23rd march 1998 was the day i received my first camera; it wasn’t absolutely by chance – to avoid a disappointed kid on birthdays, my mother would suggest i select three items from the Index catalogue, resulting in the end gift being somewhat of a surprise. but I still like to think of it as kismet.

my camera soon became my magic eight ball – providing an opportunity to make sense of those big questions – abstract concepts that were too complex to turn into an intelligible query. I shot roll after roll with my regular subject matter of BBQ fires, slugs and moths, but soon progressed to photographing people.

i decided to inflict torture to my year five classmates and teacher, mr gordon, and take all their portraits. To say that I was pleased with the results was an understatement. But it wasn’t until I started taking impromptu images to see the true magic of photography – the ability to freeze time and capture tension.

every image I’ve made since has depicted both the human and natural world, while reflecting myself—a self-portrait.