about

Simon james DUFFY

         I assume that the question of experience and history can be answered by exactly that. Here is the work, education and life history of Simon James Duffy –
       Simon James Duffy was born in 1974, in the small Scottish town of Dunfermline, just north of Edinburgh, over the north side of the Firth of Forth, where he lived until the age of two. At that tender age, Simon, beginning the travel that would last a lifetime, moved a little west to the town of Glenrothes, where he would run into a number that would come back again later in life. While he was living in Glenrothes, and growing up, he was bitten on the hand by a dog, began his schooling, and enjoyed watching the growth of moss on the rocks in the children’s playground.
      One of the earliest memories that Simon can imagine, and remember, is a stone frieze that depicted the name of his pre-school nursery, called “The Marigold Nursery.” At the age of five, like most, he began school, but for Simon, this school was the catholic run, St. Paul’s, where he learned to read and write, and, of course, play with the other children. His memories of that time include, performing at the front of the class and answering teachers as they quizzed their students.
            As is the custom, and as a lot of young men do, Simon joined the boy scouts. It was through the philosophy of Bathen Powell that Simon learned how to be prepared for any and all upcoming events that might come his way. Camping and team unity was taught to the young man along with basic first aid necessities that will continually be useful for as long as a man will live.
           It was at the age of 10 that his journey continued. Simon’s father Jim, who was a chemist, and was working for a German chemical company called “BETZ” at the time, took a new job with an American company called “Petro-lite,” which was a petro-chemical company that had offices in the north-western part of England, where Jim moved his family. Simon then, being forced to switch schools, found himself at another Roman-Catholic institution, this time called St. Wilfred’s, where he made many friends, and distinctively remembers the day when he stopped adding salt to his food.
         Very commonly, and following the footsteps of his sister, Simon, at the age of twelve, began High school. The name of the high school, being again a Roman- Catholic facility, was taken from a saint. This time it was the saint of the gift giving tradition that accompanies the birth of, what many call – “the Messiah.” That’s right – the saint from the North Pole, Saint Nicholas, or whom many call, “Santa Claus.”
            It was at this time, at the age of twelve, that Simon also joined a group of young men at the Navy prep community of the Sea Cadet Corps. Through the Sea Cadet Corp. Simon learned to tie knots and boat. Sailing, pulling and canoeing were taught on the river and over summer camping trips that were spent in and around the Welsh lake known as Bala, just outside of Llandudno. It was also around this time that Simon had his first job on a local farm, picking potatoes.
          All this was pushing Simon toward a military life in the Navy and the idea of entering the Navy as an officer and going into flight school to be a pilot was now looming on the horizon. What would be needed would be a collection of five GCSE’s and two A levels from the nine courses that he began in high school and the idea of following his Grandfather Thomas into the Navy, had its appeal.
        Of course, this idea and dream was never fulfilled for it was just a couple of years later that Simon’s father Jim had the opportunity to take his work with the American Petro-chemical company, along with his family, across the Atlantic to the United States. Simon was just about three weeks away from being fifteen, on March the ninth, nineteen eighty-nine, when he and his family, two brothers and a sister, and, of course, his parents, mother and father, boarded a flight that was western bound to find their new home in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.
          It wasn’t too long before Simon found himself in the North American school system in his first non-Roman Catholic school, where he graduated in the class of nineteen ninety-two. At the age of sixteen, Simon began his first job in the United States, as a cook in a pizza kitchen at the local Saint Louis pizza chain known as Imo’s Pizza. It was in his senior year that Simon began delving into the artistry of photography, and after taking a semester off, he began work on a photography degree, which he did receive, while studying both photography and art history at the Saint Louis Community College, where Simon also played soccer for the school for two years.
           What came next was to change his life forever. While being accepted to a variety of schools to continue his education, including Webster University, University of Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri State University and Colorado State University, a tragedy occurred that would rock his mind. In the summer between schools, Simon’s younger brother Colin, died in a tragic accident in the family pool. This tragedy would affect Simon’s mind and ability to perform at school, but with the idea that life must go on, Simon moved out to Ft. Collins, CO to start school, along-side a good friend at Colorado State University.
            Unfortunately, Simon only lasted one semester as the tragedy of his brother’s death continued to haunt him. It wasn’t long before he was back in Saint Louis where his friends, in an effort to help, pushed him toward a friend and colleague who had a religious affiliation and association to a yoga style and eastern theology that he had been taught by a Vietnamese Buddhist teacher, known as Master Dang. This, with a variety of other things, led Simon to travel to Asia through South Korea and into Thailand, and a brief stint working in Amsterdam as an assistant photographer at Sotheby’s before he decided to return to Saint Louis to make himself available, if needed, to his brothers newly born son – the son that was born eight months after his brother’s death.
             So moving back to Saint Louis, Simon was forced into trying to find work again, which he did trying to use his photography at portrait studios and trying his hand at presentations in galleries and at art shows. He met a girl and got married. Began working in video on a variety of independent films with some success - showing at the Hollywood Film Festival and producing music videos for local bands. Of course, the money in the arts can always be a little questionable at times, and Simon tried to keep things going by working in restaurants and bars, waiting tables and bartending – which is something he always enjoyed.
             At the age of twenty six, Simon was approached by an old high school friend who was looking for some soccer players to play at Fontbonne University and Simon went back to school, this time with an emphasis in English Literature, and, of course, playing soccer. This time, due to an ankle injury, his soccer playing was cut short, along with his schooling. After about five years of being married, Simon’s wife ran away to Hawaii, where she still remains, and Simon took on a job working with his father’s recent water treatment company, keeping up by answering phones and taking orders for chemicals, and keeping the books organized.
           This lasted for the next three years before Simon, with gusto in his heart, decided to finish writing his first book, which is now available, titled The Slander of Equations. This led to a continued working relationship with Neshui Publishing, for whom Simon had done some work designing book covers, and a continued relationship with the owner of that company, Bradley Hodge, who was making his way into directing within filmmaking, and Simon has continued to work with Mr. Hodge over the years on a variety of projects, including the most recent West of Ventura.
              Simon was in quite a major, wee car accident on August the seventh, two thousand and nine, and spent two months in the hospital. He has since recovered, gone back to school at Webster University and has worked on a couple of video projects, including the feature films, A Very Perfect Crime with writer/director Patrick Pinkston, and currently, West of Ventura with Bradley Hodge, and some commercial work with Mad Baby Pictures, and has started work on his second book. Simon also released a collection of works called Simon James Duffy and his Calling Card, which is also available at Amazon.com.
              In conclusion we can assume that Simon James Duffy can provide a very high level of quality to a variety of projects. If it is important to financial remuneration, then Mr. Duffy can be relied on to get the job done expediently.