I'm a product of the 70's, a kid obsessed with ripping images out of magazines and pasting them into scrapbooks - some of the greatest photographers of our time. Including all the images I could find of the moon landing - all pasted into a giant red scrapbook. I really wish I'd kept all that stuff. I loved the clean, simple lines and their iconic nature - not that I was fully aware of that back then. But I knew what I liked. I grew up with parents who were scientists - which was pretty hard when you're a creative. My dad loved photography too. I still have a tonne of old leather suitcases filled with his old photos and slides still to be sorted through.
I'm passionate about strong, clean, uncomplicated images. But my decision for making this my career didn’t happen until my 30’s. I spent my 20's and most of my 30's in the corporate world. In my early 30's I started shooting prolifically in B&W film and spent nearly every weekend in the dark room developing and hand printing my work.
After having several successful exhibitions, I decided to make this my career. Being newly divorced I quit my job and sold everything to move to Paris and study photography living in a city I had been fascinated with for years. While I was there I travelled a lot, including 3 months through Africa in an old truck that had been converted into a bus. Seventeen of us covering 16,000kms. You can see what I saw from the window of that bus in 'Views from a bus'. This is where my passion for travel photography really began.
For me photography is all about connection. Being adopted meant a constant search for connection - to myself and others. So I'm passionate about creating images that connect people to themselves. For me a great image makes me want to stop and breathe, and really soak in what's there. To feel something I've never felt before. That's what I want my photography to do for others.
Working as a commercial photographer, I have a diverse range of clients that have taken me all over NZ, Australia and London. I love that, I love the variety. I like to be challenged by new stories, and the ability to bring my vision and the way I see the world to their clients while still meeting their brief. My approach is very collaborative, working together to achieve the best result for the campaign or project by bringing a creative vision, strong production values, and technical expertise.
With my background as a producer, I'll always take control of a shoot to make sure everyone feels comfortable, and the shoot runs to schedule and on brief. When I'm taking your portrait then I want to find your essence, get you connected to your soul so we see your true self.
Documenting our planet is my other love. Currently it's the islands and cultures of the South Pacific/Asia region. I like to explore a country and connect with it's people and their land. I've travelled all over the globe yet there's still so much more to see. The 'GLOBAL ROAMING' section showcases my passion for this. Travel photography keeps me in my happy place.
I’ve been known to do almost anything to get the shot too, from loosing one of my contacts while in a glass smelter, to riding in a 500 Tonne quarry dump truck, crawling through free-range chicken houses (with chickens running all over me), to standing on the rim of an active volcano.
Getting the shot really is the only reason I'm here.
I hope you enjoy what you see
Ax