NAME: MIKE FORD

Defying doctors for more than half a century on his diet of beef and Old Lady gin, Mike Ford is an honours graduate of the "if it feels good, do it" School of Philosophy. Despite alife-long phobia of any form of physical exercise whatsoever, his probing lens and an unerring eye for a quality snap have taken him to places others fear to tread, including Scunthorpe, Eastbourne, and Port Talbot. His refusal to compromise* led him to the South of France, an area of wild landscapes conducive to his creative urges (every morning at 8.10am sharp). Current projects include the art work Feminina et Pudenda, a free-form collection of sapling cuttings with a startling and sometimes shocking originality; and Shed within Shed within Shed, an experimental construction piece in constant flux, which say Mike 'is reminiscent of the ethereal nature of all human plans'.

Together with loyal friends Thomas and Gertie, Mike Ford will continue to tread the path of self-discovery, clutching his Ministry of Funny Walks guidebook, sporting an improbably large Nikon and a fetching, if slightly camp, Quentin Crisp hat.