My first SLR was a Canon with which I used to shoot lots of landscapes, some here in the UK and some overseas.
But the real lightbulb moment was when I met the legendary John Benton-Harris, a self-proclaimed ‘Visual Sociologist’. It was when some of my work formed part of a group exhibition in Croydon in 2012. I recall him wandering over to me, eating a slice of cake and, in his heavy Bronx accent, say, "Hi. I'm John. Are you Joe?" He duly cast a critical eye over my work, still eating cake, before inviting me back to his house for tea and biscuits, and to meet some of his friends.
Little did I know that he would become a large part of my life – and a major influence on my way of seeing the world around me – to this day.