MY STORY | NEALE JAMES

You’re never too old to decide what you’d like to be when you grow up. BREATHE has been breathing now for the best part of six years and it’s been an explorative journey. If this ride were a car, it would be an Aston DB9 on an open Autobahn at three in the morning with the ocassional need for 4WD traction on the off slips. Oh yes, forgive me Mexico, but I love Clarkson. These days as a documentary wedding photographer I may shoot solo, but the company, well it’s proudly a family business. It’s what fuels us to work til stupid o’ clock into the early hours post processing shots. It’s what makes us rubbish dinner guests ‘cos there’s always one more shot to edit before we can get in a car. Essentially it drives my enthusiasm to shoot a wedding on those days when the rain’s coming down in sheets and sideways, seeping through those polyester undies.

BREATHE was conceptually two; me (Neale) and my wife, Sam. We got married at 1 o’ clock, Saturday 14th October, 2006 at St Mary’s near Aldermaston. Pete was our vicar. Steve was our best man. We had lots of laughs, lots of speeches and lots of wine, and then some more. And now we’re four. First up, Jack. Suffice to say at three years old, Jack can’t yet operate a Canon, but he certainly knows how to pose in front of one. And then the most recent addition, Thomas. Born during the heat of 2010′s summer wedding season, Thomas had the good grace not to arrive on a day where I was booked to photograph someone’s nuptials. He also had the good grace to be born during the early hours preceding England’s less than victorious exit to Germany in the World Cup. Fortunately I was too tired to watch the match. Thank you, Thomas. There’s a fifth member of our ‘family’ now; Nat. I’ve known her for over a decade. It’s befitting that the trust required for post production be placed at the fingertips of a friend.

Our backgrounds? I’m a former BBC Radio 1 broadcaster and documentary maker, from a time when Mr Angry and Our Tune were the nation’s favourite wireless features, music sounded better on vinyl squashed across the medium wave and it was fashionable to dislike Radio 2. These days I throw an icy stare at the sound gear if there’s even the slightest crackle and I lament the passing of Wossy. Oh how times change. Sam’s a marketing graduate, a creative (but not a lovey) and has worked with the kind of trademarks brand guardians sharpen their protective scimitars for on a daily basis. I’ve never heard her suggest we think outside any boxes or remain ‘on message,’ thank heavens.

Our newgrounds? When life on Planet Corporate started running out of pleasant oxygen a couple of years after the turn of a new millenium, I lifted a Nikon and started indiscriminately firing off frames. Then it happened. Suddenly we were both in a new romance. With each other and with pictures, it’s no more complex than that. And so here we are now in 2011. I spend most weekends listening to couples say “I do” and work with Sam to make even more people aware of our existence. There are suddenly hundreds of thousands of image files on various backups spread across Berkshire. I’ve witnessed more nuptials than ever I had dreamt I would the day I donned a pair of headphones in the late 80s. We’re business people, but more importantly, we’re creative again. We’re both Canon fans, Mac converts and realise the beauty of heavy glass in a 1.2 lens.

I thank our former boss for unleashing our real potential that day in 2005 when he offered the ultimatum; “Your job, or the photography. What’s it to be?” That evening as I sat with Sam in our local Indian restaurant we both agreed, pretty much in unison…

“You know, it’s funny, but now I feel I can BREATHE again.”