Patrick Steel grew up surrounded by photographic equipment — his father Arthur Steel is a renowned Fleet Street photographer. From the age of seven he helped print black and white images in the darkroom. After studying photography, he joined Holborn Studios in London as a studio assistant, before going on to assist some of Britain's most respected celebrity photographers, including the late Terry O'Neill, working on portraits of Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace and Sandringham.

In the late 1990s Patrick became a professional photographer in his own right, specialising in still-life photography for advertising agencies and major brands including British Airways. More recently he has specialised in interiors photography and managing two photographic print archives: his father's rare black and white photographs at arthursteel.co.uk and rare photographs from the 1970s and 80s by the late David Steen at davidsteen.co.uk.