"Thanks for making it so easy" - Graham Norton

Photography for me is so much more than just a profession. It defines who I am and has been so significant in my self-development. It’s made sense of my past and continues to shape my future. It’s introduced me to some amazing people and taken me to places I could only have imagined.

As a kid growing up I had no idea what I wanted to do. The world fascinated me and I was curious about how things worked. Often, I would take things apart and put them back together again, tweaking this and breaking that. It was fun. I loved to use my imagination and make things. Unknown to me at the time but this served as a very good technical and creative foundation for my photography.

I didn't have access to a camera growing up. Photography was expensive and beyond the reach of my parents. It wasn't until my early 20s, when I started working after university, that I bought my first camera and started making pictures of friends and family. They quickly tired of being regularly photographed and I too grew frustrated and wanted more of a challenge. One day, I ended up in London where a whole bunch of people decided to protest against a very unpopular government tax. That later became known as the Poll Tax riots. It was here that I found my voice and discovered my passion.

I decided to learn more about photography and went to the University of the Arts London where I gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Photojournalism. After a year of freelancing I secured a job as a staff photographer running a busy picture desk but in 1998 I was made redundant. I returned to being a freelance again and grew my photography and made pictures of a whole new bunch of people - some captains of industry, others celebrities and some without even a place to call home.

I returned to the University of the Arts London to teach Photojournalism on a part-time basis as an Associate Lecturer. Fuelled by passion and inspired by creativity my course became hugely popular and was often oversubscribed. It was a great privilege to help inspire a new generation of creatives - Cartier-Bresson would truly be proud! After 10 years of increasing teaching demands I have decided to return to what I enjoy most - being a photographer.

I can bring a wealth of experience to your projects and can channel all my efforts to ensuring the very best photographic output for you or your clients. I am not geographically challenged and quite happy to go to where the work takes me. I understand light very well and I'm just as comfortable working with available light or electronic flash, on location or in the studio. 

Email: rob@robjohns.info

Tel: +44 7970 11 7272