About Simon Burn

Finding Beauty in Ordinary Places

I've been behind a camera for more than forty years, but I'm still just as fascinated by photography today as when I first picked up my dad’s Praktica SLR.

Over the years I've photographed everything from commercial assignments and international tourism campaigns to documentaries, portraits and travel stories. My work has taken me across Europe and North America, creating photographs for clients including the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Deloitte, Hydro One, Eurotunnel, Marin Mountain Bikes, Mistral Windsurfing, the National Home Show and numerous regional tourism organisations.

Those experiences taught me how to create photographs for other people.

Today, photography has become something much more personal.

I'm drawn to ordinary places, quiet streets, weathered buildings, overlooked details and the subtle moments most people simply walk past. Rather than chasing spectacular locations, I'm interested in discovering beauty in the everyday. I love to embrace the mundane.

I believe the best photographs aren't always found in extraordinary places. More often, they're found by slowing down, paying attention and remaining curious. This is the philosophy that shapes everything I create.

Whether I'm wandering around a small town with a camera, making a documentary film, writing an article or producing a YouTube video, my goal is always the same:

To encourage others to look a little closer and discover beauty in places they might otherwise overlook.

Photography isn't really about cameras.

It's about observation.

It's about curiosity.

It's about learning to see.

Alongside photography, I'm also an independent filmmaker. My first feature documentary, Somewhere Along the Way, follows musician Dan Mullins along Spain's Camino de Santiago, exploring pilgrimage, music and the landscapes that connect them. I'm currently developing new documentary projects while continuing to write and create educational content for photographers.

Today my time is split between England and Canada, where I photograph, write, film and mentor photographers who want to develop their own way of seeing.