When people ask what you do, responding I’m a photographer generates very little in the way of enthusiasm as almost everyone now is. Cameras on Phones have revolutionized the practice and it’s fantastic that everyone can now use images to document life and loved-ones.

‘Done anything interesting lately?’ is the hardest question to answer. To me every job is interesting. Meeting new and often very interesting people. Every job brings it’s own technical and logistical problems that have to be solved to achieve the best results.

So when I recently replied, ‘I spent two hours photographing a boiler’. The response was even less enthusiastic than usual and I could see that my ability as a photographer was starting to be doubted, I mean two hours to photograph a boiler?

Should I mention that it was a Bosch UL-S series boiler with it’s combustion chamber featuring a wetback reversing chamber specifically designed for optimum flow of the flue gasses? Or that it’s round design ensures maximum pressure resistance, perfectly matching the water volume against internal heat transfer? Maybe the fact that the Bosch UL-S boiler’s front door can be hinged on either side to help with easy maintenance will do the trick? No, no surely that it’s rapid water circulation ensures steam is produced quickly by even heat transfer, with the large chamber offering sufficient storage volume to cope with sudden peaks in demand, will re-ignite some interest.

As it transpired all those years in journalism, taking often complex information and distilling it to form an interesting, informative and cohesive statement that both accurately summarises a subject and stimulates further interest in it, came flooding back and I came-up with the perfect response.

“It was a f**@in’ massive thing they use to make Stella in Newport”.

Confidence was restored.