Spending a month at the international catwalk shows was a shock. I had never taken photographs of fashion before. It is not something that I know anything about. Before I started this assignment I had heard of Armani and Yves Saint Laurent - all the big names - but that was about the end to my fashion knowledge. I am a guy who wears jeans and a T-shirt for a living. I spent eight months last year covering conflict. I had been to Somalia, Sudan, Congo and Kashmir, and the images that arrest you from places such as those are powerful. In a way I suppose I wanted to clear my head by trying something new, a contrast to what I had done before. New York magazine wanted someone who had no preconceptions of the fashion world, someone who was completely lost. They found the right person.

Backstage at Georgio Armani Models wait to go on stage