APHOTOMARINE
An educational resource dedicated mainly to the photography
and diversity of marine life that can be found in coastal waters
and intertidal areas of Great Britain and Ireland by David Fenwick.
Born in Liskeard in 1965 to parents Allan and Eileen Fenwick from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, UK, brought up in Plymouth, Devon and Saltash, Cornwall. Schooling Drake Primary, Keyham, Plymouth and Sutton High School for Boys in Plymouth. Left school halfway through A-levels to set up a gardening business.
Qualified in amenity horticulture at Pershore College, Worcestershire, and Cannington College, Somerset between 1985 and 1988, attaining the following qualifications N.C.H., A.N.C.H. and M.Hort.(RHS)Stage One. I've also completed a degree module in website design.
Specialisms are in social-environmental horticulture, previously in charge of horticulture for the Groundwork Trust in Plymouth, and landscaping but also a plantsman once holding five NCCPG National Plant Collections of Southern African bulb genera until 2008. The Groundwork Trust environmental demonstration garden which I co-designed with Mike Westley was opened by Queen Elizabeth II, a huge day with formal introduction, tree planting and tour of the garden.
My interest in photography started in 2004, the birth of APHOTOFLORA, the other websites dedicated to biodiversity soon followed. Had an annus horriblis in 2008, death in family, became unwell (tick bite) and a divorce after 14 years of marriage. I gave up horticulture in 2008 on becoming unwell and I've continued to decline in terms of mobility but have been able to continue with my interest in photography and keep displaying an increasing amount of biodiversity.
I focus mainly on photographing marine life, not that I can swim, as I can't swim a stroke. I don't keep statistics but APHOTOMARINE is fairly comprehensive now in terms of displaying species from the shore. I focus on this website because of mobility issues, far less legwork needed, but I have have to spent 'a lot' of time studying marine biology and marine ecology to make life easier for myself. Studying how the Victorians found so many species is also a bonus. I've received a lot of help from the marine biological community in the UK and across the globe which I'm very grateful for.
Sadly in 2021 I have been told there are moderate changes in my hips so will lessen my load a little as this might take a while to sort. I already cope with cervical stenosis, lumber degeneration, fibromyalgia and post-Lyme Syndrome so the addition of one other long term condition isn't nice but wil be easier to accept as I continue to fall apart, and I say this humorously, I've a great sense of humour as many know.
I endeavour to make this website as complete as possible and try and find new ways of displaying deeper water species, with of course with the help of many others, e.g. divers, biologists, fisherman etc., or in displaying the photographic work of others.