My First Love - Words & Pictures

I’ve always been interested in real-life stories, how the narrative shapes our lives. Then there’s the stories we write and rewrite about our history, the stories we spin, the stories that sustain our souls and change our lives. I’m enthralled by the sleep-time stories, the fantastical dramas swimming in our subconscious minds that can shine a light on our hopes and fears.

When I was 10 years old and lived in Ayrshire, Scotland, birthplace of Robert Burns, I devoured his narrative poems about mice, lice, men, women and love, and announced that I wanted to be a poet too. Thanks to Burns I have maintained a life-long love of poetry in all its rich and diverse forms.

I trained as a journalist and worked on a number of national and local newspapers and magazines in London and Suffolk. I gravitated towards sub-editing and production, loving the process of designing pages, writing headlines and cutting copy with speed and creativity so that no one could see the joins.

I later retrained as a Social Worker, a very different role, but one that is also steeped in stories - stories weaved out of poverty, inequality, trauma and social exclusion, as well as aspirations, hope, resilience and love.

Photography has always been a passion and I have discovered a love for sketching and collage art.

With Temple Storytelling I am returning to my first love - Words & Pictures - using photography and film, sketches and collage, poetry and prose to create visual stories.

It’s like rekindling an old relationship with renewed energy and passion. Exciting.

Temple Storytelling can turn your family history, holidays, travel pictures and special occasions into a film for you to share. Contact me to discuss.