I have been a photographer working in Slough since the late 1980’s when I used to cover Slough Town games for the Slough Observer during the days of Mark Fiore and Neil Stanley et al.
I went on to become a staff news photographer for the same paper in the 1990’s before becoming Chief Photographer in 2001 when the newspaper went digital. I worked for the Slough Express as Chief in 2004 and then returned to the Observer in 2005.
I became Group Chief Photographer for NEWSQUEST Berkshire and Buckinghamshire in 2015 covering 17 titles before being made redundant as the last photographer left in 2020. Since then I have been a freelance PR and marketing photographer and I now teach smartphone photography as well as smartphone video production.
I have lived in Slough for over 5 years on and off over the last 20 years.
Documentary and street, fashion and portraiture photography are my passions and I still freelance for newspapers and media outlets as well as selling image as fine art prints.
Photography has been good to me, Slough has been good to me. That is why the W44 project was so great for me to lead on on the photography, train smartphone photographers and get involved in this particular part of the Slough’s story.
Mike Swift