Your stories

I was born in Nottingham in 1981. I grew up in the village of Keyworth scoring own goals for Keyworth United FC and messing up paper rounds for the local newsagent.

I spent my teen years riding my bike at the county's skate parks, killing time at the Nonstop skate shop and repeating years at South Nottingham College.

My hobby for bikes cost me my front teeth, snapped bones in my left hand and left me with a shoulder that dislocates more frequently than I remember to send birthday cards to friends and family. It was through a desire to document my travels that I was introduced to photography.

At 22, I studied conceptual photography at the University of California whilst on an exchange programme from the University of East Anglia. In 2005, I turned my back on a career as a researcher in plant biology and returned to study an MSc in Biological Photography at the University of Nottingham.

All pictures in the gallery represent my perception of the city and county, the characters, the thriving music scene, and the distinctive countryside of The Midlands.

I am most at home trekking through the county's fields looking for new landscape scenes or on assignment at a gig for Leftlion magazine based in the city.

At 24, I have relocated to London to start a career in publishing as a designer for the science journal – Nature, and establish myself as a freelance photographer.