IAN Daisley gave up his day job – in engineering – and decided to be a full-time photographer instead about 15 years ago.
Since then, he has done many a wedding, many portraits of children and families, and lots of landscape photography.
His interest in photography started in early childhood, helping his father – who was a keen amateur photographer – turn their outside loo into a developing studio!
When Ian left school, he took up an engineering apprenticeship with a local company. “In those days, they sent us to work for a short time in every department in the company – and there was a photography section. I asked if I could be given a job there, but there were sadly no vacancies.”
That meant a career in engineering – but photography was still a keen hobby: “When I got a property of my own, I used to temporarily turn a spare room into a studio, just like my dad did all those years earlier.”
“Unlike many amateurs, I started out using 35mm film instead of a digital camera, and develop it myself. I have now gone back to using film, and still develop it and then digitise the negative.
“I am simply fascinated now with shapes and patterns in nature and look to get great composition with the right light – I never manipulate an image using Photoshop, it’s either good enough or is discarded.”
He is quite philosophical about whether people see photography as art: “I was at Chatsworth recently displaying some of my work at a Peak District Artisans exhibition and two people asked me what painting technique I used. When I told them they were looking at a photographic print, they lost interest completely. Some people see photography as an art form, and others don’t.”
Only three photographers are members of Peak District Artisans – an association of some of the finest Derbyshire artists and artisans – which perhaps says something about the quality of Ian’s work. He was accepted into the group in 2018, and by the end of 2019 he was its chairman, and took it through the pandemic before retiring from the role.
“I have done all the classic landscape photography in the Peak District – all the famous views and the sunrise and sunset images – but now I am concentrating on shapes and patterns in nature through the seasons.”
Ian, who lives at Bonsall, has a gallery at Via Gellia Mill, Bonsall, DE4 2AJ called High Stone Gallery – visits by appointment only – and also does one-to-one or small group tuition as well as talks to camera clubs and other organisations. You can check out his galleries on the website highstonegallery.co.uk and contact him by email at enquiries@highstonegallery.co.uk