David Southern
David Southern finds rich pickings for photography both close to home and in the remotest corners of the planet, and he is never happier than when battling the elements in pursuit of a picture. David has worked for the World Wildlife Fund for many years, recording its conservation projects in Colombia, Malaysia and South Africa. He works full-time as a photographer, leading 1-to-1 and small group workshops, writing and mentoring. Visit www.southern photography.co.uk
When David Southern was growing up there was no camera in the house, so he would go around snapping his fingers and making mental images. His destiny was clear from the start, but it took an astronomy course at university to really seal the deal. ‘I didn’t have a camera until I went to university, so the first photograph I made was of the moon through a telescope,’ he says. His appetite whetted, David borrowed an SLR and began walking the streets of London, shooting whatever caught his attention. As David’s image archive grew, he attracted the attention of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and started recording its conservation projects. ‘As things progressed, this hankering to commit to photography full-time really came to the fore,’ he says. Unable to hold back any longer, David and his wife moved from the Surrey Hills to Northumberland so that he could devote all his time to photography.
As someone used to misty mornings and dense woodlands, David had to acclimatise to his new surroundings. ‘Coastal photography is a different challenge,’ he explains, ‘we get sea fret and fog here, but we don’t get the misty mornings and deciduous woodlands that I’m used to.’ Like many, he turned to
