I worked with graphic artist, Spencer Harrison AKA Spenceroni on some promotional imagery for Hello Play, his upcoming exhibition at No Vacancy Gallery in Melbourne’s CBD.
“Celebrating all things play, Hello Play is an invitation to put aside being serious for a moment and reconnect with your sense of curiosity and adventure. From paintings, patterns, and prints, to sculptures and more. Hello Play is experimental, colourful, and a little bit whimsical, but most of all fun.”
With this in mind, we created a series of playful photographs, showcasing Spencer’s work, all the while “playing” and experimenting as we did. The resulting images were designed for use in both square format for Spencer’s Instagram account, but also for larger dimensions for his press release and other social media. Here are a few of my favourite’s from the shoot:
We also made this fun animation which Spencer turn into a gif and video:
This year brought a number of exiting new experiences, both professionally and personally. I walked 100km, photographed under the stars of the Californian desert and surpassed my record for the most number of shoots in a year! It felt so fast though, and I’m still struggling to understand how I managed to pack it all into a year. Here is my top 14 from 2014 in photographs:
Graze – There were a few new additions to my playful food photography series, including some hot potatoes.
Shotkit – I was asked to photograph and talk about some of the gear I use, organised neatly, so I put together a little timelapse video of the process:
360 – Melbourne Hip Hop artist 360, was the subject of an “Ink not Mink” campaign which I photographed for PETA.
Do Lectures Australia and USA – I photographed Do Lectures Australia and also made my way to Do Lectures USA where I met some great minds. I came back inspired and ready to make some big changes.
Oxfam Trailwalker – A painful and exhausting experience, but a truly rewarding and memorable one was training with a group of friends to walk 100km in 34 hours, to raise money for Oxfam Australia, and we did it! Registrations for Trailwalker 2015 is closing soon, get in quick!
Scott Spark – Scott Spark released his new album, muscle memory, which I had photographed the album artwork and promotional photography for. I had taken some playful photographs on a Nishika 3D lenticular film camera during our shoot, which I scanned and turned into this gif:
Peter Berner – I worked with Australian comedian and TV personality Peter Berner, on some new promotional imagery and finally got to use the yellow backdrop that I had been wanting to use for months!
…And I got in! I photographed this night portrait of William Wilkinson, late at night in the desert at Phoot Camp.
PDN Cover – One of the most incredible things that came out of the Phoot Camp experience was this collaboration with Nate Bolt, who flew his drone across the desert as we captured it’s light painting. We ended up getting the cover of the January 2015 issue of PDN!
Travel things – I tacked on a few extra things to my US trip, which included attending Do Lectures USA, a Creative Mornings summit in New York, catching up with colleagues, friends and family and going to Sleep No More (if you’re ever in NYC, it’s a MUST). This is a summary of the experience in one photo:
Squam Lake – Between events, I spent a day out at Squam Lake, New Hampshire. Exactly what I needed to see me off on the last leg of my journey to New York. I also put a photo essay up on Exposure, which you can see here.
Handy Series – Although still in it’s early days, what started out as a series on gang signs, soon turned into a series on creatives and the work they do with their hands. I’ve got a bunch of people lined up to take part in this project so stay tuned for an update!
And for a special bonus 15th, I wanted to share my favourite gif with a bunch of new friends from different Creative Mornings chapters, getting down and attempting to moonwalk at the Summit After party (photo by smilebooth):
Have a great holiday season everyone and all the best for 2015!!!
I worked with the singing, songwriting genius that is Scott Spark again on the artwork and promotional photography for his new album Muscle Memory, which was just been released. Scott has a real knack for not only knowing, but also being able articulate what he wants to see in the photography that goes along side his music and at the same time was able to give me the trust and confidence for me do what I do best. It’s something I love about working with creative people and I think it shows in the photography and the fun gifs we created with my Nishika 3D lenticular camera.
I’m so excited to announce my involvement with photographing Chrissie Swan‘s new fashion range, Avella, for Big W. I worked with Big W and Chrissie to create the imagery to be used for the range, on everything from swing tags, to in-store display. I couldn’t be happier with the results. Here are a few of the images from one of their Melbourne stores and catalogue.
Also on the shelves at the store was Chrissie’s new book, “Is it just me”, which I photographed the cover for!
For a behind the scenes look at the photo shoot itself check out the video by Melbourne film makers Alex and Jono Films!
Many thanks to Elleni Toumpas for all her hard work assisting on the shoot, Lynda Evans from Designedly for her ever exquisite post production work, Watercooler for their ongoing support and of course, Chrissie for being such a legend to work with!
Wow. I’m amazed at how fast this year has gone by. I moved to the beautiful, vibrant and creative city of Melbourne, made new friends, watched a billion comedy shows and worked with some incredible new clients. Here is my annual wrap up of my top 13 from 2013.
Michael Doneman – One of my favourite portraits of the year was of Michael, a friend and former business coach.
Bay of Fires – I worked on some editorial photography for a story on “Walks of Australia” One of the most beautiful walks we did was the Bay of Fires, in Tasmania. It was stunning.
Banana shoot – My new business cards will have “Fruit Balancing Expert” written on them. I worked on a few playful food photography images for a personal project.
Chrissie Swan – I worked with the beautiful Chrissie Swan for some imagery to promote her new book. I also worked with her on a different shoot, but more on that in the new year! 🙂
A New Von Vintage Print – A few old negatives were unboxed, scanned and I finally released another print for my film photography project, Von Vintage.
Semi Permanent Melbourne – Semi Permanent in Melbourne had me on my feet for two crazy big days, photographing the event and also shooting video. I saw some great speakers and came away totally inspired. This is a portrait of fellow photographer and speaker, Magdalena Wosinska.
Dare Iced coffee – On a caffeine high, I photographed some product and lifestyle shots of Dare Iced Coffee’s new cold pressed coffee range at St. Ali in South Melbourne.
Dicko – I had the honour of photographing Dicko, in creating a set of imagery to be used for Watercooler Talent and Media, a company which he co-founded.
iPhone Photography Awards – In the cold of winter, I received a few honourable mentions for some of my Instagram photos submitted into the iPhone Photography Awards. This was taken during a Melbourne heatwave, and had me wishing all year for that warm weather to come back around again. Still waiting, Melbourne!
Otway Harvest – Travelling with a group of international journalists, I worked on capturing the food culture of Melbourne and surrounds. The highlight was shooting at Otway Harvest, the beautiful ocean side truffle farm of chef, Steve Earl. I’ll put together photo essay of this trip once the story is published in the new year!
The White House – I photographed a fewbusinesses at their amazing shared work space known as “The White House” for Est Magazine, home to extraordinary ethical businesses like Small Giants, Dumbo Feather and Tom Organic. It was such a beautiful space to shoot in, I want to live there.
It’s been such an incredible year, with fun new projects, exhibitions, new friends, travel and amazing new clients. I’ve put together a wrap up of my top 12 from 2012. And of course, I had to post it on 12.12.12 at 12:12.
Matt Tucker – I helped Matt Tucker document his beautiful tattoos by renowned Japanese tattoo artist, Horiyasu. The final product was an incredible large framed print on metallic paper. It was truly rewarding to work on this passion project with Matt and produce something that he truly loved.
New Zealand – My birthday weekend was spent in Auckland, New Zealand, taking photos and playing tourist in such an incredibly photogenic country.
Phoot Camp 2012 – I caught up with old friends and made many new ones at Phoot Camp 2012 followed by an exhibition in New York. It was truly one of the highlights of the year, with a trip to San Francisco, Chicago and Boston thrown in! The trip also inspired a new personal series of mine, titled “In their shoes“.
Darren Lockyer – Rugby league legend Darren Lockyer sat for his portrait for an editorial piece I photographed for WISH magazine. It was inspiring to work with someone so accomplished, yet so humble and authentic in character.
Finders Keepers Melbourne – I’ve started to focus on working out of both Melbourne and Brisbane. The Finders Keepers Markets, which I also shot in Melbourne a few years back was impressive in scale, as was the beautiful light that hit everything inside the venue.
IPPA award – My obsession with capturing moments on my phone actually paid off (well, slightly), with two of my Instagram photos getting two honourable mentions in the 6th annual iPhone photography awards.
Mark Visser – Sand filled my camera gear as I spent a morning on the beach photographing big wave surfer Mark Visser, most notably known for his death cheating big wave ride at night, which earned him the nick name “Night Rider”.
Von Vintage – I took my Von Vintage work on a road trip to exhibit at analogue gallery, Strip of a Lifetime, in Newcastle. This is a video from opening night.
Go Health – Billboards around the city started to fill up with my work with Go Health Gyms and Big Fish. Seeing work appearing larger than life always invokes an odd, giddy feeling of excitement in me that never gets old.
Foot Locker – I worked on a few Footlocker campaigns in Melbourne and Brisbane with the Famous Group. I ws thrilled to see this Summer campaign finally hit the stores and I can’t wait to see the results from the other shoots.
Sofitel – I worked with Sofitel and Underbrand to create imagery for their new magazine, Enchanté. I shot some delicious looking food photography and got some great city views.
Seven with Another – I teamed up with talented “Maker”, Adam Head, to collaborate on a project for art exhibition, Seven With Another. We created a large spinning cube that would fill the room with light when triggered by the flash of a camera. I’m working on a side project with this piece, which I’ll share soon.
Stay safe and have a great holiday season everyone! I’m looking forward to an even better 2013!
I worked with hair dresser, Jules Tognini of AKA Togninis, on a series of looks for Hair Expo Australia in June last year. Here are some of the final images from the shoot. Editing by the awesomely talented Lynda Evans of Designedly.
Photographically, it’s been a great year for me, both personally and professionally. I worked with some amazing people, visited some incredible places and photographed some beautiful things. In no particular order, here are 11 images from my 2011.
I was invited back to attendPhoot Camp 2011 which saw 30 photographers road tripping from all around the United States towards Marfa, Texas. This was from a stop at the beautiful White Sands, New Mexico. Neil Berrett puts his body on the line for the sake of photography. Thanks Neil!
I photographed (and devoured) some of the most delicious dishes from Marriott Brisbane’s new restaurant, Motion bar and Grill. Delicious.
The saying “The best camera is the one that’s with you.” was put to the test, leaving my “big camera” at home and challenging myself with just my iPhone. As a result, I fell in love with Instagram.
This was one of the coolest projects I got to work on this year for Made In The Now. Not only did I get to design and shootthe image for the shirt, but I was also lucky enough to be involved in it’s earlier stages with the t-shirt and model photography.
A huge mile stone for me was launching Von Vintage and it’s online store. It was a side passion project that had me shooting on film again and intentionally slowing down my photographic process. I had some great fun exhibiting this work.
I got involved with photographing a poster for Rise, a fundraiser for the Brisbane flood recovery efforts. I love the way it turned out and was happy to hear that the event raised over $10,000 for The Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal.
One of my favourite shots that came from my visit to Japan was from Yamanakako, an area near Mt. Fuji where we used to visit every summer. The crisp air greeted me with a flood of incredible memories from my childhood.
I was invited to climb Brisbane’s Story Bridge and bring my camera gear with me, giving me a refreshing and almost calming perspective of the city.
I felt the immense positivity that surrounded the “Together Brisbane” Campaign and was thrilled to see images that I shot for the campaign on billboards, bus shelters and even on the ground.
I shot some of my favourite photos at White Sands, this is the last photograph I shot there. It was a great afternoon. Cody had just captured a lightning strike on his instax, Nate Bolt started a really fun series and Neil did some epic dune jumping. It was no doubt one of the most beautiful highlights of the road trip.
And lucky last is a 3D image of Daniel Seung Lee, from a project I started called “Ghetto Stereo“. Using two disposable cameras side by side, I created a “Ghetto” stereoscopic 3D camera. I’m currently working on a new series using a “quadra lens” system.
Have a safe silly season everyone, and I hope to hear from you in the New Year!
Working with creative people, particularly musicians, is always a pleasure. It often feels more like a collaboration of creative ideas, rather than a strict brief. I met up with Brisbane singer/songwriter Scott Spark, to discuss his new album and the imagery he wanted to back it. We talked about a few themes and locations that he felt would suit best. Eventually, we decided on two locations, both indoor and out. Here are some of my favourite shots from the shoot.
Scott’s album, “Fail Like You Mean It” is due for release in August. For a preview, you can check out his stuff here: http://scottspark.bandcamp.com and on iTunes.
I recently did a shoot for Hailey Calvert, an incredibly talented Brisbane singer-songwriter. We set out to shoot a few different locations based on some of Hailey’s inspirations and tell the story of her and her music. You can check out some of Hailey’s music here: myspace.com/haileycalvert.
Here are a few of my favourite shots:
