Wolf1964 Biography

Biography

I started photography as a hobby in 1981, while serving with the RAF. During off duty time I would go for walks around RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall and photograph scenery, wildlife and airshows. The nature photography filled me with a sense of peace and I would spend hours just walking around, watching every kind of insect and animal that was around in those days.

Whilst working for the NHS in Cornwall, I showed my images to friends at work who encouraged me to start selling them to the general public, so this web site, www.wolf1964.co.uk, was setup in 2002.

In 2004 I held my first exhibition at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, where I exhibited pieces from the first couple of years of work in Cornwall as well as from my travels to the USA. Alongside these I displayed images of Wolves.

Since that time I have journeyed to different places and countires looking for wolves to photograph and spend time with. My deepest desire is to meet wolves in the wild. However,I do like to view and photograph other creatures and love watching nature and feeling a part of it.

I then joined the Royal Photographic Society in 2005 and applied for my first distinction, and successfully achieved the Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society (LRPS) in October of that year.

In 2006 I retired from the NHS. When I'm in the wilderness I escape from the chains of human society and feel at peace, and totally connected with, the Earth and the many creatures that we share this space with.

In 2007, I had the honour to have three of my surfing images included in 'Portfolio One', a publication of the Royal Photographic Society. In December of the same year, I went full circle and moved back to the Midlands. It feels good to be back!

The Royal Photographic Society had started off 2008 in a great way for me by featuring one of my wolf images on the 2008 membership cards.

As for the future, I just want to keep travelling and meeting people from different cultures that have a deep connection with the Earth and to photograph as many places and species as I can in the time I have left.

Villayat 'SnowMoonWolf' Sunkmanitu, LRPS.

Please click here to read more about my connection with wolves

Accreditations to date:

2006 Big Wave competition, Newquay, cornwall, UK
2006 Hare & Hounds (bikes & quads), Camborne, Cornwall, UK
2007 British Longboard Championship, Godrevy, Cornwall, UK
2007 Royal International Air Tattoo, RAF Fairford, UK
2007 Red Bull air race, London, UK
2008 Canadian Open Snowboard Tour, Calgary, Canada
2008 Nokia World Snowboard cup, Calgary, Canada

Relevant Licences:

2006-2008, Licence to photograph an Osprey nest from Scottish National Heritage.
2008, Licence to photograph an Osprey nest from Natural England.

Registered Charity projects undertaken to date:

2005-2006, Photographic monitoring of the wolf project and other animals at the Highland Wildlife Park, Kingussie, Scotland. Licensing the organisation to use images in their publications and website.

2008 - current, Licensing of aircraft images to the Royal Air Force Association's website.

Competitions Entered

Portfolio One 1997, 3 images successfully published
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008, 17 of my images (from 32,000 competition entries) reached Semi-final stage

Events with media clippings:

West Briton July 2004