From a quiet fishing village in Cornwall where Charlie resides, the natural and the passionate permeate his mind and his photography. Experimenting with images taken of the surrounding landscape of his home as well as the female nude, Charlie continues with his search for his photographic Aphrodite.

He spent his childhood in Zimbabwe when it was Rhodesia as well as Iran and studied Film and Photography in Nottingham all of which gave him a broad outlook on life. Charlie travels constantly and has held exhibitions across the northern hemisphere from Tokyo to Paris.

In the late 1970s he established Foto-Roff and Crean Bottoms Productions, a publishing company for the production of high quality posters and prints, selling his own work and that of other photographers across Europe.

In 1985 he founded Black and White Publications and opened a gallery in Covent Garden, which was successful for six years but he decided to return to freelance photography in the early 1990s taking on a number of commissions. He now produces limited edition Platinum prints for collectors.

His second exhibition of photographs in Malta is presently on show at Il Gattopardo Art Gallery and Bistro, Mdina (Monday to Saturday 11am - 3pm). The photographs mostly consist of his timeless classics, including a selection taken with the Malta Tourism Authority and last month’s fashion shoot for First magazine and at Meridiana vineyard. All photographs are on sale.

How old are you? Star sign and date of birth?

Fifty-five, still feeling 18. I was born on the day of the year that is the only day of the year that you can be born on that you are the same age all of the year.

What would you like to be doing in 10 years’ time?

Making pictures of inspiring places and meeting interesting people – I’m doing that now. Just take away the bureaucracy.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Walking along a deserted beach where the only footsteps in the sand are yours.

What is your favourite occupation?

What I do, making pictures that collectors buy and put on their walls. The pleasure when one creates a bit of magic.

Significant other?

Tommy, my 18-year-old son and his joie de vivre.

What is your greatest fear?

To be unfulfilled.

What is it that you most value in your friends?

Respect and honesty. To be there when you need help in a sticky situation. When someone does something to help or please without being asked.

How would you like to die?

Making love with a beautiful woman. Not peacefully, possibly with a camera in my hand taking my last picture in a balcony with a sunset over the sea.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Recently two Bloody Marys with a friend at Blake’s after an all night cruise in London Soho and Mayfair for £136. Or walking down the Faubourg St Honoré after buying a plain black Dior T-shirt for £200. But really I am not very extravagant.

What is your greatest regret?

Not having a one-to-one with Jimi Hendrix or Che Guevara or Brigitte Bardot at 18.

What is your most treasured possession?

At present the three fish around my neck. It’s a little necklace that everybody comments on because it is unique and only the cast of Noises Off on the Broadway show have. I wasn’t in it but I know the jeweller who was commissioned to make a present for the cast.

Which talent would you most like to have apart from the ones you already have?

To fly like an eagle, to be in two places at once; to play the piano like my son Tom.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

When I was in Bosnia I had to visit and photograph orphans that had seen their parents, brothers and sisters killed in front of them. You could and can still see it in their eyes and in the pictures I took.

Where would you like to live?

Cornwall where it doesn’t rain for a long time; south of France but not in the tourist areas; London for inspiration in October/November. Real Africa, Cape Town and Lamu off the coast of Kenya. I accept not to find everything you like in one place.

What is your most marked characteristic?

Not being able to tolerate bores and tourists.

Who are your heroes/heroines in real life?

Characters like Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper and Billy Murphy because they don’t live a lie. They live and do what they want and put their fingers up to conformity and authority. They are honest and live life to the full.

What is it that you most dislike?

Paying ridiculous amounts of money for bad food… I hate bad art…

What is your motto?

To respect originality and to deplore plagiarism.