About

Shoot Anything is my online portfolio, and my name is Simon Hay.

I’ve been working in Photography pretty much all my working life, having started out as a Saturday assistant in Campkins while at sixth form.

I studied photography at Manchester Poly (as it was then, now Manchester Met Uni) which taught me, if nothing else, how to focus while drunk.

After leaving poly/uni I worked in Manchester for a while for a while as a studio assistant for a well known advertising photographer. Think Gordon Ramsey, with a camera only less diplomatic. I lasted nearly a year, which by all accounts was pretty good, and I learned a lot.

After leaving Manchester it was time for London where I assisted yet more photographers and started shooting in my own right, usually corporate. But, hey it was the 90′s so suits and brick sized mobiles were hot.

Many years passed and I continued to shoot a great variety of images for a slightly random set of clients. When the Lloyd’s building was sold, guess who was hanging out of the helicopter taking the estate agent pics! Radio One decides to go on tour, that was me again.

Somewhere along the line I had a couple of kids and a real life. Then, disaster. Age 36, a life long non-smoker and actually on a running machine at the time, I fell over with a heart attack. So I quit shooting, became a house husband and tried to get fit again. Fast forward to today, I’m 46, with a very cool scar from a quadruple bypass two years ago. Most importantly, I’m fit and healthy and back taking photos.

I’m still uploading images from the olden days, but if I’m honest, I’d rather not. I’d much rather just shoot an entirely new folio of better stuff and just move forward. I had quite a long break, styles change and sometimes you just have to move on.

The heart disease is still there, cause unknown, but a bypass on a young(ish!) person isn’t half as bad as you’d think. Sure, the operation ruined my whole morning that day, but with luck the grafts will last 15-20 years till they need replacing, so till then, I’m planning on being quite bouncey indeed and taking a lot of photographs.

I am happy to work entirely for free to any heart related charity, organisation or event, just get in touch.