Back in the olden day of the late 1970s and 80s, I was a child growing up on the mean streets of Halifax in West Yorkshire. OK, the streets weren’t that bad. After all, I was only beaten to a pulp once. Which was normal for a kid back then. If your parents weren’t hitting you with things your teachers were and if they were having a day off, there was always a rough kid around to kick your teeth in for you. They say it takes a village to bring up a child but it only takes a few adults to traumatize one for life.
As you would imagine. Growing up with the constant fear of somebody leaving their boot in you when you’re popping to the shops, makes you value the great indoors. That’s where I read many books, became obsessed with Sherlock Holmes and taught myself how to record my voice on tape and how to take photographs.
Granted, I then stopped taking photographs for about twenty years but the tape-recording thing allowed me to carve out a largely unsuccessful career in radio presentation. Eventually though, some bright spark invented podcasts and I never looked forward.
In the beginning podcasts weren’t really a studio thing. The ones that were recorded in a studio tended to be repackaged radio shows. The rest of us made do with a few microphones and a living room. Now of course, podcasts are a business and people actually make money out of them. Am not sure how. I assume that they sleep with people.
So now they call themselves podcasters, which seems like acknowledging your lack of skills to become a broadcaster. But hey! I’m always happy to adopt a new label. So hello, my name is Martin Wolfenden and I’m a podcaster.
Am happy to say that I am more than just a podcaster though and to be honest I rarely blow the dust off my microphone these days. The reason for this is I rediscovered photography.
Yep, that old interest of mine came rushing back into my life when I picked up a little Canon camera and started taking photos of the rocky outcrops that litter this part of Dartmoor.
It was like I’d been Borg assimilated by this tiny box of glass and wires. Soon I was taking pictures of everything. I was reading every book on photography, watching every tutorial I could get my hands on until eventually, I realised that it was something I was good at. Finally, in my 40s, I had found my purpose in life. I was a photographer!
Soon, I stopped taking photos of rocky outcrops, when I learned that people are much more interesting. So that’s where I am now. My name is Martin Wolfenden and I am a photographer and occasional podcaster. A least I can make money doing one of those things, without sleeping with strangers.