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My interest in landscape photography has been a life-long passion. I recall my boyhood days cycling into the sub-tropical rainforests seeking subjects to photograph and then processing the film in my makeshift darkroom. My hobby fulfilled both my creative need and my love of the outdoors. Little did I realise that it would lead to major exhibitions and book publishing. |
Photography played a very large part in my teenage years. I also had a great interest in the theatre. Both interests steered me to a career in television, a career which was to span an uninterrupted 32 years. I joined the fledgeling Australian television industry in 1963 and rapidly advanced through the ranks, from property boy moving scenery and sweeping studio floors, to Managing Director of two capital city television stations. Along the way I spent time as a cameraman and then many years as a director and producer of popular television programs, including variety shows, news, and live sporting telecasts. These were very enjoyable years, and the production experience I gained has been invaluable in my creative work as a landscape photographer.
Throughout my years in television I had little time to pursue my photographic interests, but this was to change in the 1980s when my television station was approached to sponsor an exhibition by the acclaimed Australian landscape artist Sir Hans Heysen. The gallery display of his Flinders Ranges paintings inspired me. I had to see for myself these evocative scenes of river red gums and pebbled creeks leading to distant views of mountain peaks. My first visit to the Flinders Ranges literally changed my life. It reignited my childhood passion for the outdoors and for landscape photography.
After publishing two books featuring the landscapes of the Flinders Ranges, I decided to retire from my television career and concentrate on my work as a landscape photographer specialising in wilderness locations. I have since produced two more books, Shades of Ochre and now Light on Earth. Shades of Ochre won both the National Gold Award for printing excellence and the coveted Heidelberg Australia Award for excellence in craft.
I am very fortunate that South Australia remains relatively undiscovered. The ever-changing coastline facing the Southern Ocean offers stunning seascapes, while the mountain scenery, especially that of the Flinders Ranges, and the pristine deserts in the north of the state are landscapes made for the artist.
Much as I would enjoy photographing exotic places, I find that the landscape diversity of South Australia remains creatively challenging. This is the driest state in the driest inhabited continent on Earth – a very special place as yet photographically undiscovered.