From taking pictures of disgraced former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski on his yacht to photographing the landscapes of Tuscany, Roland Skinner has seen and done it all.Mr Skinner, whose pictures hang in almost every office in Hamilton, has sold his photography business Picturesque to AS Cooper & Sons which will see his work displayed in the retailer’s Hamilton, St George’s, Dockyard and Fairmont Southampton stores. His gallery on Front Street will continue to be run by manager Mary Walker under the ownership of Cooper’s.Mr Skinner, who books Picturesque Bermuda Volumes I and II are among the bestselling books in Bermuda and have been distributed worldwide, will also stay on to help out where required including with picture and book signings.“When I decided to put the place up for sale I was trying to think about who could keep it going to the same high standards,” he said.“I thought that Cooper’s was probably the only place that I could sell the business to that would appreciate it for what it is and keep it upmarket.“I went to talk to Somers Cooper and, seeing the potential, he jumped on it we started negotiations in January and by May we had done the deal.”Having come up for retirement at Government’s Information Services, he decided to open his own photo gallery at the same time as brothers Joe and Harold Pimental of the Creative Interiors Furniture Store were about to launch a new design centre.“The timing was absolutely perfect,” he said.“We decided to go into partnership and the rest as they say is history. Just recently Harold made the cedar frames for my Tuscany exhibition, which previewed at the Tuscan Wine Tasting Show at Gosling’s, so the relationship has continued.”Setting up his business in 1995, Mr Skinner dedicated most of his time to building up a collection of thousands of photographs for the gallery, ranging from landscapes and seascapes to aerial shots taken hanging out of a helicopter. Perhaps his most famous is the overview of Bermuda.His love of photography came from his time as a summer student working in the photographic department of the Department of Tourism the same place he returned to and rose up through the ranks to take on the role of head of Information Services.During his time in the department, Mr Skinner, who studied at Winona School of Professional Photography in Indiana, ran a number of advertising campaigns and did a lot of other international work showcasing the Island. “I just love the idea of going out early in the morning when the sun is rising and photographing the Island,” he said.“Often I would go out and the light wasn’t right so I would go back the next day to capture the right moment.”Over the years he has had his work published in a number of magazines, including golf and lifestyle, and property brochures, as well as various advertising agencies in the US, and even did a photoshoot of Mr Kozlowski sailing his yacht and at his home for Worth Magazine.“It was a wonderful assignment,” he recalls. “It was done on a beautiful J4 yacht and we were out there the whole day.“At the end of it I almost felt guilty charging him for it because I had had such a good time.”Back home, Mr Skinner has prepared the artwork for exempt and local company annual reports, many of whose walls are adorned with his work.“Everybody wants them,” he said. “It is like having lots of different galleries across the Island with people seeing the pictures hanging in an office and then coming in to buy one for themselves.“People also want them for their homes Bermudians are very proud people and they like to show off their Island to their friends and a lot of them have homes overseas where I have shipped my work direct to from my photo lab in Boston.”In his semi-retirement, Mr Skinner wants to travel more and to visit Asia and revisit parts of the ‘old world’ Europe much of which he believes is reflected in Bermuda’s very own St George’s.“It is wonderful just wandering around town and taking photographs of the beautiful architecture,” he said.He said that photography is a fine art between taking pictures of what you like and what would appeal to a client, with each photographer having their own unique style.“I think that each photographer’s work is unique because we all see the same thing differently,” he said.“I guess I have established a brand for myself with people often coming up to me and saying they know my stuff without looking at the signature.“But you also have to photograph what other people want you can be selfish, you always have to consider the market you are selling to.“My advice to any aspiring photographer out there is to keep your individual tastes rather than trying to imitate someone else’s style and, above all, never give up keep on going.”For more information contact 292-1452, e-mail rskinner[AT]logic.bm or visit the website at www.picturesquebermuda.com