The Birmingham-based photographer, Jas Sansi, on why his role as an NSPCC West Midlands Business Board member is so important as the child protection charity marks its 140th anniversary

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

I’m a photographer specialising in conference photography. For the past two decades I’ve been documenting and capturing events here in the West Midlands and nationally. I’ve built a network of clients with whom I’ve forged strong working relationships in understanding what they need to deliver their objectives.

IT’S WHAT I DO

I capture images in the hope of capturing people’s attention. The power of a strong image is the potential to tell a story. It can also support a story, such as a press release, by drawing people in. The role brings me into contact with everyone, from business and thought leaders, politicians, music and sports stars and Royalty, to the people who attend the events I shoot. I would like to think my work helps my clients in their work. I take pride in seeing successful journeys and have witnessed individuals transition from undergraduates on their first step into the world of work to development, growth and conquering their world.

BIGGEST SUCCESS

The biggest professional success was being able to grow a business to provide the means to give my children a wonderful childhood. It’s why I sit on the NSPCC board – it’s a privilege to help other children who through no fault of their own have been dealt a poor hand.

BIGGEST LESSON LEARNED

Given the speed of life, it’s important to find what makes you happy and do it. I wanted to see the world and not wait until I retired to realise it. So, I took the family. Travel is a fabulous way to invest in yourself; you have memories that make you smile, stories to bore people with and a world view that teaches you that you are a part of a huge planet with distinct beliefs and traditions, and just because they are different doesn’t make them inferior to your ways.

WHAT I’D LIKE TO SEE

I’ve achieved my personal ambition, I always wanted a family and it happened. I married, we bought a house, had a daughter and two years later a son. We watched them grow and develop into thoughtful and kind individuals. They both graduate from university in the same week in a fortnight.
Professionally, I’ve always wanted to be the ‘go to’ snapper in town. Sounds like a strange ambition but it shaped the way I grew the business. I imagined an events planner team around a table who need a photographer and I wanted the expression ‘get Sansi in’ to be the mantra.

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT BRUM

I’m not going to say ‘it’s the people’, that’s a given as far as I’m concerned. Brummies are pure gold. My favourite thing about Birmingham is the trees, we have more than a million of them, one for every citizen. There’s hardly a place in Brum you can stand and not see a tree.