MY STORY

First of all, thank you for visiting my website and taking the time to view my work. My name is Suzanne and I’m a professional photographer. I have over 20 years experience working throughout the Yorkshire area and this is my story. I really can’t imagine a more rewarding and enjoyable job. One, that has taken me to wonderful places such as Hawaii, Jordan, Egypt and Thailand to name but a few.

It seems like I have always had a fascination with photography..

I think it probably stems from watching my mother take photographs of my three brothers and myself as we grew up. She used an old Kodak 35mm camera that had belonged to my grandfather. The results were very good and have even now, stood the test of time. There’s great pleasure looking back at images of people and places and the special moments and events covering a lifetime. The memories spring to life again, no matter how much time passed. That is why photography is so important and always will be. I received a Polaroid camera for my twelfth birthday. This was probably the defining moment that determined the course of my life. Sheer disbelief that a photograph could be produced and viewed within seconds got me hooked. I just wanted to learn more and more.

As I got older..

my obsession grew and at the age of fourteen I joined the local camera club. I suppose I was quite a novelty being the youngest member there but it didn’t put me off. Eventually, after a period of nearly two years of ‘pocket money’ jobs I had adapted our garden shed into my own dark room. I bought all the necessary equipment and much to my own delight, started to develop my own prints. To say I was obsessed is an under statement. The whole family waited and wondered if and when this phase would pass… I’m glad to say that it certainly never has.

“Every year at Kitsons we turn out very competent camera people but only now and again do we turn out a photographer. One who’s images are captured not just by the naked eye, but by ‘visualisation’ .. The mind’s eye! Suzanne is in this category”

– Jerry Hardman-Jones –

Upon leaving school I started work at the Jessop’s photo centre in York, attending the York Technical College on my day off. I wanted to learn more about turning my beloved ‘hobby’ into a career. One day proved to be far from adequate for all that I needed to learn and so I searched for a solution. The answer? The Kitson College of Technology in Leeds. For two years I studied full time and when I graduated I received a diploma in photography, I’m proud to say I qualified with distinctions.

I worked weekends…

at a photography studio in York while I was at college. Upon completing my course the owner, Darron Hartas offered me a full time position. This gave me a good grounding in the profession and after only a couple of years I achieved my ambition and felt ready to open my own photography business. Not only was I the ‘new girl on the block’ … I was the ‘only’ girl on the block! As the first professional female photographer in the York area, I spent hours thinking up fancy names to call my business but my instinct for ‘Suzanne Photography’ won through and that is how it has always stayed. Nothing gimmicky (that’s not my style) it says it just as it is and is also easy for clients to remember.

I really hope you enjoy looking at my work on this website and that we can work together in the future.