When did you first know that you wanted to be a photographer?
I studied photography at school and always hoped that I could become a photographer, but by the time I was choosing my subjects for university, I wimped out and studied journalism instead. I got a job at a small newspaper as a reporter and as soon as I started working with the photographers, I knew it was what I wanted to do. Somehow I convinced my editor to let me start a cadetship in photography and I haven’t really looked back since.
What is the photo community like in Tasmania?
Tasmania is quite small and kind of isolated (off the south coast of mainland Australia). There’s plenty of nice scenery and lots of traditional landscape photographers. I’m not really into landscapes so much but I have been lucky to pick up some good commercial and editorial work over the past few years. As with many regional areas, there’s a certain small-town aesthetic that I’ve used in my personal work.
I’d like to be a graphic designer. It’s something I’ve dabbled in but I’m not sure that I’ve got my head around the subtleties (ie I’m a bit crap). It seems to be an industry that is particularly trend-driven, so I think it would be an interesting challenge to develop a style outside of what’s popular.
Seeing the work of other photographs constantly keeps me motivated and inspired. There are so many ridiculously young kids taking amazing photos. I think the time of the old-school “professional photographer” has been and gone, which is a good thing.
(Sean is based in Tasmania, Australia. See more of his work, here.)