So, what do you actually do?
Photographs are vital, we need all sorts of images, from those that help inspire people to walk and cycle to site surveys of future routes. I take photos, and I optimise and catalogue images from across the UK taken by professional photographers, staff and volunteers. Sustrans produces magazines, maps, websites and I create PowerPoints etc which all need imagery. I also provide photos for national and local newspapers, magazines and local authorities.
How did you get into it?
Photography was a main part of my arts study and afterwards I fell into a slide library job at the London College of Printing. I continued with photography and got into making artworks on computers. I guess I had the right blend of photography skills and was up for getting to grips with the advent of digital capture and management.
What does your typical day involve?
I manage five volunteers (one each day) so I usually make sure they are ok for work then I might spend all day at the computer, mixing cataloguing work with working through requests or creating presentations. Otherwise I’m sometimes out and about taking photos, perhaps at a photocall or photographing people showing the positives and negatives of travel and shared social spaces.
What skills and experience do you need to do your job?
I’m visually savvy after years of working on my own artwork and photography. I can make aesthetic choices and take good photographs. I like working with computers and have taught myself various programmes such as PhotoShop, Portfolio and Flash.
What’s been your biggest challenge?
I took over a collection of slides and prints and have produced a digital library. At the same time the digital photography boom has massively increased the amount of photos being taken and work previously left to photo labs and a designer - getting the best out of a picture - is now often done by me.
What are the best things about your job?
I work with brilliant people committed to an important issue at an exciting time. I really believe that our lives will be better if we travel more by walking and cycling, not just for our health and the planet’s, but towns and cities with less traffic will be more interesting dynamic spaces in which to live.
Picture Credit: Simon Toseland
Published before February 2009