Category : photography

An experiment with trying a Little Planet using a very short depth of field, so that only the dead centre is in hard focus. Like a lot of artistic experiments, it’s a bit of a failure, that teaches towards success. What it demonstrates to me is that it’s the crispness of everything at the “horizon” of the image that gives Little Planet projections their special appeal.

Didn’t really get much of a feeling for the ferocity of the storm that hit last night, the tail end of Tropical Cyclone Debbie, but going for a wander down to the river this afternoon, and clearly, we copped a fair wallop.

Shooting at a Brisbane cat adoption organisation. Lesson learned – use a higher minimum shutter speed for auto-iso, or use shutter priority, and trust that the indoor conditions will stop the lens up to 2.8, which is the depth of field I was using for a lot of shots.

Cats can give some pretty arresting portraits, when they’re not attempting to crash their faces into the lens.

A serendipitous found moment, in which people stopped crossing the frame, and all the compromises of carrying a couple of kilos of glass in a lens disappear, when it lets you catch this.

For years, this empty lot on Burwood Rd, the main street of Belmore, Sydney, has provided refuge to local wildlife, and a dumping ground for discarded furniture, rubbish, and unwanted stolen cellphones. Situated next to a public housing block in a lower socio-economic area, the fences covered in graffiti, this location has since succumbed to Sydney’s property developers, and is now the building site for a block of “luxury apartments”.

The title of the work is a play on the Serengeti, one of the world’s most famous, and photographed, ecosystems. “Ghetto” for the appearance of the site, in what is nevertheless a vibrant and diverse community experiencing the relentless march of gentrification, which tolerates no gentle decay, or fallow land.

This location was shot as found, the arrangement of the orange traffic bollards serendipitous, and was accessed with the prior permission of the owner. If there’s one thing that can be salvaged from the debacle that was the Belmore warehouse experiment, it’s that I was able to create this image. At its full native size, it’s about 3 metres wide. If you’re interested in a print, get in touch to discuss sizes and costs.