AWARD-WINNING Oxfordshire photographer Nigel Fisher, who was renowned for his ballet photos, has died following a battle with cancer, aged 59.

He owned his first camera when he was seven, but only began a career as a photographer in the early 1990s.

At the time he lived in Bampton and ran a studio on Witney’s Thorney Leys business park, where portraits of children, family groups and dancers covered the walls.

He often worked in black and white and considered himself a purist, preferring not to use digital technology.

His association with a number of ballet schools sparked his interest in covering dance, and he built up a ballet and dance portfolio, perfecting a method of taking dance photos with a high-speed film.

In 1997 he said: “I became fascinated with the spirituality that comes through some of these pictures. When a ballerina sits, stands or simply relaxes, it is with a certain style, a pose that says everything. Watch their hands, their feet – they are always in the right place.”

Mr Fisher, of the Old Skittle Alley, Brize Norton, won 17 awards from Kodak and Fuji during his career.

When he was not taking photographs, he would help his sister Janet Health, who runs West Oxford Animal Rescue, in Wheatley.

From 2004, Mr Fisher, who was divorced, also worked in the construction industry in the Oxford area, advising on barn conversions.

His funeral is on Tuesday, at St Laurence’s Church, in North Hinksey, Oxford, at 11am.