Portraiture as personal work

Telling a story through the face of another is a photographic challenge that yields very different results. Six of Australia’s leading photographers share the stories behind their images and their motivation in picking up a camera to shoot their own brief.

All prints from This Time It's Personal are available to purchase until December 15. All proceeds are donated to support the work of Chris O’Brien Lifehouse. 

Untitled by Ian Butterworth

Two prints still available on Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Sonora fine art paper. 
770x605mm (S - $300)
1120x890mm (L – $675)

I first met Patrice whilst working on an Amnesty International project. He's a talented film maker and all-round top human.

In this sitting he opened his soul and gifted me his vulnerability. I thank him.

Personal work is vital to my development as a creative. It's an exploration and a return to the road map. It helps me not lose sight of why I became a photographer - a curiosity in life and a visual need for beauty.

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Descendant by Harold David

One print still available on Ilford Galerie Textured Cotton fine art paper. 
Size: 1120x880mm ($550)

This was taken in Worthville Ky. USA.

I asked Ray Ray to show me what he's got and he pulled the gun on me.

The gravity of the situation only hit me when I printed the photograph. Adrenaline does strange things because it didn't even register at the time.

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Emma Kate Boyd, Bondi Junction Tuesday Afternoon November 2019 by Simon Lekias

Three prints still available on Ilford Galerie Textured Cotton fine art paper. 
605x745mm (S - $300)
1120x940mm (L - $675)

I have been fortunate enough to have been a part of This Time It's Personal since its inception.

What I wanted to celebrate with this wonderful portrait of Emma Kate Boyd is just how amazingly grateful I feel to be able to bring together the most talented people in the industry at the drop of a hat on a random Tuesday afternoon with no clients around - just for the fun of it - and with them, bring into the world something beautiful that didn't exist the day before.

I have been able to make a life from shooting pictures like this. I have been able to pay the bills (which is an art form in itself!), build a career and enjoy an extraordinary life full of travel and adventure simply by picking up a camera. It felt magic to me the first time and it still does.

I love this picture so much because we are like one big family in this business if you manage to stick around long enough.

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Untitled by Bonnie Hansen

Three prints available on Ilford Galerie Textured Cotton fine art paper. 
605x850mm (S - $300)
1120x800mm (L – $675)

I always want to capture the true essence of a woman in all her glory and celebrate what we have strived to achieve. We can be anything we want to be! I want every image and every woman I shoot to be burnt into people's brains.

Personal work plays such a huge role in my style of photography and practice. As a woman myself I always struggled to find what was powerful about me and I finally found it behind the lens.

As being in fashion doesn't necessarily give back. This is an opportunity to give back to those in unfortunate circumstances. My heart goes out to all going through poor health.

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Tina Arena by Peter Brew-Bevan

One print still available on Ilford Galerie Textured Cotton fine art paper. 

855x605mm ($550)

The image is from an ongoing series that I am carrying out called The Out Take Series. Basically I have always believed that in my work some of my most successful imagery happens in the 'in-between' moments, that time when the subject is waiting for the next set of directions or set up . This was Tina having a moment to herself before moving onto the next shot.

I believe that personal work has become more important to me than ever before. I have been an editorial photographer first and foremost for over 25 years and I found editorial the most creative outlet. However with the dawn of the digital revolution, editorial is slowly evolving into something quite different than what it was.

The creation of personal projects not only gives me that creative output I crave but also keeps my passion for photographic portraiture alive.

In this day and age where everything is changing so quickly with in our industry, it is easy to have your passion diluted.

I have always been a believer in the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse - it's a no brainer for me.

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Lone Dove by Bec Parsons

One print still available on Ilford Galerie Textured Cotton fine art paper. 

605x850mm ($550)

Lone Dove follows young model and champion equestrienne Lauren Devaney and her family on their biannual pilgrimage from their home in Arizona to the Music Meadows ranch in Westcliffe, Colorado.

Flitting between the documentary and the personal, Lone Dove offers an at once intimate and expansive reading of a group of anomalous lives amidst the iconographic American West. In the process, gently challenging the archetypes of what it means to be a young woman, a model, a horsewoman, a sister and a daughter.

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Prints available for purchase via SUNSTUDIOS website until December 15. All proceeds are donated to support the work of Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.