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8 PIECES · EDITIONS OF 10
"I never set out to photograph belonging.
I just kept stopping for animals who weren't hiding."
RELAX INTO BEING SEEN, MEET THE UNKNOWN WITH CURIOSITY AND BELONG WITHOUT BECOMING SOMEONE ELSE.
ABOUT THIS COLLECTION
Wild animals, close and unstaged.
Entirely themselves.
I've loved animals for as long as I can remember. I grew up with them, and there have always been animals around me. But I've never wanted to photograph them contained. A zoo animal lives in an enclosure, and a staged shot is a shot you control. A wild animal is there because it chose to be, the same as you. I didn't set out to make this collection. These photographs were made over years, and it was only later that I saw what they had in common.
What I do is simple and not easy. I can't control the light, the weather or the animal, so I stay still, keep my excitement quiet, and breathe. If my energy overwhelms the moment, the animal leaves, and so does the photograph. I work close. I look for the animal at rest rather than at full flight: eyes closed, settled, at home. Wildness is usually shown as speed and chaos. I was drawn to the quiet inside it.
I made these for the rooms where the feeling of belonging hasn't quite arrived yet. They don't ask you to be more than you are. They show eight creatures being exactly what they are, in the place they are.
WHO THIS COLLECTION IS FOR
For the person who hasn't quite settled into the home they live in.
You do the work well. You know how to show up. At work you understand what's expected, and at home you know where everything is, and still you stand just outside the feeling of being part of it. You're close to belonging. You're not quite there.
These eight animals aren't trying to fit in. They aren't hiding, shrinking or performing. An echidna crosses the road. A kangaroo shares shade in the heat. A frog sits on a rock that looks as if it was built around him. Each asks nothing of you except that you look. There is no expectation that you be more than you can offer. How you show up is all there is. That's what lives on your wall.
If you've ever watched an animal ignore you completely, or choose to stay a little longer than you expected, and felt something in you ease, you already know what these are for.
The Artworks
8 PIECES · THE STORIES BEHIND THE WORK
Fits Just Fine
I don't remember exactly where I found him. I do remember the dark, my early camera straining, and a bright green tree frog on a rock, as settled as anything I've photographed. He could fit in the palm of your hand, and he fits that spot perfectly. Fits Just Fine is for anyone who feels different from where they are. Keep it where you need to remember you can be unlike everything around you and still be at home.
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Here Too
Near Broken Hill, in the middle of summer, I pulled into a car park and found one tree, and a kangaroo alone beneath it. It was too hot for either of us to do anything but look. I was too close to include the tree, so I made a tight portrait and washed the dry ground to white. Here Too is what it felt like to share that heat. Keep it somewhere you're still finding your place, and let it tell you there's room.
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Soaking It In
I was in Port Macquarie for an interview that mattered, and I was nervous. At the end of a quiet jetty behind the hotel, an eastern water dragon was sunbathing with a poise I wanted. He'd seen me and didn't mind. The morning was warm and humid, and the rest of the day was still mine. Soaking It In is what you do while the outcome belongs to someone else. Keep it where you wait: for news, for answers, for the next thing.
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Half a Step
A king parrot flew up near me in a quiet, sheltered spot, close to where I'd met a kookaburra. He wanted what I might offer, and he wanted his distance, and he couldn't settle on either. He leans cautiously into the frame, curious and careful at once. Half a Step is what that looks like. Keep it where you're torn between moving closer and staying safe, and let it tell you both are allowed.
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Why Not
On the deck of the place we were staying in Merrijig, a kookaburra flew down and landed on the rail, curious enough to forget his fear of me. I stayed still, kept my excitement quiet, and breathed. He stayed. Why Not is what that closeness felt like: nerves and excitement, pointed at what could go right. Keep it where you face the unknown, and let it ask what might be possible.
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Staying Put
At Gibraltar Falls, near Canberra, a water dragon sat on a rock beside the path and ignored everyone passing. It was warm and sunny, and he had found his spot and claimed it. I was learning to take up my own space again, and I read a line in the way he sat. Staying Put isn't a warning. It's a permission. Keep it where you need reminding that your space is yours, and you don't have to ask.
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On My Way
I was driving in the last of the daylight when he marched across the road in front of me. I braked, parked, grabbed my camera and ran after him, afraid I'd lose him to the long grass. He wasn't afraid of anything. He crossed into it as though I wasn't there. On My Way is what that looks like: no apology, no audience, only direction. Hang him where you'll pass him on a day you're doubting yourself, and borrow some of his certainty.
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Over to You
I stepped out from under a tree and found two grey fantails playing, so absorbed in each other that I couldn't tell if they were flirting, playing or dancing. They knew I was there and didn't mind. When they landed, they looked straight at me. Over to You is what that look says. Hang it among the people you love, and let two small birds remind you what it feels like to move in step with someone.
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PAPER
310 gsm 100% Cotton Rag
The substrate used in museum-grade printing. Archivally stable for 100+ years. Carries colour with a warmth and depth that coated papers cannot match.
INKS
Epson UltraChrome Pro
Genuine pigment inks chosen for colour gamut and longevity. Will not fade in your lifetime under normal display conditions.
FRAME
Victorian Ash, hand-assembled
Sustainably sourced local timber. Shadowbox profile. Dry-mounted to archival foam board. Museum-quality UV filtering acrylic.
EDITION
10 prints. Signed and certified.
Each limited edition exists in 10-prints worldwide Signed Certificate of Authenticity and edition record accompany every piece.
The Collection
EDITIONS OF 10 · CLICK ANY PIECE TO SEE PRINT OPTIONS
BY INVITATION
Not sure which piece is right for your space?
Curious Creatures is a collection where the scale of the piece matters as much as the image. A private preview is the place to understand how a print might live in your room, including on your wall, in your light, at the size that will give you the feeling you're looking for.
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