Photojournalism nominee

The images submitted here examine the unseen aftermath of damage caused by the recent bushfires in Australia. The extent of damage is far reaching with the destruction of many areas of national park land and town housing, with the fires engulfing 1.2 million hectares of land in just the East Gippsland region of Victoria alone. The town of Mallacoota and the beach area of Cape Conran were severely impacted and are now struggling to restore and maintain their local businesses and much needed tourism, respectively. The destruction is evident in so many areas of natural beauty but the long term impact of these fires, having received sporadic international press coverage, is not exactly known which leads to feelings of uncertainty within the local communities. These bushfires have had a devastating effect on the environment and the landscape's animal population with the loss of their natural habitats.

My photographic interests are varied; I like to explore image interpretation by using a variety of techniques such as camera-less, film and digital media. This stems from challenging myself technically to create images that attempt to capture the depth, shape and visual impact of the proposed subject matter by presenting it on media that enables an organic type of exploration. It is very much an evolving process, encouraging me to closely examine the living and abstract world and then form images that explore the spontaneous nature that subtly exists all around us.

I am constantly striving to observe and form my own unique frame of the visual situation laid out in front of me either in colour or in black and white, studying the subject matter and exploring its potential visual connection beyond just representing the view in front of the camera, reshaping its context to produce more ethereal type imagery.

Many of my photographic projects originate from a desire to invite the viewer to witness some of the subtle unseen details of our environment, whether it be an off beat street scene, a conceptual observation of the natural world or a more intimate study of a person's life