I know the world that I am painting is not a reality. It is a whim, an entertainment to provoke something in people, whether as escapism or relief. I think that is very valid.

I don’t believe in originality. You take inspiration from whatever moves you and you find your voice in those things.

Even the pictures I was doing at college - a little narrative based on a butterfly catcher, or a chimney sweep - the images were always telling stories. They were all scenarios and moods which I storyboarded and worked through - it's exactly what I do now.

You have to raise the bar. Give yourself a challenge. Ask yourself, 'How can one make the impossible materialise?'

It is very difficult to make the ideas in my head come to life, but what is harder is making them look effortless.

Only photograph what you love.

The point of fashion is that you take the picture you want. And fashion is the only photography that allows fantasy, and I'm a fantasist.