Andy’s life is defined by passion and adventure. He’s managed bands, been hugged by Taliban and sat on Captain Scott’s bed in Antarctica. His “decisive moment” came in 1992 when he arrived in poverty-stricken Hanoi, Vietnam, with his cameras and bags of precious film. The country stole his heart, and so began a lifelong obsession.
Following seven years as a photojournalist based in Hanoi, he moved on with Reuters news agency to Singapore, and from there to Karachi in Pakistan where as bureau chief he led multi-media coverage of the aftermath of 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan.
Returning to the UK in 2002, Andy moved into more than a decade of global senior executive publishing roles before he started, grew and exited his own company. Now, he’s focussing full-time on his first love of photography and is working on long term projects both in Vietnam and the UK. He is a Leica photographer specialising in documentary, travel and fine art.
“I’m inspired by the beauty in the world around us. Wherever I’ve been, no matter where, we are all bound by the simple human needs of love, life and happiness. Our world is beautiful, although sometimes troubled, but we must celebrate our diversity because wherever we look there is beauty and friendship to be found.”
Andy began his photography career in the 1980s, when as a freelance he photographed bands, gigs and festivals, as well working for national and local newspapers and magazines in the UK.
In 1992, he left London with the intention of relocation to Hong Kong, and on the way stopped off in Vietnam. The communist-ruled country had suffered terrible wars and grinding poverty and austerity. But it had just begun to implement economic reforms and was slowly opening to the outside world.
The country and its people captured Andy’s heart and he stayed for seven years, working for a number of international news services and publications before joining Reuters news agency in Hanoi in 1997.
Vietnam was followed by postings to Singapore and Pakistan, before he moved into global publishing roles with business news and information services.
He founded and grew a digital business called Yomdel in 2014, before exiting seven years later to resume his photography full time.
Andy has a major exhibition in Hanoi in October 2024, and is working on a long term project to trace people he first met and photographed across Vietnam in 1992.
When he is not travelling, he spends his time between Sussex in the UK and Hanoi, Vietnam.
