The Oscar goes to

I love the Oscars. And movies and real music are like the blood forces than run through my veins and keep me alive and full of passion for life.

My old boss from way back in London always writes to me on Oscar night to say he's thinking of me as he always does on Oscar night (a fellow Brit and expat too now in Oregan). Funny, I always think of him on Oscar night now too. Sweet.

I feel very very blessed that I grew up in a house of movie buffs, my older brothers and sisters, mum and dad, and all my life I've been able to take inspiration from the wonderful cinematography that inhabits them.

We'll spend whole dinner time conversations discussing a movie back home, generally ending with a huge difference of opinion between my brothers.

Our passion for that media is perhaps as strong as the other dominant force in my life, music. Early influences were punk, blues and rock, swing and easy listening, and whilst I really felt quite different at school for loving that kind of music when everyone else loved pop, I am ever grateful to the 3 floors in our family home: the lower ground floor yelling "Anarchy in the UK", the ground floor "I get a kick out of you" and the top floor "How soon is now?". It's made me what I am today. It's intrinsically linked to me, Catherine. It's why Callum breaks into a dance when he hears the first beat of "Break on through" by the Doors emanating from Absolute Radio on the net. My brother Pete's headed up a rock band for, oh, must be 25 years now, my mum sang light opera on the stage and is a long time member of the church choir, my sisters both play guitar and I sing. I sing, sing, sing, all the time. Mum had sent Susan Boyle to me for Christmas and whilst not my usual thing, I found myself playing it over and again whilst I cleaned the house one fine day and as I so did, I was singing my sweet heart out and then realising at the same time, I had become my mum.

So you may then find it strange that I don't have a TV connection, though I do have a huge flat screen TV on which I greedily soak up movies. When I looked at my Netflix (movie club) listings one year, I realised I'd watched close to 200 movies (this, I might add was pre-boys) in one year alone, all the Oscar winners in every major category back to the 40s, The Bicycle Thief, Citizen Kane, Cinema Paradisio. Oh my mouth just waters when I think of them.

I implore anyone here who is getting into photography for the first time. Look to the movies for technical advice. These masters of the motion picture can teach you so much for the still.

And so tonight, because I spend a lot of my time now being faced with unrelenting criticism, live for your passions and your dreams. Live for your art. And if you want to be good at something, I mean, really good, practice, practice, practice and keep practicing. And that means every day. And that's why the concept of Blip is so fantastic.

And the Oscar goes to... Mama!