ABOUT IRO
My name originates from the island of Malaita in the Solomon Islands.
Pronounced 'E-ro' it translates as 'to look' or 'to perceive'. Not just to visually see, but to observe something or someone and seek to to interpret and understand what is below the surface.
I guess that goes some way to explaining a lifetime filled with international travel and my extremely varied work history. As for my lifelong fascination with cameras and the art photography, I guess that kind of makes sense too. To me photographs are just that... an opportunity to revisit a moment in time and a second chance for interpretation and understanding. So often missed in the confusion and excitement of the present.
Hardly surprising then that I have found myself embarked on a career in photography.
An occupation like no other, whose unique involvement in the businesses of creating memory and inspiration is everything I've ever looked for in a job
Hi there and thanks for visiting my site!
I've
never found it easy to write about myself so to begin I'd like to answer
what has to be my most frequently asked question; "Where on earth does
your name come from?" (or the somewhat less subtle-"So what's your real
name?") Well for you inquisitive types here's the short version: The
word 'Iro' originates from the island of Malaita in the Solomon Islands,
and roughly translates as 'to look' or 'to perceive'. Not just
to see, but to actually look at something or someone and seek to interpret
and understand what is hidden below the surface.
I've always laughed at that being my dictionary definition, although my parents assure me it wasn't their motivation for my christening. That must be true, as otherwise, I'm sure they would have discovered the word for 'lawyer' or maybe 'neurosurgeon'.
Looking beyond the dictionary though, some insight may be gained from a look through my passport; hinting that I'm someone rather curious by nature, with 39 different countries visited at last count, many of them, more than once.
Or then I guess there's the compulsory CV identity;
"Loves a challenge" perhaps? How else could you explain such a long, diverse list of jobs;
Ski guide for two of four winter seasons spent living in France, as a charter yacht deck-hand in Australia's Whitsunday's and the Mediterranean, two years as a bosun/dive-master on a world cruising Super Yacht, two seasons driving snow cats at Treble Cone Ski Area, working as a florist maintaining displays in London's top Casinos, or a brief stint as a cycle courier on the streets of London....and that's just the first page.
But I think if I was to be really honest, like most people I'd want
to be judged upon what's in my many photo-albums. As it's in those that
you'd find the most interesting story of who I am and how I view life.
Pictures that inevitably show a passion for experience and recording it in
such a way that makes people go "Wow, that's an amazing photo!",
or at the very least, smile and want to know more.
To me, all photography is the business of memory and inspiration, and
it's this business that makes more sense and brings me more satisfaction
than any other. Perhaps then it comes as no mystery that it's the
challenge of communicating this in my photographs that's led me to
choose it as a career...that and the fact that I never really
blossomed as a florist.
A huge thanks to all those who appear on this site and a special thanks to Paul at Turbo Web for the fantastic build and expert
advice along the way.
Cheers, see you soon through a lens near you,
Iro.