Some Favourites from the year

Reflecting on some of the sets and individual images I have created this year, I believe I have produced some of my best work to date. Of these I have narrowed down some of my all-time favourites and the reasons that I like them.

Jimmy Fkn Thunda

This image of Jimmy is the epitome of my style. Bold. Raw. Minimal.

Bold - Big sunnies, chopper moustache, zero cares. Jimmy is gunna do as Jimmy does.

Raw - The rugged cold gaze through his classic shades, coupled with his mou and unkept hair.

Minimal - No distracting backgrounds or fancy light set ups. Straight on single light, straight on framing, black & white.

Phoebe in Pink

The whole set from this shoot is some of my favourite work but this image is just so fun quirky and eye catching. Phoebe’s inquisitive expression combined with the closeness of the wide angle shot makes you feel like she is inspecting the pimple on the end of your nose.

Ahrie

The comfort and calmness that Ahrie presents here, leaves me locked in but comfortable in his gaze. I like the shape that hi body is making. Also the first time I got do you my new custom apple boxes!

Maia

Little Maia’s innocent face also expresses an air of confidence, which matches here beautiful personality. Again the effect of a wide angle lens leaves you feeling like her hand is 10cm from your face. (Which it almost was!)

Jamón

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Monetez . Calvin Klein

Montez is one hell of a specimen of a human. Probably the most well conditioned bloke i’ve met, the contrast of the light as it hits his body leaves in you in awe at a human in peak physique. Almost like looking at a marble statue. I love the way the front on light is then compliments the shadows hugging him.

Jayo Archer

Complete confidence. This portrait of X Games athlete and free style MX lunatic Jayo was taken in my make shift portable studio at the motocross track. The side lighting creating a beautiful contrast of light across his face and the contrasting colour pop of red and blue, emphasises his confident demeanour. Also a top dude.

Courtney

Courtney’s cold, hollow, confident gaze draws you straight into her eyes. It’s quite polarising to see someone so pretty have that emotion.

I love the gorgeous front on lightning and how it hits her face, the messiness of her long hair and the discipline of her uniform and bow.

I have many others, and am blessed to have had some incredible humans sit for their portraits. I hope they have enjoyed the experience of shooting with me as much as I have, and that I have been able to create an image of them that when they look upon it they truly see themselves.

Luke Cunningham Portfolio

I met Luke in the most random of places. On a set of a music video for Dhanda Nyoliwala. An internet famous Indian rapper that I was renting my 1964 Impala to for the day.

We agreed that we had to work together in the future so we set up a portfolio shoot.

Hitting the Powerhouse at Newfarm park we were surrounded by an eat street market and thousands of people! So we had to think on our feet and move quickly to get the shots as the light was also fading quickly.

Utilising the vibrant colour of the purple trees as a back drop and the cold concrete walls inside the Powerhouse we were able to come away with some bangers!

Luke was a creative model to shoot with and at such a young age he will crush the industry with his passion for his craft.

Lukes Instagram

90’s Nostalgia

Inspired by my love of Punk Rock and being born in the 90’s, I had to put these two parts of my life into a shoot.

I wanted it to be poppy, grungy and fun and I needed a model that could embody this feeling and has the wardrobe to match. There was only one choice in my mind. My friend Phoebe.

With here fun, bright, retro wardrobe Phoebe came over to my apartment and in my living room we banged out this shoot that I am stoked about.

I wanted to have several looks each with a different feel and colour palette. You can watch the shoot and my editing process here on my YouTube channel.

Shooting Wide Portraits

I love shooting on wide lenses. Due to the nature of a wide lens you have to be very close to your subject to fill the frame. This closeness, where I’m usually 1-3 feet away translates in each image that cant be reproduced by cropping-in with a telephoto lens.

It also has an effect on my subject. At this close range I’m very much in their space. It forces them to have more of an intimate interaction and become comfortable with me rather than the stand-offish nature of standing back shooting with a longer lens.

Another characteristic of wide lenses is that they extenuate and warp the features of what ever is closest to the lens. I like having my sitters reach out, have there feet closer or have me shoot up at them and let these features become almost cartoonish.

Here are some of my favorite images from recent shoots that demonstrate this connection.