From Iggy Pop and Foo Fighters photographer to physiotherapist

Iona Bateman once toured the world with some of the biggest names in rock. She captured iconic shots of the likes of Iggy Pop, the White Stripes, Foo Fighters and Green Day in a career that took off after a chance shot she took of the Stereophonics on a disposable camera in 1999 impressed the band.

"It was a great job but a very hectic lifestyle," she recalled. "I remember Iggy Pop told me at one stage I needed to calm down!"

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Iggy Pop’s comment led Iona to shift her focus and she worked as a photographer and journalist in the Middle East for several years.

But, when she was working in Russia in 2010, a boxing injury that caused a permanent hand disability forced her to totally rethink her career.

Her injury was initially misdiagnosed as terminal bone cancer and she was told she had three months to live. By the time she returned to the UK and was correctly diagnosed with a benign wrist tumour, she was left with a permanent disability that prevents her from gripping or writing with her right hand.

Iona, 43, from Bitterne Park, is now a mature pysiotherapy student.

"I am really keen to raise awareness that people with disabilities can work in healthcare," she added.

Iona has charted her journey from photographer to physio, and all the stumbling blocks along the way, in a short film that forms part of a new exhibition.

The film also pays tribute to her partner, Niroshan, who passed away aged 41 from eye cancer during Iona’s first semester at university, on Christmas Day 2021.

"Moving Still, is a chaotic blend of my photographs and film clips amassed during the past 20 years, showing how the challenges we face can be transformed through resilience into opportunities for growth," she explained. 

Iona is one of nine students who have put together pieces for the exhibition, Journeys of the Othered, which is at Turner Sims until July 22.