Journal

How I ended up on this crazy ride…………

I grew up on Sydney’s northern beaches in the 80’s. Life was different back then, people would actually ride their bikes to a friends house just to gossip and to hear the tail of why so-and-so threw a rock at what’s-his-name. My local community was built on these tales and stories, just like the ones I use to hear from my Oma (Dutch Grandma). Oma would talk about the times she would go and sit in the local cinema waiting for my Opa (Dutch Grandpa) to finish working as a projectionist. He would eventually end up running paramount photographic studios in Sydney and would give my mum and Aunty their first cameras, telling them to roam around and take photos of whatever they saw. This family history instilled in me the need to wander, to ‘notice things’ and to absorb the world around me through pictures.

In high school I didn’t really fit in. I guess I was one of those ‘arts kids’ who was fundamentally miss understood for being even a little bit ‘different’. So I spent a lot of time in the darkroom where I learnt what it ment to manually develop a photo and the stillness and excitement of capturing a moment on film.

I poured hours and hours into my love of photography getting a few lessons from my OPA and Aunty and my school mentor Mrs Brusello along the way. The only thing I loved more than photography and art was the idea of travelling and seeing what was outside my bubble. The first chance I got to explore was a family holiday to America where we rode bikes up the side of a volcano in Hawaii and I accidentally double exposed the roll of film that I took making it look like i was actually standing on lava.

I loved this chance to explore a new place and its people so much that in my second year of university I decided to study overseas at the University of Kentucky. The degree I choose wasn’t exactly in photography, I studied a BA(Design for Theatre and Television) in Wagga Wagga. However I figured my love for building sets and designing costumes on weekends and after school would take me to the “next level’ of the art that I loved.

Now I have to say that the only way my parents got me to finish school in the first place was by letting me do 6 subjects. Basic maths and english (mandatory), art, design, woodwork and photography. I aced in the top 4 of my chosen subjects and got pre accepted into university. After studying for 4 years I still desperately wanted to see the world so for the next 2 years I went and moved overseas with $1000 in my bank account and a one way ticket.

It would be more than two year until I returned to Australia…….