When I was 15, I received the first instalment of compensation from the Government following a knife attack (my attacker had a thing against punks) and instinctively I knew what I was going to spend the money on: more lenses. When I received the rest of the money at 18 I spent it all on a set of professional cameras and lenses.

From that moment onwards, photography has been the constant focus for me. It has enabled me to vocalise my other interest: politics. Studying photojournalism in the 80s enabled me to articulate my feelings, beliefs and values into a visual medium that I could communicate to others. I would take photos at all the demonstrations I went to: anti-apartheid, anti-nuclear, the miners’ strike and the picket lines at Wapping. I hoped, and still do, that my images could portray something of the way we live today, how each action has a reaction, that nothing is without cause or response.