bio

Michael McGuinness’s photography started within the context of being a chef  in professional kitchens in London, He was inspired by seeing this black & white photographic portrait of Marco Pierre White by the photographer Bob Carlos Clarke. ‘Bad Boy in the Kitchen’ featured in the New Yorker, April 27th, 1998 (p137).

This fabulous iconic image shows White sitting bare-chested, fag-in-mouth, all attitude and reared back ‘dare-yuh’, with an enormous grey shark draped flaccidly across his lap like some twisted re-interpretation of the Pieta.

Michael grew up in South Africa under apartheid, the evil system of racial segregation. From a young age Michael was aware of the difficult society in which he found himself.

On leaving school at 18 Michael explored a religious vocation as a priest/monk for 11 years. In 1994 he relocated to London to share the life of the Little Brothers of Jesus.

This great experience of living with the little brothers in a poor area of south London,changed his outlook in a number of ways.

Michael lost his ‘faith’ and thus embarked on re-training as a professional chef in March 1996, doing his apprenticeship under the direction of Anton Mossiman at his club in Belgravia, London and graduating as a chef  in 1999.

To celebrate this great achievement Michael commissioned a Portrait of himself.

Now 41, Michael continues to work as a freelance  photographer, having ‘given up’ Cooking completely.