Collette Rawlinson, our Stage Door Receptionist, is also a passionate photographer. We've recently started selling a selection of her greetings cards at Box Office & caught up with her for a quick chat.

You've been working at e&P for a long time...
I've been here 14 years, on Stage Door mainly, and a few other things. I absolutely adore it, it is the best job in the world. I love the variety, no day is the same. I love meeting people and giving them the Liverpool welcome. If they haven’t been here before or for a while I get excited to tell them about my city. People from visiting company’s often say we never get a welcome like this anywhere else.

What is it about the city that makes you so passionate about it?
If I was a stick of rock and you cut me in half it would have Liverpool all the way through. I feel as if Liverpool beats inside me and I absolutely adore it. My Grandparents come from Ireland but my parents and family all come from Liverpool. I think it’s fantastic how Liverpool has developed but incorporates the old still with the new; the old buildings and the history is still here. Like with the Everyman, it has been rebuilt but the old bricks are still inside it. The heart of it remains and that is what has happened with Liverpool.

Is that why you love taking pictures here?
When I am in Liverpool I get more inspiration than anywhere else. I always encourage people to look up, the beauty of the city is not just at eye level, it is very much above and all around. I am passionate about its beauty and charm and I try to show that in my photos. If I was a poet or a writer I would use words to show the uniqueness of Liverpool, but I take photos so I try to show this through my pictures.

How did you get into photography? What does it mean to you?
I was always into photography from when I was very young and I think it was my dad. He bought a really good camera and I remember him taking really good photos when I was a kid, but he didn’t carry on with it. I had a Fisher Price plastic camera that said ‘Watch the birdie’. It was my favourite toy.

I was about 10 when I got my first proper camera. I always had a camera with me after that. Photography is a way of capturing something, how I see it, and share it with others. What I see with my own eyes, I don’t want it a secret, I want to share it.

As well as your cards being sold at Box Office, your photos are getting seen online and around the city. How has this been for you?
It's been fantastic to show how I see my beautiful Liverpool to a wider audience, because I am very much an ambassador for the city. I am very honoured and humbled by peoples response to my photo’s, I am so glad that people can see what I see, the beauty of the city through my eyes.

Words: Leah Abbott
You can follow Collette on Flickr & Twitter