This is me, in the Sahara desert in Morocco, in 1992. My husband Tom, who took this picture, recently asked me to dig out one of my photos from this trip, so I went through a couple of envelopes of my old colour prints. It was an interesting experience to see how my approach to photography has, and has not, changed in the intervening years.

Back then I was a medical student. My father who was a keen photographer had just died but I had yet to figure out how to use his cameras and was still using a simple point-and-shoot model. I didn’t know anything about lenses or the technical aspects of photography. With all those other variables taken out of the picture, as it were, my photos from this trip are simply a matter of choice of subject matter, and choice of framing.

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So it’s amusing to see that many of the things I was drawn to then are things that I still like to photograph now. Doors and windows, and ways of using them as framing devices; ancient ruins (there were Roman cities in this area) and dramatic lighting; colourful street scenes; meadows and avenues of trees.

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It feels as though I am looking at my photographic self in embryonic form. I think I’ve moved on a bit since 1992, in all kinds of ways. But looking back on these pictures makes me realise that it has been a process of growth and development of something that was there all along.

We even managed some primitive selfies, albeit with the timer function. One day we plan to return to Morocco when the current situation has eased. It will be interesting to see how much we have changed. And also how much has not.

kirstin