PHOTOGRAPHY

Playing cricket professionally for the best part of 20 years has given me so many amazing chances to travel and to interact with some special people and cultures around the world.

Over the past twenty years I’ve had some great experiences both as a professional cricketer for Middlesex as well as reaching the goal of playing for England. The pressures of international sport are such that finding a release and a way out is imperative. For me that’s been photography!

Growing up in the diversity of a culture-laden country as South Africa to a father who spent most of his time supporting nature conservation, I spent many a weekend up in Northern Natal with wildlife and some of the more beautiful and rugged parts of the country.

Photography has become a way out for me from the competitive nature of my life so far and allows me to escape my thoughts. My Leica camera is an appendage to my body, as the possibility of stumbling across a great picture gives me the visual energy I crave. Being able to escape the confines of the hotel room and trample the back streets of a new city is something that excites me. Interacting and connecting with people from totally different backgrounds is truly awesome.

Through my photography I try to bring out the bare facts of life.  Truth, honesty and connection are paramount. In my portraits, in those faces, I believe I capture the essence of their beings through the lens.  Allowing the sitter to be exposed.

My photography is a coherent and evolving body of work showing a variety of genres and styles, all of which represents me, my influences and my story.  The legacy of the Compton name adds weight and longevity to the story.  I believe that it can be used as a springboard for me as I move forward.  It not only reflects and celebrates my cricketing past and family legacy but also brings together the building blocks of my passions; travel, wildlife, people and photography.