He’s a self-confessed “dead man walking” but that’s what makes Sean Doyle a great photographer.
Sean, who has kindly offered to help with photography for Huddersfield Hub, is often seen with his camera around the Holme Valley.
In 2013 he was dubbed “miracle man” after he survived a double cardiac arrest after collapsing at Huddersfield Parkrun at Greenhead Park.
Sean defied the medics who gave him just a 6% chance of survival and since then he’s been a fundraiser and committed campaigner for the NHS which saved his life.
The dad-of-two from Brockholes is currently working on his autobiography which will be sold in aid of The Kirkwood, Huddersfield’s hospice.
Sean makes no bones about the fact he’s a “dead man walking.” In fact that will probably be the title of his life story.
“Coming back from the dead, so to speak, has taught me to appreciate the simple things in life and this comes across in my photography,” said Sean.
“The natural beauty of a sunrise or a sunset make you glad to be alive – certainly through the eyes of a dead man walking it does!”
Sean became hooked on photography after doing some work experience at the Huddersfield Examiner when he was 15.
Sean, who went to All Saints School at Bradley Bar, wrote to Huddersfield Town legend Steve Kindon to ask if he could be a press photographer at a game.
Steve put Sean in touch with Examiner photographer Julian Hughes who invited Sean to work alongside him at a game against Bristol Rovers at Leeds Road in 1982.
Sean was even the story himself – maybe it was a really dull game! – and appeared in the paper under the headline ‘Sean in Focus.’
Sean always wanted to become a professional photographer but real life got in the way and he became a successful water treatment chemist instead.
When he married wife Helen in 1994 he sold his camera to buy some new curtains.
“You could say that was curtains for my photography,” smiled Sean.
It was – for 25 years – until Sean’s passion for photography was reignited when Helen bought him a camera for his 50th birthday.
Now it’s not just a hobby, it’s an obsession! Sean’s pictures are often published in the Examiner and he’s also set up his own Facebook page – Sean Doyle Event & Landscape Photography – and he sells his work on his own website at www.sjdelphoto.com
This year Sean also published his own calendar featuring some of his favourite landscape shots taken around Huddersfield and the Holme Valley. The calendar was a popular present and quickly sold out.
Sean said: “I’ve always loved photography and I still wonder what might have been after that work experience at the Examiner.
“I also covered weddings at a young age and it wasn’t just Town, I also covered Emley AFC. I even had some work displayed in the National Photographic Museum when I was 15.
“I just love sharing my photographs and people seem to enjoy them, which is great.”
For the record the result was Huddersfield Town 3, Bristol Rovers 1. Answers on a postcard if you can name the Town scorers.
