"Dedicated to the real photographers of the world - to those who, with their second-hand equipment and their makeshift darkrooms, are today fighting their solitary battles with their recalcitrant medium, not for money or for glory, but because they would rather make pictures than anything else in the world. - William Mortensen - "Mortensen on the Negative", by William Mortensen, Simon and Schuster, 1940.

  Jo is a self taught photographer and retoucher. She first set foot on these shores in 2005 and has worked her way up from slinging pints behind bars in pubs to photographing people, places, bands as well as retouching portraits regularly and managing teams of retouchers around the country.

She has a passion for all three arenas: photography, retouching and photomanipulation and enjoys being a jack of all these trades with view to becoming a master of all. And that's just the beginning. Because life is too short.

She has worked professionally as an actress in her home country and has a Holistic Massage qualification. Suffice to say her other interests are many and include reading, acting, theatre, dance, travel and of course music.

She enjoys developing her mind and and expanding her skillset (she is currently teaching herself the electric bass guitar and learning French is next on the list). The list of places around the world she'd like to see is as long as her leg but one day she'll get around to all of them. It's important to aim high. Because, once again, life is too short.

She's a romantic. She believes one should do what one truly wants in life and tries to Carpe the hell out of the Diem.

Jo has ceased to work as a retouching manager for a national photographic studio and is now persuing her dream of freelancing in the field of Photography & Retouching. It's scary. It's a challenge. It's exciting! It may even mean a return to slinging pints but if that allows her to edge ever closer to the point where she can  have the independance and freedom to show the world her passion, skill and what she has to offer, then so be it. She looks forward to new opportunities every day and the prospect of meeting and working with other creative individuals all the time.

Being a creative personality, she appreciates being moved and provoked by all things creative, not just visual arts. Especially the kind of work that has you thinking about it days after seeing or hearing it

So ultimately, whatever she chooses to do, it is her hope that her work will have the same affect on others.

 Welcome to her little place on the web. Thank you for visiting.