The Independent newspaper was first published on October 7, 1986, and right from the start its ethos was to design the page around the photo.

It was a revelation to see photos given pride of place and they had a great team of photographers including those who I now consider as friends.

In the late 1980s my photography was getting more serious and I was thinking of a career change into press photography.

I regularly bought The Indy and I have to admit the images were an inspiration. I did say to a friend at the time that I hoped to be published in both the National Geographic magazine and The Independent.

When we were at college in Sheffield in the early 1990s we were lucky enough to get a talk from the picture editor Alun John.

Going back to the earlier prediction I did not manage the former – National Geographic – but I did finally get a photo published in The Independent in March 1997 (see above).

Over the next few years I had several subsequent publications in the paper and I feel it helped developed my photographic style. So here are a few of my favourite pics and cuttings.

The veggie mayor:

I quite enjoyed working on this because I had previously known Neil Griffin as a friend of a friend and I had actually had a drink with the guy in Durham.

As a vegetarian he decided when he was the mayor of Durham that, rather than real fur, his robes should be imitation.

Having said that it was good to see that he was so principled and it was picked up by the national press.

From the Independent On Sunday on Sunday, May 4, 1997.

Be Here Now:

If I wanted to photograph a gig I used to ask the picture editor of the Northern Echo to apply for a photo pass in my name.

I was lucky enough to get a pass for Oasis who were touring their latest album and I went on the first of two nights in Newcastle.

The Independent on Sunday had a reporter there to review the gig so they used one of my photos to go with the article.

However, if I had been there on the second night, I would have photographed Liam Gallagher wearing a Newcastle United shirt – quite newsworthy because he was a Manchester City supporter.

The only photographer there that night was from one of the local papers and my boss had deal to syndicate their work.

The red tops (tabloid papers) went mad for the his pics and a few used them.

However, because you had to sign a form saying they would only be used in his publication, he was hounded for weeks by the band’s management because the agreement had been broken – having said that it was my boss who technically breeched the contract.

From the Independent on Sunday on Sunday, September 21, 1997.

City status:

Sunderland achieved city status in May 1992 and in January 1998 the first minster to be created in the city for the first time since the Reformation 400 years earlier.

So Sunderland, as the widely held belief that to be a city it must have a cathedral, had a minster in the Church of St Michael’s.

I quite liked this shot – which as I recall was also used in The Guardian and the Daily Telegraph used a different shot – which was taken using only available light and probably used one of the pews for added support for the camera.

From the The Independent on Monday, January 12, 1998.

Good neighbours:

This was quite a good story as a local vicar was appealing for people to be good neighbours in the run down area of Benwell in Newcastle to help encourage residents to return the area to better days.

I am sure I covered stories during that period where houses were being sold for 50p – admittedly they needed a lot of work to make them habitable – but you have to admit that initiatives like this needed to happen.

So I walked around with Rev Taylor and shot a few pics of him but, when these two kids ran up because they knew the vicar, it made for a better picture.

I really hope that the work the vicar put in benefitted the area where he was based.

From the Independent on Sunday on Sunday, April 5, 1998.

Anti GM protests:

I had covered a few protests against genetic modification back in the late-1990s and I had good contacts with the ringleaders.

And I thought this image was quite symbolic and illustrated the cause.

It was at a site that was trialling the new technology. And the Indy asked to use the photo to use with an article it was running at the time about the issue.

As I recall Have I Got News For You also asked for the photo but, as I recall, it did not get used.

From The Independent on Tuesday, July 7, 1998.

Blondie:

Blondie were one of the first bands I was into in the 1970s and I was pleased to see they reunited in the late 1990s.

They had recorded a new album and were touring again and I had a pass for their gig at Newcastle City Hall in November 1998.

I have to admit that I do like this shot as Debbie Harry turned robotic during her performance which made the pic.

From the Independent on Sunday on Sunday, November 15, 1998.

Ship art:

And this was when I realised that Owen Humphries was the byline bandit.

In fairness it is a common occurrence when papers mix up the names of the photographer who took the original photo and get it wrong.

It was a bizarre art project which used a portion of a former ship – although I am still unsure what it was trying to say.

And the reason why the image was blurred in the bottom left corner was because the lens was scratched – and it was my fault for putting my lens in the bag without the rear lens cap.

From The Independent on Friday, October 29, 1999.