillity serves as a powerful antidote to the relentless clutter and chaos that often characterise modern life, a concept I strive to encapsulate through my photography.

I have been drawn to photography news for a long time, eagerly consuming information about new lenses or next-generation camera sensors. However, a recent revelation has shifted my perspective. The most potent photography tool, one that is not being championed as it should, is within each of us. It's the most incredible and powerful thing we possess. And it's free. I'm referring to the gut—the photography gut, a force to be reckoned with in our creative journey.