I was born in Sydney, Australia in 1972. We moved around a lot when I was a kid and because of this I felt I had to “remodel” myself again and again to fit in. As a matter of survival I dropped in and out of cultures and taught myself to “see between the lines”, connect the dots and read what was really going on.
I picked up a camera in my early twenties because I told myself I needed a hobby. Photography quickly became an obsession. Looking back I can see it was a means of escape. I learnt how to shoot film, process and print, wasting thousands of dollars
on rolls and developing. I got better faster in an attempt to make every shot on a roll “perfect”, whatever that means. My trusty Pentax ME Super with its 50mm prime l ens travelled with me everywhere.
My only “formal” photographic training was a few evening courses I did in
Sydney after work. A couple at the ACP
in Paddington and one community college course. I left the latter after a few sessions deciding I could teach myself more than what I was being taught there.
I moved to London in 1997. In ’98 I went to NYC and walked the streets for two weeks, just me and my camera. Every day I’d get up early, catch the subway to a different area of the city and walk and shoot. It was on this trip I decided I should take photography seriously. Back in London I assisted a number of working photographers which gave me a sense of the commercial world. The experience was invaluable in terms
of seeing different artists at work shooting with their own aesthetic.
I moved to Johannesburg in 2003 and loved being a foreigner in this city. My accent got me into places the locals would never dream of going. It also got me out of a few very sticky situations.
Living with undiagnosed mental health issues from an early age meant my self confidence was always very low and anxiety was always at a high. I know I could have achieved more in London and Joburg as a photographer but I also know how stuck I was mentally. I see these years as wasted opportunities but I also see them as part of a very dark period
of my life. I cut my teeth in these cities and my experiences were formative.
Back in Sydney I re-found photography
in 2010 when a chance meeting lead me to working with a boutique advertising agency. Their clients ASICS and Onitsuka Tiger always had a need for imagery.
My professional portfolio bloomed.
I shot everything from product shots to the local versions of global ad campaigns (and everything in between). Technically
I took off as a digital photographer and became probably the busiest sports advertising photographer in Australia
for a number of years.
Though I still take commercial commissions in projects that interest me my mind is now focused on photography as fine art. I’m obsessed with cities and have been since childhood. In cities of course there are images everywhere. My view is there are moments in time to capture but
also in space. There are millions of microstories and emotions to document, create, ruminate and postulate over.
Photography freezes time. I wish to freeze the viewer and captivate them with my works, to have them stop and breathe.
As a child of the 80s I grew up with the world seemingly at my feet. We were increasingly barraged with media selling us the latest
X with stories about how we could be Y
if we really wanted it. The mish mash of
80s culture - music, film, art, politics, fashion, consumerism, Americanism, multiculturalism, food, sport - all collide in my brain. I’m a dreamy, consumerist child
of the world. Through this lens I will capture anything in a city that crosses my path. Architecture, design, shadows, driveways, signage, buildings, facades, rubbish, lighting, foliage, wiring...anything I see an image in I will grab. I often go back and process images much later. I use a trained photographer’s eye while I scan looking for shapes and shadows, from the obvious to the abstract.
When I shoot I’m in a trance-like state. Time and space stand still. Here I create
in silence and solitude despite being surrounded by the hustle and bustle of city life. When people engage with my work it is this space of peace they experience.
My aim is to blend commercial aesthetique and daily interactions with the built environment using a multitude of media (camera types) to capture my work. I use digital post production to either change completely the nature of an image or subtly to remove minor imperfections.
I work to capture spaces, moments and textures in an attempt to portray them as they are but in detail or represent them as they are but in way one wouldn’t normally think about or expect.
I intend to instill everyday cityscapes with emotion and do this all over the world. I want people from each city I document to engage with their city’s landscapes afresh. I wish to intrigue, excite and inspire people to see their city anew through my works.