Photography in Britain desperately needs to be promoted in a slicker, visible and artistic way.
In this country the genre is far more unseen, unloved and under-valued than in more visual-thinking countries.
From the Japanese to the Yanks, the Germans and, of course, the culturally advanced Dutch, most other nations consume, enjoy and understand photography more than us.
When is comes to culture, and possibly this is not confined to just photography in the British Isles, us lot are a bit behind the clock.
Buying prints or buying photography books just isn't on the radar of the vast majority of our citizens.
Whether it's for yourself or for others, the industry needs an initiative which inspires people to buy photography - and does not preach only to itself.
There is an increasing interest in the consumer part of photography who are using sites like Snapfish, Pixum and Photobox to print mini-books of family images. I think this is an area which needs to be exploited, perhaps with online book retailers linking up with these sites so consumers can find photobooks more easily.
On-line publishing sites like Blurb and Lulu are almost unknown to photographically-challenged consumers (that is those who do not actively enjoy photography as art) and the bookshop areas of these sites are fairly appalling.
There are some great photobooks for sale on Blurb and Lulu's website but quite frankly it's too much of a challenge to find them.
For my part, all my family will be the proud recipients of photo books this year. I hope the images within them will take their breath away and inspire them to look at photography more closely.
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