I am a London-based portrait and travel photographer.
My photo-story began at the age of 16 when a careers adviser, despite my not even owning a camera, suggested photography to me. I followed his advice, took Photography A-level, and have never looked back.
I studied at Blackpool College, where I was taught by pipe-smoking ex-industrial photographers who thought that black and white photography was a bit on the avant-garde side.
I then came home to London and began my illustrious assisting career, which I thoroughly enjoyed and which taught me the realities of the business. Assisting made me appreciate how versatile the photographic process can be. I gained so much invaluable experience working on a wide range of jobs: one day I might be eating motorway sandwiches in the car, heading to an industrial estate for Photocopier Monthly; and the next I’d be flying first class with Lord Snowdon to St Moritz to photograph style icon and socialite Marella Agnelli for Vanity Fair.
The unpredictable nature of being a photographer and never knowing what challenges the next job will bring has always held a huge appeal for me.
Although my specialisation is portraiture, the variety of my commissions is still far-ranging: from being asked to photograph husband and wife cheese makers in deepest Devon, to shooting Vivienne Westwood pushing Richard Branson on a trolley while he was pretending to be an aeroplane…
Over the years I have worked for a wide range of award-winning titles from Stylist to The Sunday Times. I have been fortunate to shoot for many of the glossy monthlies, weekend supplements and leading publishing companies.
Phone: 07973 83539 Email: gemma@gemmaday.com 
