Rob Fraser - award winning photographer
The whole of my working life has been involved with photography. Since leaving school early in the 1980's I have worked as a photo/ reporter for a local newspaper in South Wales followed by six years as a Ground Photographer in the Royal Air Force. I left the service in 1990 to set up my own freelance location photography business and have worked for a number of clients all over the UK and Europe.
These clients include the BBC, Countryside Agency, Cotswolds AONB,
National Forest Company, Millennium Greens Project, Cutty Sark Tall
Ships Races plus a number of advertising agencies, architectural practices
and magazines. One of the largest recent commissions has been to spend
two months with actor Stephen Fry in Peru and Chile shooting stills
for his book, 'Rescuing the Spectacled Bear'.
A year spent backpacking with my partner, Polly, in 2002 fueled my
passion for wild places and this has been something that I've been
very keen to incorporate more of into life. I have trekked in areas
throughout the UK for more than a decade and am a trained Mountain
Leader. In 2003 I started to work as a trek leader for much-respected
Keswick-based outdoor adventure company and have already been fortunate
enough to go to areas as diverse as Everest base camp, the Serengeti
in Tanzania, the Cordillera Real mountains of Bolivia, Jebel Sahro
in Morocco, Kilimanjaro, Patagonia, India, Tibet and Pakistan.
In March of 2004 I held my first solo exhibition at Greystones Gallery, Glenridding. "Travelling
Light" featured a number of monochrome images from the year spent backpacking.
This was followed up in the autumn by an invitation to show a selection of my
mountain images at the prestigious Kendal Mountain Film Festival alongside six
internationally acclaimed artists. Further details of these can be found on the
exhibition section of my web site, www.robfraser-photographer.com.
A panoramic image of Mt Everest at sunset recently won Landscape Photograph of
the Year awarded by Geographical, the magazine of the Royal Geographical Society.
After trekking in the region for over a decade Polly and I decided to move to
Windermere in 2003, a decision we have not regretted. Being surrounded by the
fells and water has reinforced a belief in the power of the landscape to inspire.
I never fail to smile at the thought that I am fortunate enough to work in
some of the most beautiful areas of the world, following a career path I
am passionate about. And I live with the constantly evolving drama of the
Cumbrian fells.
