Gill Shaw has been a Celebrity and People Photographer for over 25 years. She is in her element in all situations, at the Palace with the Royals, at a church covering a wedding, or with the local people on a remote island in Africa. Gill has worked with royals, celebrities, presidents, prime ministers and of course mostly the general public, she is very passionate about her work and loves putting her subjects at ease, she is an Associate of the Master Photographers Association and Royal Photographic Society

Although she is very committed to her work, she still finds time to use her talents to raise much needed funds for charities. She is a trustee of ‘WellFound’ which works to bring clean water to remote communities in Africa. She is a patron of “Help for Heroes,” the leading Armed Forces and veterans' charity in the UK. She has also supported the Society of Stars, Mane Chance Sanctuary, the Caron Keating Foundation and Support for Africa to name but a few. Her two books so far have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to help children with cerebral palsy and our wonderful inspirational wounded soldiers.

This project CANAL BOAT LIVES came out of a commission from “This England” magazine who wanted to feature the alternative lifestyles of the narrow boat community. 

The project took on a life of its own as she followed some of her new boating friends as they cruised around our canals, some had projects and combined the creative challenges with adventures in their boats, others travelled extensively round the world for work and used their boat as their base, a place of solace and peace amongst a unique community that understands the pressure of being part of an international, multi-time-zoned workforce.

The result is a set of stunning photographs showing the characters and lifestyles of this community of people living amongst us on our canals.