Hello! I am a photographer who first and foremost loves the medium of photography and loves that its my job. I have had work published from here to South Korea, been to remote beaches, shot celebrities and photographed a nuclear reactor.

I trained as a photojournalist but now mostly shoot commercial work. I’m at the start of my career in photography, though have had the opportunity to assist some really top tier photographers which is quite a rare opportunity in Scotland. Photography is such a vast field in terms of technical ability and creative scope that I am always learning more and working to develop my skills.
When not behind a camera I am usually sat on a bike cycling somewhere or walking. What inspired you to first pick up a camera?
Well I have always been quite a visual person. What attracted me to photography is how the medium functions as a visual language. I think pictures have a really unique ability to suggest stories rather than tell them. People can look at the same set of images and take something similar yet not the same from the images. Its this sort of ambiguity around photography that really interest me. I also just like really good pictures.

What subjects are you most drawn to?
Portrait photography Is my favourite, I love looking at shots of people. I trained as a photojournalist so I suppose I will always be drawn to shots of people.

What is your favourite gear you’re using at the moment?
Well over the past few years I have invested heavily in high quality lighting equipment, basically studio lights that you can use on location. The quality of light these flashes produce is great. You can use it to create a hard light as if it were like direct sunlight or a soft diffused light just like a from a window on an overcast day.

Can you list a few of your favourite creative  resources (magazines, blogs, Instagram, etc.)
Well I always make a point of reading the Creative Review, I think its really interesting to get such a good insight into other disciplines. Twitter is a great resource for photographers, you can connect with photographers from all around the world and engage about your/their work. Recently I have been looking at a fair amount of painting to try and inform my practice, I saw Katie Downie’s exhibition recently and thought it was utterly fantastic.

Please tell us the story behind one of your favourite photographs.
​This is a shot I took on the 17th of September the night before the referendum. For me it really reflected the vision and hopes that people had for the future, regardless of what side of the debate you were really on.

Follow John on Twitter​ and  Instagram and see more of his work at  www.johnduncanphoto.com