PORTRAITS
I love portrait photography. It’s been a big part of what I do over the years.
I’ve had the chance to photograph a wide range of people, from well-known faces to artists I admire, to everyday people. Some of the work is stripped back and personal, some of it sits in the world of advertising, where things are more constructed and polished.
Portrait photography is a strange thing. Sometimes you have hours of prep and five minutes to shoot. Sometimes you build it carefully, shaping how someone is seen. And other times you’re out somewhere with a paper roll and a single light, and it just happens.
The setup changes, the time changes, the scale changes. But the job stays the same.
At its core, it’s about showing what someone looks like, but more importantly giving you a sense of who they are, how they carry themselves, what they stand for.
I’ve loved those experiences. And to be honest, I rarely forget someone I’ve photographed.
And I think this matters more than ever. We’re in a time where faces can be generated and endlessly manipulated. Choosing to photograph someone properly carries weight. My sense is that it will only matter more as things keep shifting.
You can feel the difference. You just can’t fake it.
A good portrait holds because there’s a real person in front of the camera, and a real person behind it. It’s an exchange.
I had the joy of photographing Barry Humphries as Dame Edna Everage. It was a long day and he wasn’t feeling great, but he held that full Dame Edna smile the entire time. Right at the end, I asked if we could do one frame with a very serious look. He absolutely loved it. Apparently, one of the very few times Dame Edna didn’t smile on camera.
A portrait of Sam Simmons and others.
These portraits of Paul Nagy were photographed for a story about how hard the advertising industry can be at times. We pushed the idea visually, using special effects makeup, fake wounds and blood, but kept the portraits themselves very direct and clean. I like the clarity.
What a joy it was to photograph David Helfgott.
The Great Jimmy Barnes.
Snoop Dogg
I love the honesty of this series of wonderful kids I photographed. No styling, no production, no tricks, just personality, humour and all those little moments in between. Sometimes it works best when you stop trying too hard and simply leave enough space for people to be themselves.
A portrait of Sydney artist Anne Thompson, photographed in her atelier. We spend 4 hours with her and created a series of images.
I love the honesty of this series of wonderful kids I photographed. No styling, no production, no tricks, just personality, humour and all those little moments in between. Sometimes it works best when you stop trying too hard and simply leave enough space for people to be themselves.
Portraits for SBS / Deadline Gallipoli.
A daylight portrait series of beautiful Australians photographed in the outback.
I’ve always loved this portrait for the exact moment it was taken. The image itself is carefully constructed, shaped and framed, yet what makes it different is that tiny instant where her eyes are half shut. That precise fraction of a second introduced something unexpected, human and slightly surprising into an otherwise very controlled portrait.