but I really want to let images speak for themselves. I like to work with natural light and also keep a natural feel to the imagery, using flash very sparingly. Some people make their photos look very unrealistic -- David LaChapelle does this brilliantly -- but that's not really where I see myself, though I do love that kind of work. You've taken a lot of pictures of David Hoyle  -- have you known him a long time? Yes, going back to when I was seventeen. We just get on really well and we trust each other. He allows me to photograph in his dressing room, so nowhere's out of bounds. Because he's a performer he knows how the camera works so it can be quite easy for me to capture something amazing. One of the characteristics of your work is the way that you place people in the frame. You're not frightened of having a lot of space around a subject or putting them in interesting spaces. In terms of composition I think that comes from my graphics background. I try to think about what lines up really nicely. I've always really loved Mark Farrow's work with The Pet Shop Boys and I love the idea of the tiny image with lots of white space around it. It's not so fashionable any more but if you use it well it still works. I like the idea of a lot of texture in the background. Is there a link between