Tyro
First steps and early work
We all have to start somewhere.
I never studied to become a photographer nor worked as a photographer's assistant. I simply started taking photos at sixteen during a family trip to Nowra (a small seaside town south of Sydney). For the following decade, during high-school and later at university, all my photography was self-taught and pursued as a hobby in my spare time.
Below is a selection of this early work. Some of them are okay, but others clearly show I had a lot to learn.
Location | Description |
---|---|
Postgrad | Work from 1992 |
Portraits | Friends & acquaintances from STHS & UNSW |
University | Photos while at UNSW |
High School | Photos while at STHS |
Image Gallery
postgrad
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Martin Place Sydney
(Aug 1992) • 113.2 KB • GPS: 33:52:04S, 151:12:34E
Martin Place at lunchtime. At the time I considered the composition clever, but it looks more like a self-conscious gimmick now
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Hurstville CD shopper
(Oct 1992) • 49.2 KB • GPS: 33:57:57S, 151:06:18E
An example of the kind of frustrations I faced in the early 90s.
Although the film-grain is more under control (T-Max 400 at ISO 1600 developed in Perceptol 1+1), the results still had too much noise and contrast.
The limited DOF is nice, but the belly-button angle (necessitated by the Nikon F4S waist-level finder) is distractingly timid. I should have also waited for a better expression, although this was a problem with all my photography back then.
Nevertheless the shot was taken indoors in a retail (ie. photo-belligerent) environment, so it's among the earliest of many attempts which would eventually develop into Sydney Unposed [1]
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Renaissance Hotel, Sydney
(Jul 1992) • 88.5 KB • GPS: 33:51:46S, 151:12:34E
What was then the Renaissance Hotel, as seen from the Cahill Expressway above Circular Quay.
Was obviously spending far too much time admiring Steiglitz's 1920s photographs of New York
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Circular Quay park
(Jul 1992) • 77.7 KB • GPS: 33:51:40S, 151:12:32E
An office worker having a lunch-time snooze in the sun at Circular Quay. A strange pastiche of Kertész, Moholy-Nagy and Dali
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Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens schoolgirls
(Jul 1992) • 176.7 KB • GPS: 33:51:51S, 151:12:57E
A group of schoolgirls reading in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. I'm still surprised by how close I managed to get with a Nikon F4S [1], with only the front pair of girls noticing
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Darling Harbour sandpit
(Feb 1993) • 60.2 KB • GPS: 33:52:30S, 151:12:06E
The playground at Darling Harbour. Yet another lazy gimmick shot
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Pitt Street Mall shoppers
(Aug 1992) • 60.7 KB • GPS: 33:52:12S, 151:12:30E
Lunch-time office workers at the Pitt Street Mall in Sydney. A bit of a half-baked photo: should have moved three metres to the left to center the mannequins between the couple
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Coogee cottage
(Sep 1992) • 124.7 KB
A sarcastic kick at mortgage slaves. Many friends were signing up for the Great Suburban Dream, so I created this to use on
Having Fun Yet?
Christmas cards -
Office workers, Martin Place
(Aug 1992) • 57.1 KB • GPS: 33:52:04S, 151:12:29E
When critics fuss about
a lack of connection with the subject
, presumably this the kind of thing they would rather see.The pic also illustrates the perils of relying on auto-focus for 1990's candid work. Here the AF detector locked onto the sandwich kiosk in the background, rendering the main subjects completely out of focus
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Australia Square workers
(Aug 1992) • 62.4 KB • GPS: 33:51:53S, 151:12:29E
HCB Lite. Three women have a break while the photographer fiddles with geometric exercises
portraits
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Dave Mason, The Reels
(Mar 1982) • 23.8 KB • GPS: 33:51:45S, 151:12:41E
Dave Mason, lead vocalist of the band
The Reels
[1], at the Sydney Cove Tavern.This was when Sydney still had a live music scene [2]. A couple of decades later this particular venue was converted into a supermarket, while other pubs have replaced live-bands with poker machines [3].
I used to photograph gigs in the early '80s with vague hopes of breaking into the rock photography circuit. Unfortunately things didn't work out, but I did learn how to work discreetly in often hostile surroundings.
( Oh yeah? Nick Cave and The Birthday Party [4], in a mosh-pit full of head-butting punks, three spiked heads from the front. The Nick sees my camera, starts spitting in my direction, and then takes a running dive into the audience, aiming directly at me. Luckily I was surrounded by taller punks, so they took most of the blow… )
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Anitra Portrait
(May 1985) • 228.1 KB • GPS: 33:52:45S, 151:13:32E
UNSW Law Revue director and producer Anitra Hadley, vamping it up during a UNSW Med Revue cast-party.
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Wendy Portrait
(Aug 1984) • 292 KB • GPS: 33:58:16S, 151:06:30E
Wendy Hanlin, one of my 1980's UNSW Chemistry friends [1].
We took this shot one evening while mucking around in my room, in between an all-afternoon lunch at Jenny's Wine Bar near Central and smoking two packets of cigarettes (her directly, me indirectly). Realised later I had drawn a bit too much inspiration from Kertész's
Satiric Dancer
(1926), a print of which I had seen in the early '80s at the NGV in Melbourne [2].A warm and funny woman, we caught up for another photo shoot in June 1991 and also via a couple of e-mails in July 2005. At the time she was working as a physiotherapist [3], had finally quit smoking, and was happily married with two young children.
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Paul Gas Mask
(Apr 1983) • 165.9 KB • GPS: 33:53:50S, 151:11:08E
Another STHS [1]/ Oatley mate, Paul Underwood, pauses from running amok with a .45 automatic [2] and M17 Gas Mask [3] in Macdonaltown.
Always cheerful, we noticed Paul became a little too laid-back as we reached the end of high school. At the time we assumed it was due to his fondness for reggae music and a certain green weed… Only later did we learn that it was actually the preliminary stages of Leigh Syndrome [4], which was misdiagnosed as epilepsy in 1984 and finally killed him in 1996
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Sharon Portrait
(Dec 1990) • 150.9 KB • GPS: 33:53:08S, 151:15:30E
Sharon Freund, one of my 1990's UNSW Law friends [1].
Only got to know her well during our final year. At the time she seemed a little bit adrift, but so did most of us.
A few years later she landed firmly on her feet — postgraduate degree and then career, marriage, children and nannies. Last I heard (Jul 2011) she was working as a NSW magistrate and deputy coroner [2]
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Warringah Expressway Picnic
(Apr 1981) • 93.2 KB • GPS: 33:50:25S, 151:12:38E
A Dylanesque shot of one of my STHS [1]/ Oatley friends, Paul Saintilan [2], taken during a picnic on the Warringah Expressway (!) in North Sydney.
Paul has become perhaps the most successful of our high school group: a BFA in composition; AGSM MBA; EMI and Decca London; Music Viva; AIM; and most recently a PHD in Marketing [3]
university
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Art Gallery of NSW couple
(May 1991) • 168.1 KB • GPS: 33:52:05S, 151:13:03E
A sunday afternoon cuddle on the grass outside the Art Gallery Of NSW.
A notorious image in that it was the first of my photographs
deep-linked
(ie. stolen) by another site, in this case a Russian women's e-zine. What was amusing was that they used it in a lovey-dovey context — I guess they didn't notice the steel bars looming in the background… -
Shark Beach, Nielsen Park
(Jan 1990) • 137.1 KB • GPS: 33:51:04S, 151:15:57E
A sunbather reading at Shark Beach (sic!) in Vaucluse, eastern Sydney. Love the headphones and kids frolicking in the surf. Hate the
stab in the back
angle and (again) subconscious rip-off of Max Dupain's famousThe Sunbaker 1937
[1]. -
Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens family
(Apr 1982) • 60.5 KB • GPS: 33:51:52S, 151:12:57E
A family moment in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. A very early candid shot, and at the time I was thrilled at how close I thought I got. Of course the image would be rejected today due to its ugly lens flare,
stab in the back
angle and because it isn't close enough. -
Burning Palms, Royal National Park
(Feb 1991) • 472.3 KB • GPS: 34:11:11S, 151:02:35E
Same location as before, but taken early morning and facing the opposite direction. This image isn't too bad, despite being a subconscious rip-off of the background in Sydney Long's
Pan 1898
painting [1]. -
SCC steps, George Street
(Jun 1982) • 57.2 KB • GPS: 33:52:27S, 151:12:25E
Schoolboys waiting for the afternoon bus outside the (then) Sydney County Council building, across the road from Sydney Town Hall. Here for a change I got things right: in close, in colour, the people in their environment, undisturbed by me. Consequently this is one of the few early images which still works.
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Manly Beach
(Feb 1991) • 85.1 KB • GPS: 33:47:48S, 151:17:19E
On the beach at Manly, pseudo Moholy-Nagy in colour.
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Franklin River Dam Protesters, Tasmania
(Feb 1983) • 398.9 KB • GPS: 42:31:41S, 145:39:56E
In February 1983 I stayed in Strahan with greenies who were protesting the building of dams on the Franklin River in Tasmania [1].
Because the Franklin river blockade site was restricted to those who had paid for a 2-day NVA training course, this Macquarie Harbour landing in the picture was as close as the general public were allowed to go by the protest organisers
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Stanwell Park beach
(Apr 1990) • 84.5 KB • GPS: 34:13:44S, 150:59:30E
A couple towelling themselves after a swim at Stanwell Park Beach, 70km south of Sydney.
The image almost works, but it is spoilt by the low taking angle and distracting ground clutter. A few years later I also realised it was an unintentional copy of Max Dupain's
Form at Bondi 1939
[1] -
Summer evening storm, Hurstville
(Jan 1983) • 211.6 KB • GPS: 33:58:14S, 151:06:31E
A
southerly buster
[1] roars through suburban Hurstville after a hot summer's day. -
Sydney Harbour Bridge
(Aug 1991) • 338.8 KB • GPS: 33:51:10S, 151:12:38E
Sydney Harbour Bridge as a pot-rivetted steel cactus. Lots of fun as an intellectual exercise, but what was I doing rehashing material from someone else's past?…
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Hurstville Westfield foodcourt
(Jul 1991) • 49.7 KB • GPS: 33:57:57S, 151:06:20E
An early experiment with indoor candids, shot in a suburban shopping center in Sydney's south. Nice and moody, but T-Max 3200 had a limited dynamic range and was excessively grainy.
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UNSW Law Revue
(Jul 1990) • 433.9 KB • GPS: 33:55:06S, 151:13:48E
I participated in over ten student revues [1] while at UNSW, either as photographer or sound or video or lighting bloke, or even once as a stage manager.
This photo is from my last gig, the 1990 Law Revue, and is a reprise of a similar shot done for an earlier Med Revue
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Burning Palms, Royal National Park
(Jan 1991) • 203 KB • GPS: 34:11:13S, 151:02:33E
A place called
Burning Palms
in the Royal National Park, 50km south of Sydney. The influence of my (then) hero Steichen is obvious.
sydneytech
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Speakers Corner, The Domain
(Jul 1981) • 355.8 KB • GPS: 33:52:06S, 151:12:55E
Sunday soapbox orators in the Domain outside the Art Gallery of NSW [1]. In the early 80s they could still attract a sizeable crowd, but decades later the handful of speakers rant mostly to themselves.
As a teenager I was fascinated by the David Potts rear-view photograph of a man with rosary beads walking along a street in Nicosia Cyprus [2] — so much so that a lot of time was wasted trying to reproduce the effect
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Berrys Bay, Waverton Park
(Jul 1980) • 197.8 KB • GPS: 33:50:29S, 151:11:54E
A couple of teenage girls at Waverton Park.
My first ever photo of complete strangers, although not a true candid because permission was obtained before taking it. I still like how it radically changes meaning when you notice the empty bottle at the lower RHS shoreline…
The colour is a bit off because the cheap, non-professional C41 film has not aged well
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Scarborough Primary School
(May 1980) • 38.2 KB • GPS: 34:15:58S, 150:57:59E
A deserted view of Scarborough Primary School on a winter Sunday afternoon.
Although a spectacularly banal shot, it's from my first ever roll of film. Again the colour is off due to cheap C41 and poor storage
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Pyrmont Bridge
(Jun 1981) • 227.1 KB • GPS: 33:52:14S, 151:12:01E
In 1981 the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper [1] held a student photography competition. This photo, taken with a borrowed Yashicamat 124G, was one of my entries. It depicts a quiet moment during the evening rush-hour on Pyrmont Bridge at Darling Harbour, looking westwards at the Fielders bread factory and Pyrmont Power Station.
Today most of these landmarks are long gone, demolished to make way for the Star City Hotel & Casino
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Winter sunbather, The Domain
(Jun 1981) • 449.9 KB • GPS: 33:52:03S, 151:13:06E
Another entry for the SMH competition, this time taken in the Domain park outside the Art Gallery of NSW.
This was my first ever
don't ask, just shoot
candid (and I was terrified while doing it). Amazingly it was chosen for the competition Merit Entries Exhibition at the Sydney Centerpoint Tower. Unfortunately my untitled image had been rechristenedLazy
by some unknown hack — I still remember the teenage fury this unleashed -
Macdonaldtown rail viaduct
(Feb 1981) • 427.1 KB • GPS: 33:53:47S, 151:11:11E
From my first roll of B&W film and it shows: (1) find some unusual graffiti, (2) take a shot when an
Ironic Juxtaposition
occurs.