Henry Bateman is a painter turned digital. During the Eighties, he studied fine art, with a painting major, at the Claremont School of Fine Art. Since then he has had two one man exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions. He has also been heavily involved in theatrical set & lighting design for ballet, light opera and straight theatre.

His last "traditional" work, created in 2000, was a carved painting for a Government Agency depicting the dignity of their work. During the process of that project, he discovered digital photography.

Although an analogue photographer previously, with published works in life style magazines & corporate reports, he mainly used his photography as a handmaiden for his other pursuits. In 2001 he purchased a Fuji point and shoot digital camera which was quickly followed by PhotoShop software. Its immediacy and control have him in its thrall. "The beauty of being a painter is the magical moment when the painting comes to life and tells you what to do," he states. "Working with digital photography is like that. You start with an image and as you play with it on the computer it comes to life and reveals its secrets."

With his point & shoot in hand, often literally shooting from the hip, Bateman wanders the streets looking for those moments when we reveal ourselves to the world. He also indulges his theatrical leanings with his documentation of street performers in their many and varied routines. " I love my point & shoot," he adds. "It along with a folded street map make me look like a tourist, non-threatening, ignorable, just one of the crowd."

Although with his painterly background the striking images he produces are far from that.