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I came to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ in 1987 to study Chemistry, however my real passion was for photography and the news. So I joined the student newspaper, Impact, as well as the photographic and video production societies.

I’ve kept all of the negatives from my time at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, and having some free time lately, I borrowed a negative scanner from a journalist friend here in Bangkok, where I now live, and set about digitising the best ones.

This first image was taken at probably the first real ‘live’ group performance I’d seen (other than a school band), and wow, what a headline act!

Katrina and the Waves were quite big at the time, with their hit “Walking on Sunshine” which of course they performed.

You’re always on the lookout for a lighter or fun moment, and here one member of a Karnival float - I think it was Sutton Bonnington’s - presented the mayor with a glass of beer, which he happily accepted.

On board one of the floats, and the person filming is Jason Plews, making a video about that year’s Karnival. The two of us shared a common interest in TV - and we would reconnect several years later in 1996 when we were both based at Yorkshire TV in Leeds. He worked for them running their computer newsroom system, and I was based there for ITN C4 News as a cameraman/editor covering the north of England. 

I’d seen a version of this lecture at the Royal Institution in London a couple of years before, but I think given by one of Colonel Shaw’s assistants. So it was an honour to see it presented by the man himself at University - it was always very colourful (and noisy!)

On the left is one of my favourite photos that I took from Dramsoc’s production of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”.  I’m afraid I don’t know the name of the actor featured. On the right is me with the Impact editor, Steve Roberts who I worked with quite closely on covering events for the newspaper.

During these three years, there were a number of fairly high profile politicians who visited including Geoffrey Howe and here, Edwina Currie - someone who seemed to like being in the news! I would later film her during my time at ITN, and once went to her London flat to record an interview her - although there wasn’t really much interviewing going on - once I started recording she knew what she wanted to say and delivered the soundbites that she needed to!

I think working as an Impact photographer helped secure my first job out of uni with Central TV in Birmingham and led to my chosen career (although I studied Chemistry!).