Photography helps me to make some sort of sense of the world! With every photo that I make, I take small steps in interpreting and connecting with my environment and the people that I encounter. In the last year I have experienced some major lifestyle changes. I moved interstate and am now back living in a city. After almost fifteen years in a small coastal town, I love the vibrancy of living in a more multicultural place – it feels like home.
I have been a regular visitor to South Korea for many years and 2016 was no exception when I spent five weeks photographing and exploring the east coast from Busan up to the North Korean border. Korea continues to be a favourite place to visit and photograph.
During my stay in Korea I received news that my eldest daughter was going to have a baby! The happy thought of a new member in the family has warmly coloured the feel of this last year and we are looking forward to greeting our first grandchild later this month!
The past twelve months seemed to be dominated with kids and dogs. Despite the old warning to ‘never work with children and animals,’ this was exactly what we seemed to have done for a big part of the year. Not only did my youngest daughter come home with a rescue dog, hello Maxi!, my wife and I finished the year off with a ‘Healthy Dogs, Healthy Peoples’ project in far north Queensland. Working in a remote aboriginal community was a rewarding and challenging opportunity and for us another chance to use storytelling and photography as a form of communication.
Every year I try and select a set of photographs that best reflect the past year. Here are 16 from 2016.
reFRAMED tells the story of Jatisura, a small village in West Java, through a series of portraits. I photographed senior members of the community and interviewed them about their most precious memories of living in the village. The project was conducted with the assistance of the Jatiwangi Art Factory (JAF), a local arts organisation who use art to strengthen their community.
In Transit 