Hey guys, Andy here. I can not really believe I am saying this but it is Andy Barnham not Andy Burnham. Why am I clarifying this; because for all the algorithms, the computing power, and the data centres the behind it, my name confuses Google.
On the one hand there is Andy Barnham, a mixed race British Army veteran turned award winning portrait photographer based in Cheltenham.
On the other hand there is Andy Burnham, a Cambridge educated Labour politician who has served as the Mayor of Manchester since 2017.
Despite clear daylight and delineation between these two people the pesky matter of a vowel is enough to flummox the multi national technology corporation.
My surname often causes issues, however mainly when it comes to spelling where is often confused with the American circus formed by P.T. Burnum. When photographing fashion week in Milan I recall being denied entry to Gucci because the doorman was baffled by the sound/ spelling of ‘B’, confusing it firstly with ‘P’ and then, somehow, ‘R’. I resorted to showing him my name on my business card in order to gain entry.
For years this mix up between me (Andy Barnham not Andy Burnham) and the Mayor of Manchester has irked me, however with lives increasingly digital and online I am finding this friction more and more irritating. I often Google my name; as vain as this sounds the aim is to ascertain what Google, and other search engines, are returning on me. This informs my Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) to increase my website visibility, to attract high quality organic traffic, to build brand credibility, to generate leads and sales, all of which are important to me.
Is someone who is looking for me (Andy Barnham not Andy Burnham) likely to mix me up with the Mayor of Manchester; I doubt it. Is someone looking for the Mayor likely to stumble across me and offer me work; again, I doubt it as this identity confusion appears to be a one street.
On a keyboard ‘A’ is not close to ‘U’, however Google often asks, when I search ‘Andy Barnham’, do you mean, ‘Andy Burnham’ and frequently includes results for ‘Andy Burnham’. As a result the Mayor of Manchester’s Wikipedia page ranks highly in my search returns. Numerous iterations of his face appear when looking at ‘Andy Barnham’ ‘Images’ which, as a portrait photographer, is not useful. Why, at the bottom of Page1 of ‘Andy Barnham’ is Google also telling me that people also search for Andy Burnham’s daughter, his wife, his children, his height… etc? To note he is 5ft 10inches tall while I am 6ft 1inch tall. In short, his results distract from mine.
A common reason for the identity confusion appears to be when email address syntaxes are similar, however the Mayor of Manchester’s official email is the.mayor@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk, while mine is a@andybarnham.com. To note, the domain andyburnham.com does not exist; musing aloud, maybe I should purchase it and redirect it to me?
Unfortunately it would appear that I (Andy Barnham not Andy Burnham) despite all my SEO, and my consistent messaging, simply have a weaker online presence than the Mayor of Manchester. Maybe I should be happy that we are not exact namesakes and of all the people in the world Google has decided to confuse me with a prominent politician and not a criminal or sex offender.
I have never met Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Manchester. It would amuse me to take his portrait and be able to joke about how the internet confuses me with him. He could certainly benefit from something better than the image results that I come across. I have offered my services to him in the past but he has yet to take me up on my offer; even if I am convinced that a portrait of Andy Burnham by Andy Barnham would send Google into a melt down. I, for one, can not wait to see what AI makes of Andy Barnham not Andy Burnham.
andybarnham
I am a portrait photographer based in Cheltenham, UK. Born in Hong Kong to a Chinese mum and British dad, I had an international upbringing while I educated in the UK. I started photography as a hobby while serving as an officer in the British Army.
After my service I turned this passion into a career and became immersed in London's sartorial scene. I am now focusing my camera on portraiture and using this eye for detail which was refined over ten years. As a former Royal Artillery officer it is only fitting I shoot with a Canon camera.
