Artist Statement

Through my candid photographs I attempt to capture the essence of urban life through an interpretive understanding of human behaviours, expressions and actions. I endeavour to capture the natural state of unknowing people I find identify with common characters, scenes or stories often portrayed in motion pictures and theatre. I see “the City” as one big stage where each inhabitant or passer-by is a would-be actor or model playing their part in an epic tale of day-to-day life.

My approach to street photography deviates from techniques commonly regarded best practice — particularly those advocating the use of compact SLR’s and wide-angle lenses as tools essential for photographing people in public. This approach is seen to allow for discreetly practising the art-form itself out of plain view, or creating a marriage between the subject and the background while shooting within an individual’s personal space. To the contrary, I typically arm myself with a telephoto on a Pro SLR and boldly engage in the practice of shooting random people well within the public eye. As “the people,” not “the City” is my primary focus, I find myself targeting subjects near or far while isolating them from their busy surroundings.

The composition of a photograph is seen to be fundamental to the Art of Photography in my [radical] opinion. Equal in weight to the subject matter captured, I would argue that a photograph is best presented as it was captured through the lens and by the “Eye of the Photographer.” On that basis I do not crop or otherwise alter my artworks from their original composition and take pride in an ability to compose my Snipe Shots within the split-seconds I encounter them.