Misssion Statement
My work was 'Not For Profit therapeutic work' with the following aims:
The project was financed via selling prints and licensing images, as well as selling books.
Biography
I started photography as a hobby in 1981. During my free 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. I was shooting on film using a Praktica Super TL2. Shooting on film was relatively expensive, compared to digital cameras...and much more difficult for those of us using low end cameras.
I was posted to Northern Ireland in 1983, at the age of 19 and completed a 2 year tour there. I didn't know that I had contracted PTSD as a result of my military service in the Province. When I was 22, I served in the Metropoliltan Police. My time was cut short there because of an incident that triggered my undiagnosed PTSD. I was diagnosed with service related PTSD in 1995. The period between 1983 and 1996 was hell and I wasn't given any support by the MoD or the Metropolitan Police. Things aren't much better now for me...if anything, things are worse and it's a real struggle to survive from day-to day.
In 2000 I left the Citizens' Advice Bureau service, having served 5 years as a full-time unpaid volunteer and the last 5 as Manager of Truro CAB. However, during my time at Newquay CAB, I setup a voluntary Social Policy Unit and SNAK (Saturday Newquay Area Kitchen). SNAK is still running and couldn't have been set up and run without the help of Bette Pike (of Newquay CAB, Red Cross and Save The Children) and Warrant Officer Geoff Brown (RAF St Mawgan). I also carried out a survey into discrimination within the the CAB Service and presented my findings to the Chief Executive at the time.
Later, I wanted to work with computers, so I joined Cornwall IT Services in 2000 as an IT Engineer, having gained a few years of relevant experience through gaming and running my own computer repair/supply company. I was asked to take on the role of their Union Representative to help them get through the Agenda for Change initiative because of my CAB experience. I agreed pending the members finding another representative. I also set up the Minority Ethnic Group Cornwall while working at Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust. It's role was to support any employees experiencing race discrimination.
I setup Wolf1964 (which went on to become Wolf Photography) in 2002. I had never thought of selling my images and used to put them on 'webshots' for anyone to download. Two NHS colleagues asked me why I wasn't selling them. Suspecting a 'wind-up' I laughed their comments off ... but they persisted, encouraging me to start selling my images as prints, and went on to become my first customers; photography became a secondary occupation (the business started working as a Not For Profit venture in 2010).
In 2005 I was awared the LRPS (Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society).
In 2006, I was retired on ill health from the NHS.
In 2007, I had some 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.
I have been training adults in people skills, legal issues and photography since 1991. In 2011, I started making artists aware of their Intellectual Property rights via this website, presentations and workshops.
In 2013 I kicked off a rolling exhibition that toured the East Midlands: Living with PTSD. I exhibited a selection of poetry that described how it felt to live with PTSD and a selection of prints of wildlife and scenery that showed how I coped with PTSD.
in 2015 I set up the Disabled Artists Network. The aim was to promote creativity as a coping mechanism for disability, generate well-being and to help first time exhibitors with disabilities to develop a track record of exhibiting their art (which in turn could help them secure grants from organisations like Arts Council England in order to further their own careers). DAN exhibitions ran from 2016 to 2024. I supported the initiative by selling my books and prints, as well as help from friends. By the end of 2024, I had burned out.
My traveling days have come to an end now. I didn't realise how much additional stress I was enduring while traveling around various parts of the world. I had an incident while preparing for what would have been my last underwater filming trip to Egypt in 2025. I found I couldn't go through an airport alone anymore or cope with the thought of having to go through various border checks, so I retired from my travel therapeutic work.
Whenever I was in the wilderness, I escaped from the chains of human society and felt at peace. I felt connected with the Earth and the many creatures that we share this space with. Some of the journeys I undertook were very difficult, both pysically and mentally ... but to see something like a whale shark swimming by you or a volcano creating more ground is a beautiful experience.
If you'd like an insight into how living with PTSD may feel, check out my books.
Villayat 'SnowMoon Wolf' Sunkmanitu
My connection with wolves
Ehxibitions:
2023 Celebrating 20 years of Wolf Photography, Nottingham, England.
2023 Living with PTSD 2023, Nottingham, England.
2013 - 2016 'Intimacy with Plants'. Various venues throughout the East Midlands, England.
2013 - 2014 'Living with PTSD'. Various venues throughout the East Midlands, England.
2004 'Atlantic Connections'. Truro, Cornwall.
2010 'Mats Quest Winter Show and benefit.' Edmonton, Oaklahoma, USA.
2005 'Wolf', Truro Cornwall.
Accreditations to date:
2011 Parcours - reenactment, Chateau d'Ecouen, France
2011 Art Battles, Gare du Nord, Paris, France
2009 Burghley International Horse Trials, UK
2009 Red Bull X Fighters, London, UK
2009 Renualt World Series, Silverstone, UK
2009 Bramham International Horse Trials, UK
2009 MXGP, Mallory Park, UK
2009 Chatsworth International Horse Trials,UK
2009 Handlebar Festival, Shropshire, UK
2008 Canadian Open Snowboard Tour, Calgary, Canada
2008 Nokia World Snowboard cup, Calgary, Canada
2007 British Longboard Championship, Godrevy, Cornwall, UK
2007 Royal International Air Tattoo, RAF Fairford, UK
2007 Red Bull air race, London, UK
2006 Big Wave competition, Newquay, Cornwall, UK
2006 Hare & Hounds (bikes & quads), Camborne, Cornwall, UK
Relevant Licences:
2006-2014, Licence to photograph an Osprey nest from Scottish National Heritage.
2008-2012, Licence to photograph an Osprey nest from Natural England.
Registered Charity projects undertaken to date:
2008 - 2011, Licensing of aircraft images to the Royal Air Force Association's website.
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.