A PHOTOGRAPHER from Basingstoke is holding a charity photo shoot to raise funds to help refugees fleeing Ukraine.

Mark O'Leary owns his own photo studio called M.O.L. Photography in Kingsclere and will hold the fundraising photo shoot on May 21 and 22.

He said: “The reason I am doing it is because of what has been going on in Ukraine and I just found it quite upsetting and I wanted to do something.

“As a couple, me and my wife did donate some money but we thought this would be another way to raise quite a bit more.”

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Although Mark hasn’t decided what charity to donate to yet he hopes to raise at least £1,000.

He added: “I do a lot of workshops where photographers come in and practice their skills in doing portraits and lighting. I thought rather than me collecting the money I would give the money to one of the Ukraine charities.

“Hopefully one that particularly helps children as they suffer quite a lot in all this. I have approached some models and some of them are pageant queens, one coming all the way from Devon.

“They are giving all their time for free and the idea is that they come in and learn a bit about photography and then all the money from the two days will be given to the charities for the children.”

Mark runs the photography studio as a full-time business and said it's nice to get everyone involved.

He added: “I actually started doing photography when I was just eight years old and for my birthday my mum and dad used to get us a present and give us a ten-shilling note, which was a lot of money back then.

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“I walked into town and brought a plastic camera with the money and then didn’t have any money for the bus home so walked back and I have just been hooked ever since.”

The studio is fully equipped with the latest technology and covers all aspects of photography including weddings, family and special occasion shoots, baby bumps, mother and baby, makeovers and instant passport/ID photos.

For more information about the photo studio, visit: molphoto.co.uk.

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