I was born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire in 1961. At the age of around 3 or 4 my family then moved to Market Deeping in Lincolnshire where I spent the most idyllic childhood. Most of the time was spent cycling through the rural countryside or swimming in the river which ran at the bottom of our garden. This I think is where my love of the countryside and nature bloomed, instilling something which we never forget.

One of the greatest things I have done in my life was when I joined the Mundesley Inshore Lifeboatas a voluntary crew member (see the crew photo below – I’m the one with the red circle). I was living and working in Mundesley at the time, and I spent ten years with the MILB.

From the first steps of getting out to becoming a lifeboatman was the making of me. During my time with the MILB, I went from Crewman to Assistant Mechanic, then Com’s Officer (I hold the International VHF Ships Operators Licence) and then Training Officer, teaching the new recruits about navigation. From there I was appointed 2nd Coxswain and in my last year I became the Coxswain.

I made some very nice friends, some of them still so. When I first joined the MILB, Paul Holland was the Coxswain (seen in the crew photo wearing the white shirt) and he was instrumental throughout my lifeboat journey. Always encouraging me to take on more, do the next thing, but most of all to enjoy life (which we often did at the Ship Inn public house most nights). Life was good then, if still a little fraught now and again.

Unfortunately it was in my last year with the MILB that I gained a position with a Mustard production company in Norwich. I say unfortunately, because due to being out of the village for so long, I had to give up my position on the MILB. Later during 1995 I took the decision to move to Norwich to save all the travelling, but I did so miss the sea and the coastal village fellowship – but life moves on and there are not many weekends that I am not mooching around the Norfolk coastline.

Perhaps my love of the sea and surf comes from deep within the family genes. My brother was in the navy and I had a small boat that I used on the Norfolk Broads, or could it be my family namesake/kinsman in Australia called Nic Muscroft who is a Pro Surfer. I love to see him in action by watching the myriad of YouTube videos out there and it makes me reminisce about my days of Jet Skiing off the North Norfolk coast.

Here is a short video of Nic
Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Several years ago I started to suffer from tripping up the stairs and weird aches and pains. I thought at the time that it was just tiredness or rushing, but in 2006/7 I became very ill and was unable to walk very much at all. My vision in my left eye went blurry and I became very, very depressed. I have lost the hearing to my right ear and only have 60% to the left, I also have difficulty picking up small objects such as coins due to a lack of control of the muscles in my hands.

After seeing a specialist at the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital and travelling to Sheffield to the Royal Hallamshire Hospital to see another specialist there, it was diagnosed as a Neurological Illness - MS.

Regular Physio is useful, especially as the Physio lady (Lucy) is also brilliant at Acupuncture. She uses this to try to help my sleeplessness and my daily headaches. With out her, I think that I would be a lot worse off. The same goes for Dr Webb and Patricia who runs the Incontinence Clinic that I attend, to help with the needs of things going wrong below the waist shall we say!

My condition has also meant that I lost my job, due to being unfit to perform my duties. But that’s life and I now have other things to keep me going. I’m a member of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain and the Disabled Photographers Society as well as being an Associate Member of the Norfolk Coalition of Disabled People (NCODP), fighting for equality, dignity and human rights.

I still can’t walk very well and use a wheelchair when things get bad, the rest of the time I use the “Bug”. My favourite toy for getting to those hard to get to places, such as the woods, the beach or across rough tracks. I have made some modifications, improving on the original design as purchased and I think I have one heck of a “Mobility Buggy”!

So you say, how does all this boring stuff fit in with photography? Well…

…It all started with my father, who was a keen semi-pro photographer and introduced me to this wonderful craft in the early 1970s. This was a time of film and the many joys of having your own home darkroom, developing your own photographs and experimenting with time and light.

Of course back then, an amateur could not really afford top-notch equipment and had to settle for either second-hand or make do with the cheaper Eastern-block equipment. I used one of the Russian 35mm SLRs by Zenit and a Lubitel Double Frame (6×6 and 6×4.5cm) 166, later acquiring a Mamiya and then onto the early Canon 35mm SLR’s. Now of course, I have gone full circle and now use a Canon EOS DSLR.

I try to share captured images through the medium of digital photographs in much the same way that a painter seeks to evoke feelings and reactions through their respective media. Trying to capture that certain mood, light or the atmosphere. Or simply that image which your eye sees, the one that you really have to work hard at to get, to get your camera to capture what you are seeing.

My favourite photographic subjects are wildlife, landscapes, urban and old (redundant and gothic) buildings; but I’ll turn my skills to just about any other type of photography. In the past I’ve covered wedding assignments and portrait work and I have equally been at home doing candid street photography. This is easier in a wheelchair as most people are little more tolerant of me, not sure whether the attitude is a right one or a wrong one, but it does allow me to get close to my subjects in the street.

I would also say that I do truly believe that every photographer is on a constant journey of discovery. Whether an amateur, a semi-pro or pro photographer, we are all learning new skills and adapting to even newer styles of the photographic craft. With such a variety of technological equipment and computer programs available to everyone, this is not always easy!

And of course a new angle on life for me is dealing with my disability, this is something that has been coming on slowly for some time now. But it’s not going to stop me taking photographs. Rather it is strengthening my photographic skills by adapting to a different way of doing things and accepting that I can no longer do everything that I once did – but I’ll keep trying! Much to my wife and daughters amusement (in a nice way).

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” – Isaiah 40:29 NIV

Bless you.
Mike.