Fibre Optics

When I signed up with Science Photo Library in 1985 after returning from Antarctica, I knew nothing about professional photography, or stock photography, or even running my own business and working as a freelance. It was a steep and at times daunting learning curve. The stock photography industry was on fairly small scale in the mid 1980s, but was about to expand rapidly. I was advised to diversify – to do something other than just photographing mountains, wild places and landscapes – and so the first ‘science’ subject I worked on was a fibre optic display, on loan from a company which made medical instruments. It was a very fortuitous choice. A couple of days working on the fibre optics in a variety of ways yielded royalty fees for many years to come, being reproduced countless times in books, magazines, advertsing and other media. It turned out, quite unexpectedly,  to be one of the most profitable shoots I have ever done.