About.
Darkslide Photography is owned and Maintained by Professional Photographer, Andy Simon, 33, from Aldridge, in the West Midlands, and Happily married with 2 wonderful children.
Since an early age, Andy has been fascinated with photography and how a single image can invoke such emotional responses. Setting up his own darkroom at the age of 13, he continued to explore film photography and in turn, digital photography. Always with a passion for landscape work and the world around him, you can often find him wandering around in a field with his camera looking for the perfect image.
After working as a nurse for several years, in 2008 he changed career and enrolled on a City and Guilds Level 3 Certificate in Photography course at Birmingham Metropolitan College, quickly regaining his focus for image capture and in 2009 established his own website, Darkslide Photography to promote his work further. Andy has had work published in both local and national newspapers, Magazines and Websites, and has quickly established himself within the industry, thanks to his unique style of imagery, attention to detail as well as a deep passion for all things Photographic. Since then Andy has returned back to Birmingham Met college, and recently completed a full Diploma in Professional Photo Imaging and also received accreditation to the Royal Photographic Society.
Andy has always been a strong supporter of charities and in 2009 put his passion for photography to good use, establishing Pin-up for Heroes. A project to produce a Pin-up style calendar reminiscent of 1940’s paintings and art featured on aeroplanes of the era. The calendar was set up to raise funds for the Armed Forces charity, Help for Heroes, who aid with rehabilitation of injured troops. The 2010 Calendar was a huge success, donating over £5500 to the charity, and Andy has already commenced work on the 2011 project with the hope of raising even more funds for such an essential cause.
Passionate about breaking the norms of society on how people perceive beauty, Andy now specialises in Alternative fashion, as well as Pin-up and Burlesque photography, and has worked with many performers and models within the industry, as well as clothing and accessory suppliers and has recently had some his work published on the ‘A Box of Burlesque’ website who specialise in Vintage and burlesque clothing as well as mainstream fashion magazines such as British Vogue.
Most recently Andy was awarded first prize in the National City and Guilds yearly photographic competition for one of his images in the level 3 category. A simple piece captured solely with a mobile phone camera showing the morning sun through a window, and stands true to his philosophy that the best camera to have is the one available at that time, be it a film camera, digital SLR, Polaroid or even a mobile phone, being able to capture that single moment before it is lost.
