I find that when I tell people what sort of photography I do, they are often surprised; book covers are taken for granted, people don't think too hard about the images on them or how they came about. Once you start looking, you realise that someone had to take that picture of a terraced house/barbed wire fence/slice of cake. But who would ever think of taking a picture of such a thing ?? Well, a book cover photographer would!

When I'm asked what sort of things I photograph, or even what sells, the answer is always the same; anything goes. I have to confess to being a Jack of all trades when it comes to photography, I don't have a particular preferred genre, I just love taking a huge variety of photos and if I think something could be used on a cover, fantastic! It may be a simple, striking image. It may be an intricate arrangement of objects in a still-life setting, but together they are telling some story. It may be a spooky backlit figure which is used over and over as a cut-out in different backgrounds. Whatever, it has to be fun! Gotta keep the creative juices flowing!

My images have been used on book covers published worldwide. Here are a selection of some of the covers my work has been used for, moving over the cover will reveal the original image, or tap on the image on mobile devices.

This was my very first book cover with Arcangel Images. I was particularly pleased as this is actually one of my favourite books, though the English version (Kafka on the Shore) rather than this Swedish version! The subject was Spijk, who we were cat-sitting for, an irresistible subject with his green eyes in a sea of blackness.		This cover demonstrates how a designer can totally transform a pretty dull image into a eye catching cover. My original image was a very straightforward shot of some stone steps, but colour it red, add spooky writing and a bit of rope, and you've got a great thriller cover.		An image from a day spent playing around with old photos and odds and ends, trying to place just the right objects together to create a narrative. The photos are of my Dad during his time in the war, along with his old wristwatch. I'm sure he would be really chuffed to see these things on this classic of wartime literature.
This is our friend Mary who has a wonderful collection of vintage clothing, holding another friend's old camera. The designer removed the camera strap, nipped in the waist a little and added an image of trees over the skirt for this recent UK cover.		The designer worked hard on this cover, using my low angle shot of a railway line taken in Sri Lanka, adding a figure and some gruesome stitching for a USA thriller.		Shot in one of my favourite locations, old ex-military tunnels close by, this creepy shot looking towards the tunnel entry looks more like a damp dark cellar. The yellow tone was added by the designer.
A very simple shot of a dirt road disappearing into the distance under a stormy sky was shot in Arizona, USA and with a couple of additions, made this USA cover for a zombie thriller.		Snapped during a walk on the beach at Poole, these deck chairs were originally blue and white.		My very versatile husband, posing in his gardening jeans on my kitchen floor. This image was part of a series I took for a request for 'a depressed, anguished man' but ended up on this French cover, the designer creating quite a different look by inverting the image.