JANE SWEENEY
Travel Photographer
Mugged, arrested, and held at gunpoint for eight hours by bandits armed with machine guns and hand grenades, is all in a day’s work for travel photographer Jane Sweeney, who will go the extra thousand miles to get the best shots.
It was while competing internationally as British Ladies Gymnastic (Tumbling) Champion that Jane developed her interest in photography inspired by the places she visited. Photographs she took on a South American trip came to the attention of Encounter Overland, the company she travelled with, resulting in a discount on her next trip which was Trans Africa Overland. One of her photographs featured on the cover of Encounter Overland’s brochure, followed by an offer to be the official photographer for Encounter Overland and its sister companies, Sundowners and Himalayan Encounters.
The quality of Jane’s photographic work was spotted by other travel companies leading to many more assignments ranging from one week for Explore Family Adventures to five months on a South American Overland trip for Exodus. More recently, Sundowners commissioned Jane to capture unique moments whilst travelling on the Trans Siberian / Trans Mongolian railway and to travel back along the famous five-thousand mile Silk Road.
Jane’s ability to blend in with local culture and to connect with people across the age spectrum is one of the reasons her work is so strong. Her child-care qualifications and extensive experience as a sole-charge nanny gives Jane a particular insight when photographing women and children, a useful gift that is utilised by travel companies offering family adventures.
A keen photographer’s eye and the athleticism to go for difficult shots combine to produce pictures that inspire others to get out of their safe virtual world and to travel the planet for real. Jane is now a highly experienced and sought-after photographer who has travelled in 120 countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and North Korea, which Jane considers to be the most “interesting” and Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia which are her favourite when travelling alone.
Many leading travel companies use Jane’s images including Encounter Overland, Sundowners, Vodka Train, Himalayan Encounters, Exodus, Explore Worldwide, Explore Family Adventures, Hinterland Travel, Dragoman, TravelBag Adventures, Abercrombie and Kent, Bales Worldwide, Saga Travellers World, British Museum Traveller, Toucan Adventure Tours, South American Experience, Audley Travel, Thomas Cook, Travel Sphere, Pettitts, Lindblad Expeditions, Swans Discovery Cruises, Fred. Olsen Cruises, P&O Cruises, Holland America, Grand Circle Travel, and TCS Expeditions.
