I've owned a camera since the age of 8 and am almost never without one. When I go out photographing, I don’t always have a set idea of what I want to photograph. Sometimes I like to just explore, to be inspired by my surroundings, to let things catch my eye. It’s more of a reactive process and can be extremely therapeutic and rewarding – a great counterbalance to the stresses of modern life. My aim is to find beauty in my surroundings, to discover shapes and patterns, to try and make sense of the world around me, and to solidify that idea in a visual manner. Of course, the idea of ‘beauty’ is subjective, but I know what I am instinctively drawn to, and I prefer to make images which are, for me, uplifting rather than confrontational.

The majority of my images are in colour, as colour is very important to me in the way that it creates mood and feeling in my work, but I have recently started experimenting with monochrome. I'm also attempting to take photographs outside of my comfort zone - which means going into more urban environments - as well as exploring different ways of expressing movement. Lately, I've been more drawn to abstract work, and am wondering how far I can push that using photography or whether to return to painting (or indeed use both!).

I currently use a Canon EOS 5D Mark III, with a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens, a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens, a Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens and a Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM lens. My lightweight 'go anywhere' camera is a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100.

Annabel Glauser