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Director's Biography

Simon Apps

Professional Images is a national PR photo agency with over 120 photographers throughout the UK. It was founded in 1989 by Simon Apps, an experienced press photographer.

Simon's interest in photography was sparked at college where he enrolled to study drama wanting to establish himself as an actor. Needing to study an additional subject, photography was suggested to him. The artistic opportunities and the ability to make a splash with stunning photography quickly became apparent and the subject became his major area of study.

Simon subsequently began his photographic career working for a regional newspaper group as a staff photographer where he learned the skills needed to survive in the world of photojournalism. He covered many major stories including the Hungerford Massacre, photos from which were used worldwide.

A serious motorcycle accident in 1986 changed the direction of his career.

Simon explains: "I broke my neck, arms, leg and more. All the bones mended easily with no lasting effects but unfortunately I ripped four nerves from my spinal cord resulting in the total paralysis of the top of my right arm. But breaking both your arms at the same time is a great way of giving up smoking! My life-changing moment came after spending some time in a hospital spinal unit where I quickly realised my injury was absolutely nothing in comparison to most of the other people in the unit. From that day to this, I look forward rather than back and work very hard to get where I want to go."

His career continued as a Swindon press photographer and in 1989 he set up Professional Images in Swindon with the aim of providing corporate clients with press photography for their news releases. The Swindon based business proved a dramatic success. More and more, clients came to discover that if they submitted photos to the press that had been taken by an experienced press photographer, the images were used far more often.

Since those early days, Professional Images has expanded with over 120 experienced PR press photographers based all around the UK and continues to work with Simon's ethos in mind. Professional Images is now the preferred PR photography supplier for many of the UK's top PR consultancies and is always looking to work with new PR consultancies, large and small. The company's work is regularly published in the international, national and regional media as well as online news websites.

Read articles, helpful tips and the thoughts of Simon Apps on our Expert Opinion pages or follow his personal tweets on Twitter.