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Franky could you tell us a little bit
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about yourself and your photography?
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Okay, I first picked up my camera when I was 8 years old,
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and one of my uncle, he was a professional photographer.
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And in the old days, that was back in Hong Kong,
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in the old days,
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if you wanted to get a family portrait done,
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you have to go to the studio,
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everyone sit really tight,
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and he used a four-by-five big camera
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with a cloth covering his head
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and take a photo of us.
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So those were the old days.
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Of course he'd develop his own film and print his own print
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and I loved to sneak into his dark room
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and sniff all those fixer.
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(laughing)
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That particular smell is so distinct,
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and he always kicked me out of course.
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Yeah, so he taught me all the basic,
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he gave me my first little rangefinder when I was eight.
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And since then, I always loved taking a photo,
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particularly human
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'cause I thought human face is fascinating me.
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So that's how I start my photography.
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I still remember when I was like 17, 18 years old,
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it was a long time ago, I'm pretty old now,
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I use a little roller fax to take photo with the girls,
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and I had a very unique experiences.
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I took a photo of one of the girl, and then after 25 years,
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I never contact with that girl and bump into her at work.
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And I actually took that photo, show it to her,
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which is a square photo because it's a roller fax.
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And it was, that moment you can feel that photography
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is so powerful.
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And was that in Hong Kong?
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No, that was...
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Okay, the photo, oh, we met in Australia.
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The photo taken in Hong Kong,
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and then we bumped into each other back in Australia.
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He moved to Singapore, so it's a very complicated story,
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but it's just so,
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it just things that's happened very random.
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The power of photography sort of across the globe.
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When she look at that photo after 25 years,
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and she never seen it.
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And you can tell from her expression, her eye,
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and you can tell that she is,
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all the memory start coming back,
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and that is the power of it, yeah.
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It is, you're capturing that moment.
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And so you work as a professional photographer now?
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Yes, I am, I am, yeah.
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I've been doing design my whole life, moving from print,
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got my master multimedia design from USAID,
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moved into web, and work in the web industry,
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and I hated it to the max
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'cause web design is not about design
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it's all about programming.
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And so 2008 GFCI jumped out
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and start my own business doing portray family
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and major in wedding
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'cause wedding I got a lot of chance to capturing people
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and I'm a very people person, I talk a lot.
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Yeah, it's very, very intimate
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and trustworthy photographing people's weddings.
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And there is a wedding photo in Living Memory,
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you probably saw it, by John Benevento,
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a cross-cultural wedding,
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which is a lovely sort of McCubbin sort of style photo.
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And so that's sort of your path but you also take
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a lot of your own creative photography as well
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outside your work.
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Yes I do, I do.
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As I said, people faces fascinating me.
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I love to take portrait of different people.
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And I remember once Kennan campaigned
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asking five photographer or six photographers
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to photograph one person,
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and that person telling us different story.
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And so end up with the same guy
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with six different, very different portrait.
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Ah, yeah, I think I remember seeing that
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and then people sort of thinking who that person was
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from the way they presented and then...
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Yeah, that was very powerful even about photography,
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but perception of others as well.
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Yes, the concept behind it is really fun.
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So that guy is a professional actor,
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and he actually told us different story
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and make us believe that he's that person.
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And as a photographer, everyone have a point of view.
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Everyone have a perception of who you are.
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As a photographer, within like five, 10 minutes,
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we need to capture you, not only outside,
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but trying to get the soul out from it.
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So you were one of the photographers
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on that shoot?
Yes I was.
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Oh, that's amazing.
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I was, yes I was.
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And within a few minutes, have a chat with him,
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and then we need to take that photo and capture,
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using a lot of different things,
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but to capture that,
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how we think he is based on what he told us.
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And I think that make a good portraiture
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very interesting to do, yeah.
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Yeah, there's certainly a trust there
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when you're photographing people that you have to develop.
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But I guess that leads us into your work in Living Memory.
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So that sunbath after lockdown,
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which is a very personal work for you.
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It's a very, very personal work.
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It's right outside our house.
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(laughing)
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So because we got lock down in all the beaches,
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and we can't go anyway, and that day was a sunny day,
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and I saw all the shadow from the laundry
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and my wife is feeding McKella, just sitting outside,
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and oh, this is a lovely frame.
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So I just took the frame.
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Yeah, it's like a scene from a painting to me,
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sort of like a Vermeer or sort of one of those Dutch masters
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sort of family life,
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it's very quiet, but the composition's beautiful.
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Even like a bit of a modern day Madonna and child
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with that softness and the connection
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between sort of Alice and McKella, and then you as well
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being allowed into that intimate moment.
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One of the interesting things about it
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is you don't really see their faces too much.
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It's a side profile of Alice looking down at McKella,
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but it's still so, so much.
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Yap.
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Sometimes it's not only the faces,
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but the whole environment, I guess.
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Yeah.
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And the light's beautiful in it too that afternoon,
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is it afternoon light?
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Yes, don't you love our Australian sun?
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With spiles.
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Australian sunsets and sunrises are just beautiful.
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Yeah, but that is actually in the middle of the day.
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(laughing)
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Very, very harsh light.
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Yeah, yeah, well then you get those lovely shadows.
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So, what do you think,
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what do you think being part of Living Memory
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and then being sort of welcomed into that NPPP family,
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which has got a long history of
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like successful photographers,
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what do you think that'll mean for your photography career
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or personally, what does that mean to you?
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NPPP, okay.
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I was in Head-On Festival before.
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I actually was, I got the People-Choice Award back in 2010.
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I remember the photo, yeah.
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The yoga teacher.
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Yoga teacher, yeah.
Yeah, I remember.
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I was in Moran Portrait Report, a finalist,
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I was in Australian Life.
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I tried to enter NPPP for portrait, a decade.
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(laughing) A decade.
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Lindo, Lindo, I honest, she-
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Yes I know, yes.
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She's a very good friend of me.
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Yeah, she's been a finalist, yes, Lindo.
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And some other couple friend as well.
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They've been in the finalist.
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The community.
When I look at them,
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they were in, my face turn really, really green.
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(both laughing)
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Persistent, yeah.
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So I keep enter every year,
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I keep enter every year, finally I'm in
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which is a big, big honour for me.
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I love to be part of it,
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and I will keep working hard and trying,
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keep trying every year.
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I don't know, to be honest to you
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because this year is really special.
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It is.
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(Franky laughing)
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We don't have the opening,
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we may or may not have the party,
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and I didn't even see my work there yet.
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I know.
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I know, so this year is really different.
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A lot of changes,
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but also like some of the crazy stuff with it
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is the calibre of the judges
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and the calibre of the other photographers
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that have been hung in it as well.
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Like it's incredibly high this year.
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Yep.
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Yeah, Nick was in this year.
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He is not, he don't photograph people that much,
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he photographs weather a lot. (laughing)
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I know this guy.
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So I'm dying to go there
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and meet all the other photographer at the Gallery.
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Well that was why
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when we did our online opening and stuff,
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I was actually getting choked up
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'cause that's my favourite part as well,
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of like meeting everyone and getting to see,
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like for you to see Alice and your daughter
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with the portrait and that photographic community,
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but we'll keep par
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working towards getting something happening.
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Yep.
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In terms of job-wise, it help a lot
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'cause when I'm talking to my bride and groom,
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I told them about NPPP, everyone is so happy for me.
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I mean the most prestige gallery in Australia.
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The portrait side is, yeah.
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We'll just go with the latter.
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Yeah. (laughing)
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Well done, you deserve it.
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It's so beautiful and it got a lot of, I mean,
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it's really lovely sometimes
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to go and just walk through the gallery
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without wearing your badge or anything
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and just listen to people talk about the works.
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Yeah, that's one of the favourite things as well.
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So hearing what people say.
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And even when we share them online
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all the comments of what people say
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or what it means to them or, it's very emotive.
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So, I guess one thing we did speak on a little bit
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was how have locked downs and all the changes in the world
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affected your practise
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and the way you approach photography,
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I guess, professionally and personally?
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Let's say personally first, I do a lot of portrait work,
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I do a lot of street work, and do you,
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you shoot as well, right?
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No, I haven't for a while, I just love photography.
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Okay, yeah, a lot of street photography,
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a lot of street guy,
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when you talk to them there's always stuff
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by their owned area or the city,
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and then they move to other city
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and go travelling and stuff like that
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and then they will say, "Oh, you don't..."
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For example, if we are Sidney, they will say,
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"Ah, we don't photograph in Sydney anymore because..."
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They always go outside.
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But now is a good time to come back.
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So I actually went back to Sydney and walk around there,
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and walk around the street,
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which I've been walking around so many times,
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but still you come back to where you start.
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And I guess this lockdown,
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it's a way that you can actually
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trying to slow down a little bit
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back to where you start
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and think about the whole thing again.
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Well, Sydney without the people and the hustle and bustle
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is a different place altogether, a different planet.
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Well, before,
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when this first start last year,
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beginning of last year, the first,
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00:12:28.718 --> 00:12:29.975
the (indistinct) all start,
265
00:12:29.975 --> 00:12:32.360
all the Southern city was just so quiet.
266
00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:35.827
But slowly, it actually went back to kind of normal,
267
00:12:35.827 --> 00:12:40.327
not as busy, but still it's getting a lot more people.
268
00:12:41.312 --> 00:12:43.729
And up until this time, yeah.
269
00:12:44.581 --> 00:12:47.534
Now it's basically, it's that town.
270
00:12:47.534 --> 00:12:50.225
And obviously it's had an effect on you professionally
271
00:12:50.225 --> 00:12:51.735
because weddings
272
00:12:51.735 --> 00:12:54.084
and the things that as a professional photographer,
273
00:12:54.084 --> 00:12:57.627
you're making your income on have been seriously affected.
274
00:12:57.627 --> 00:13:01.391
Yes, luckily the government helped out quite a lot.
275
00:13:01.391 --> 00:13:05.202
Without their help, we'd be already all out of business.
276
00:13:05.202 --> 00:13:08.785
But then, people are still getting married.
277
00:13:10.086 --> 00:13:11.914
They just postponed.
278
00:13:11.914 --> 00:13:15.024
Yeah, so the job's still there.
279
00:13:15.024 --> 00:13:17.857
Luckily, after the whole pandemic,
280
00:13:20.434 --> 00:13:23.075
I only have like two or three cancelled.
281
00:13:23.075 --> 00:13:25.907
It's just three plus they might be in,
282
00:13:25.907 --> 00:13:30.506
they are interstate or oversee or all their family.
283
00:13:30.506 --> 00:13:32.019
I have one of the wedding
284
00:13:32.019 --> 00:13:35.562
is actually meant to be 150-people wedding.
285
00:13:35.562 --> 00:13:39.796
But because all the major people can't come from oversea,
286
00:13:39.796 --> 00:13:43.983
so they decided to go for a very, very simple one.
287
00:13:43.983 --> 00:13:48.100
So we got only the bride and groom, the celebrant, me,
288
00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:51.563
the makeup, and sunrise on the beach.
289
00:13:51.563 --> 00:13:52.562
Beautiful.
290
00:13:52.562 --> 00:13:55.054
Yes, and I was actually one of the witness.
291
00:13:55.054 --> 00:13:58.037
Oh, that's cool, doubling up.
292
00:13:58.037 --> 00:14:00.118
So I guess when lock down eases,
293
00:14:00.118 --> 00:14:01.738
you're gonna need a hell of a lot of coffee
294
00:14:01.738 --> 00:14:03.632
to get through all of these jobs.
295
00:14:03.632 --> 00:14:05.333
Yes, yes, yes.
296
00:14:05.333 --> 00:14:07.583
Our team is quite full now.
297
00:14:10.183 --> 00:14:12.878
Throughout these three, four months,
298
00:14:12.878 --> 00:14:14.248
it's a blessing because
299
00:14:14.248 --> 00:14:17.813
I can spend much more time Mckella.
300
00:14:17.813 --> 00:14:20.405
But then on the other hand is,
301
00:14:20.405 --> 00:14:23.334
she missed out on a lot of social life as well?
302
00:14:23.334 --> 00:14:25.830
Because she, even a toddler, they need a social life.
303
00:14:25.830 --> 00:14:27.320
How old is she now?
304
00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:29.047
She's nine months old now,
305
00:14:29.047 --> 00:14:30.960
she was born on last Christmas day.
306
00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:31.898
Oh, beautiful.
307
00:14:31.898 --> 00:14:34.800
How cute, so coming up to her first birthday nearly.
308
00:14:34.800 --> 00:14:36.633
Yes, coming, coming.
309
00:14:38.737 --> 00:14:41.404
But then when the lockdown open,
310
00:14:44.950 --> 00:14:46.283
I'll be so busy.
311
00:14:48.526 --> 00:14:49.559
I'll probably need to work
312
00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:51.607
at least one or two weddings a weekend.
313
00:14:51.607 --> 00:14:52.440
Yeah.
314
00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:54.924
Yeah, it will be very, very, very busy.
315
00:14:54.924 --> 00:14:56.559
But good busy.
316
00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:57.392
Yes.
317
00:14:57.392 --> 00:14:59.314
Getting back to what you love.
318
00:14:59.314 --> 00:15:03.044
But I think I need a few weeks to get myself into it.
319
00:15:03.044 --> 00:15:06.274
(laughing) Start doing your pushups now.
320
00:15:06.274 --> 00:15:11.274
Not only getting very lazy, but gaining a lot of weight.
321
00:15:11.645 --> 00:15:13.114
Everyone's the same.
322
00:15:13.114 --> 00:15:16.200
Yeah, I was talking to my yoga instructor
323
00:15:16.200 --> 00:15:18.232
and then she was saying, "Don't worry, Franky,
324
00:15:18.232 --> 00:15:19.941
we're all on the same boat."
325
00:15:19.941 --> 00:15:21.038
Everybody's the same,
326
00:15:21.038 --> 00:15:23.451
we're gonna emerge in the same way.
327
00:15:23.451 --> 00:15:24.459
Yes.
328
00:15:24.459 --> 00:15:27.731
So one of the things a lot of people ask about,
329
00:15:27.731 --> 00:15:29.653
the public and aspiring photographers
330
00:15:29.653 --> 00:15:31.821
are interested in when you become a finalist
331
00:15:31.821 --> 00:15:35.876
in Living Memory or NPPP as we know it is.
332
00:15:35.876 --> 00:15:37.525
What is your selected equipment,
333
00:15:37.525 --> 00:15:38.941
what equipment do you use,
334
00:15:38.941 --> 00:15:42.274
and the style of photography you prefer?
335
00:15:44.895 --> 00:15:49.000
I always think equipment is the last bit,
336
00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:49.891
it's always the last bit,
337
00:15:49.891 --> 00:15:53.474
the best camera is the camera in your head.
338
00:15:54.383 --> 00:15:55.493
Even the final, okay?
339
00:15:55.493 --> 00:15:56.487
Yeah.
340
00:15:56.487 --> 00:16:01.487
But then I think I'm moving into the mirror-less now.
341
00:16:01.838 --> 00:16:03.807
I always use rangefinder,
342
00:16:03.807 --> 00:16:08.724
but sometimes when you transfer it's too slow to work with.
343
00:16:10.975 --> 00:16:13.950
So when we work, we're always with SAR,
344
00:16:13.950 --> 00:16:18.092
but now I think I'm moving to mirror-less
345
00:16:18.092 --> 00:16:21.870
'cause the technology's there compared-
346
00:16:21.870 --> 00:16:24.663
And your personal style of photography,
347
00:16:24.663 --> 00:16:26.584
what would you think is your niche
348
00:16:26.584 --> 00:16:29.396
that you love to photograph personally?
349
00:16:29.396 --> 00:16:30.941
What do you mean?
350
00:16:30.941 --> 00:16:33.433
Like, I know you focus on portraiture,
351
00:16:33.433 --> 00:16:35.603
but would it be stuff like,
352
00:16:35.603 --> 00:16:36.887
well, you said street photography,
353
00:16:36.887 --> 00:16:39.590
is it going around and photographing people on the street
354
00:16:39.590 --> 00:16:42.590
or just what you'd see at that time.
355
00:16:45.786 --> 00:16:47.369
In terms of what?
356
00:16:48.689 --> 00:16:50.548
Your personal style of photography,
357
00:16:50.548 --> 00:16:52.657
how would you class yourself as a photographer?
358
00:16:52.657 --> 00:16:54.622
Like a street photography?
359
00:16:54.622 --> 00:16:56.512
I wouldn't say I'm a street photographer.
360
00:16:56.512 --> 00:17:01.214
I'm still thinking I'm a people person, I'm a portraiture.
361
00:17:01.214 --> 00:17:03.356
Yap, portrait artist.
362
00:17:03.356 --> 00:17:08.356
Even when I'm doing street, I remember years ago I was,
363
00:17:08.723 --> 00:17:13.076
do you ever heard of a guy named Richard Bellingham?
364
00:17:13.076 --> 00:17:15.623
I remember the name, yes.
365
00:17:15.623 --> 00:17:17.607
He was a YouTube photographer,
366
00:17:17.607 --> 00:17:19.041
he was famous a long time ago
367
00:17:19.041 --> 00:17:23.374
and he came to Australia teaching in ANU for a while
368
00:17:24.383 --> 00:17:26.281
and we've become friends, very good friend.
369
00:17:26.281 --> 00:17:27.611
He's a very funny guy.
370
00:17:27.611 --> 00:17:31.494
So we actually drove a car to Broken Hill,
371
00:17:31.494 --> 00:17:32.890
right in the middle of,
372
00:17:32.890 --> 00:17:35.179
at the heart of New South Wales.
373
00:17:35.179 --> 00:17:36.948
So we stayed there for two days.
374
00:17:36.948 --> 00:17:40.186
We actually set up a four by five on the street,
375
00:17:40.186 --> 00:17:42.406
tracking people from the street,
376
00:17:42.406 --> 00:17:43.670
(Tara laughter drowns out speaker)
377
00:17:43.670 --> 00:17:45.420
take a photo of them.
378
00:17:46.438 --> 00:17:48.271
Adventures of youth.
379
00:17:49.161 --> 00:17:50.978
Just have fun.
380
00:17:50.978 --> 00:17:53.339
Even on the street, we try to get portrait.
381
00:17:53.339 --> 00:17:54.839
Yeah, I guess...
382
00:17:55.800 --> 00:17:56.797
You go.
383
00:17:56.797 --> 00:17:59.523
Yeah, so I guess I will call myself a portraiture
384
00:17:59.523 --> 00:18:01.200
rather than a street photographer.
385
00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:02.033
Yeah.
386
00:18:03.088 --> 00:18:05.487
And do you have any tips for aspiring photographers?
387
00:18:05.487 --> 00:18:06.345
Like it was interesting
388
00:18:06.345 --> 00:18:11.320
you said you continue to enter the prize over and over,
389
00:18:11.320 --> 00:18:15.357
so perseverance.
No, just got a little tough.
390
00:18:15.357 --> 00:18:16.647
Be yourself, don't think about the end result too much,
391
00:18:21.896 --> 00:18:23.396
enjoy the process.
392
00:18:24.275 --> 00:18:25.554
That's the most important bit
393
00:18:25.554 --> 00:18:27.869
because the end result we never can control.
394
00:18:27.869 --> 00:18:29.092
You suddenly learn every time
395
00:18:29.092 --> 00:18:30.784
even you put an entry in a prize, right?
396
00:18:30.784 --> 00:18:32.201
You're writing your artist's statement
397
00:18:32.201 --> 00:18:35.325
and picking your best work, and...
398
00:18:35.325 --> 00:18:36.331
Hundred percent.
399
00:18:36.331 --> 00:18:37.793
That's yeah.
Hundred percent.
400
00:18:37.793 --> 00:18:42.337
Just be yourself, do whatever you love the most,
401
00:18:42.337 --> 00:18:46.163
then you will do it better and better.
402
00:18:46.163 --> 00:18:47.312
Good advice.
403
00:18:47.312 --> 00:18:48.333
Yes.
404
00:18:48.333 --> 00:18:50.436
So what about photographers or artists
405
00:18:50.436 --> 00:18:53.769
that inspire you or that you look up to?
406
00:18:55.603 --> 00:18:57.547
I have a few.
407
00:18:57.547 --> 00:18:58.915
That's all right, go for it.
408
00:18:58.915 --> 00:19:00.332
Richard Avedon.
409
00:19:01.613 --> 00:19:03.320
I love his work.
410
00:19:03.320 --> 00:19:05.572
He is, probably one of the old master
411
00:19:05.572 --> 00:19:09.572
that can sew around the fine art in a commercial
412
00:19:11.264 --> 00:19:13.613
and both very successful.
413
00:19:13.613 --> 00:19:16.566
He's one of great master, I love the-
414
00:19:16.566 --> 00:19:19.249
We did have an Avedon exhibition here a few years ago
415
00:19:19.249 --> 00:19:20.331
at the Portrait Gallery,
416
00:19:20.331 --> 00:19:21.817
so I was lucky enough to work
417
00:19:21.817 --> 00:19:25.223
with one of the agents that runs his gallery.
418
00:19:25.223 --> 00:19:26.743
I've actually got one of his photos
419
00:19:26.743 --> 00:19:29.069
hanging above my desk of the basketballers,
420
00:19:29.069 --> 00:19:30.260
which is just beautiful.
421
00:19:30.260 --> 00:19:32.385
Like it's just a print out, it's not a real one,
422
00:19:32.385 --> 00:19:35.015
but I also I love Avedon.
423
00:19:35.015 --> 00:19:37.958
Yeah, his work is just amazing.
424
00:19:37.958 --> 00:19:40.481
His work, it's, even his fashion work,
425
00:19:40.481 --> 00:19:42.731
it's so simple, so minimal.
426
00:19:43.673 --> 00:19:47.420
And I always say simpler it is, longer it lasts.
427
00:19:47.420 --> 00:19:52.420
And when you look at it, the photograph taken in 1950 old,
428
00:19:52.706 --> 00:19:55.342
it just still look so fashioned right now.
429
00:19:55.342 --> 00:19:56.633
Yeah, timeless.
430
00:19:56.633 --> 00:19:58.027
It's timeless, yeah.
431
00:19:58.027 --> 00:20:01.944
This is how, good artwork can be just timeless.
432
00:20:04.153 --> 00:20:05.070
Who else?
433
00:20:06.622 --> 00:20:09.959
One of the wedding photographer I love,
434
00:20:09.959 --> 00:20:13.695
and he's also kind of my mentor as well, Rocco.
435
00:20:13.695 --> 00:20:14.528
Rocco-
436
00:20:14.528 --> 00:20:16.461
Is it Rocco Ancora?
437
00:20:16.461 --> 00:20:18.580
Oh, Rocco Ancora yeah.
438
00:20:18.580 --> 00:20:20.497
He influenced me a lot.
439
00:20:22.869 --> 00:20:25.153
The way how I shoot, and the way how I tell a story.
440
00:20:29.746 --> 00:20:32.413
He actually influenced me a lot.
441
00:20:33.848 --> 00:20:35.275
And what about any artists?
442
00:20:35.275 --> 00:20:38.099
Do you only look at photographers,
443
00:20:38.099 --> 00:20:39.524
or are you often inspired by art
444
00:20:39.524 --> 00:20:42.374
'cause with your photo in Living Memory,
445
00:20:42.374 --> 00:20:44.610
it's almost like a painterly quality
446
00:20:44.610 --> 00:20:46.717
the way it's set out and the composition.
447
00:20:46.717 --> 00:20:47.717
Yes, I do.
448
00:20:49.349 --> 00:20:53.969
I come from art school, so I studied quite a lot art.
449
00:20:53.969 --> 00:20:56.052
I love a lot of painting.
450
00:20:57.554 --> 00:21:02.151
But then come down to name again, (laughing)
451
00:21:02.151 --> 00:21:05.621
name is the worst thing (laughter drowns out speaker)
452
00:21:05.621 --> 00:21:07.118
and numbers.
453
00:21:07.118 --> 00:21:09.368
So I do read a lot of books
454
00:21:10.618 --> 00:21:13.315
around painting and stuff like that.
455
00:21:13.315 --> 00:21:15.779
One other guy that I really like,
456
00:21:15.779 --> 00:21:18.029
it's Kermit, the guy who paint gold painting.
457
00:21:23.328 --> 00:21:24.776
Is it Kermit Oliver?
458
00:21:24.776 --> 00:21:26.609
Kermit Oliver, yeah.
459
00:21:27.682 --> 00:21:30.515
The way he, because if you ask me,
460
00:21:34.766 --> 00:21:38.099
a lot of people saying, how do I put it?
461
00:21:39.091 --> 00:21:44.091
Okay, a lot of people, I've been asked this question a lot.
462
00:21:44.345 --> 00:21:45.671
What is a good photograph?
463
00:21:45.671 --> 00:21:48.370
What is a good photograph?
464
00:21:48.370 --> 00:21:51.695
Photos is coming from painting, all right?
465
00:21:51.695 --> 00:21:52.624
So the same thing.
466
00:21:52.624 --> 00:21:56.256
So what's a good painting, what's a good photo?
467
00:21:56.256 --> 00:21:57.626
A lot of people say it in different,
468
00:21:57.626 --> 00:21:59.158
different people give you different answer.
469
00:21:59.158 --> 00:22:02.658
Light, composition, gesture, storytelling,
470
00:22:03.965 --> 00:22:04.798
and stuff like that.
471
00:22:04.798 --> 00:22:06.906
But I think a good photo
472
00:22:06.906 --> 00:22:10.968
is a photo that you've never seen before.
473
00:22:10.968 --> 00:22:13.245
So if you're an astronaut and you went up,
474
00:22:13.245 --> 00:22:15.142
you just take a photo of the earth,
475
00:22:15.142 --> 00:22:18.522
no one's seen that before, great photo.
476
00:22:18.522 --> 00:22:21.915
So we're always trying to find new element
477
00:22:21.915 --> 00:22:24.322
or different thing to photograph,
478
00:22:24.322 --> 00:22:27.264
or a different view, or different light
479
00:22:27.264 --> 00:22:29.476
or using different things
480
00:22:29.476 --> 00:22:32.643
to make the viewer to see differently.
481
00:22:34.104 --> 00:22:38.453
And Kermit, he used one of the very good technique,
482
00:22:38.453 --> 00:22:40.234
which is putting gold into his,
483
00:22:40.234 --> 00:22:42.287
a real gold into his painting
484
00:22:42.287 --> 00:22:44.624
and this make things very differently.
485
00:22:44.624 --> 00:22:46.745
Yeah, the light, obviously.
486
00:22:46.745 --> 00:22:48.493
Yeah, it's just different.
487
00:22:48.493 --> 00:22:50.951
Rather than just a paint,
488
00:22:50.951 --> 00:22:54.716
just using paint to put it on the canvas,
489
00:22:54.716 --> 00:22:57.320
he actually used something different.
490
00:22:57.320 --> 00:22:59.320
So it just, when I work,
491
00:23:02.192 --> 00:23:04.242
I always try to find something different
492
00:23:04.242 --> 00:23:08.742
to put into my work, to make it little bit different.
493
00:23:11.030 --> 00:23:14.243
That's one of the reasons why I love his work.
494
00:23:14.243 --> 00:23:17.019
So one of the things, and one of the questions I have,
495
00:23:17.019 --> 00:23:19.529
and we sort of actually started,
496
00:23:19.529 --> 00:23:22.603
we started with this one was,
497
00:23:22.603 --> 00:23:25.069
can you remember the first photo you ever took,
498
00:23:25.069 --> 00:23:28.190
like the first phot you have a conscious of taking.
499
00:23:28.190 --> 00:23:29.190
Conscious?
500
00:23:36.906 --> 00:23:37.739
I think...
501
00:23:39.624 --> 00:23:42.923
Consciously I remember, all right?
502
00:23:42.923 --> 00:23:45.923
I think it's when I was quite young,
503
00:23:47.649 --> 00:23:49.982
I took my father's ash stray
504
00:23:53.765 --> 00:23:56.334
and it's a different shape,
505
00:23:56.334 --> 00:24:00.908
not only just an empty plate but they got things inside,
506
00:24:00.908 --> 00:24:04.075
and I use a torch to go different side
507
00:24:08.046 --> 00:24:09.293
to light up the ash tray,
508
00:24:09.293 --> 00:24:11.823
and then use a very small point-and-shoot
509
00:24:11.823 --> 00:24:13.865
and take photo of it.
510
00:24:13.865 --> 00:24:15.441
And I still got that photo.
511
00:24:15.441 --> 00:24:16.996
That's amazing.
512
00:24:16.996 --> 00:24:18.819
Yeah, I was really young,
513
00:24:18.819 --> 00:24:22.394
probably about 12, 13, something like that.
514
00:24:22.394 --> 00:24:23.522
And just with the family
515
00:24:23.522 --> 00:24:25.767
sort of snap-and-shoot camera that you had, or-
516
00:24:25.767 --> 00:24:27.450
(overlapping chatter)
517
00:24:27.450 --> 00:24:28.346
Yeah, that's the one.
518
00:24:28.346 --> 00:24:32.679
It just a very small (indistinct)
519
00:24:33.967 --> 00:24:37.878
And this is not only you just go out and boom,
520
00:24:37.878 --> 00:24:40.602
just point and shoot a photo, but really-
521
00:24:40.602 --> 00:24:42.149
You're setting it up.
Explore it.
522
00:24:42.149 --> 00:24:43.918
Yeah, and trying to explore it.
523
00:24:43.918 --> 00:24:46.374
How light affecting that thing.
524
00:24:46.374 --> 00:24:48.050
And I still got those photo.
525
00:24:48.050 --> 00:24:49.821
And seeing it as an object.
526
00:24:49.821 --> 00:24:53.570
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was a long time ago.
527
00:24:53.570 --> 00:24:54.978
So what about dream subjects?
528
00:24:54.978 --> 00:24:57.138
If you could get anyone in the world
529
00:24:57.138 --> 00:25:00.963
in front of your camera, who do you think you'd go for?
530
00:25:00.963 --> 00:25:03.463
Oh, I never thought of that.
531
00:25:05.104 --> 00:25:06.687
What would I shoot?
532
00:25:12.466 --> 00:25:14.338
Remember there's a photographer,
533
00:25:14.338 --> 00:25:18.956
he photographed nude people in a massive scale.
534
00:25:18.956 --> 00:25:21.206
(laughing)
535
00:25:22.287 --> 00:25:26.053
If I could get people nude and lie there,
536
00:25:26.053 --> 00:25:30.778
I want to try that. (both laughing)
537
00:25:30.778 --> 00:25:33.431
I know the guy where everyone goes to like a scene
538
00:25:33.431 --> 00:25:34.941
and yeah.
539
00:25:34.941 --> 00:25:37.318
Yeah, you know who am I talking about.
540
00:25:37.318 --> 00:25:40.350
I can't remember the name.
Me too.
541
00:25:40.350 --> 00:25:41.662
It's unique.
542
00:25:41.662 --> 00:25:46.058
I probably want to try nude in a massive scale.
543
00:25:46.058 --> 00:25:48.310
Nude flashmob by Franky.
544
00:25:48.310 --> 00:25:49.819
(Franky laughing)
545
00:25:49.819 --> 00:25:50.928
Flashmob nude.
546
00:25:50.928 --> 00:25:53.608
(both laughing)
547
00:25:53.608 --> 00:25:54.586
That'll be fun.
548
00:25:54.586 --> 00:25:55.669
Check boom.
549
00:25:57.545 --> 00:26:01.192
Everyone right outside Oprah House.
550
00:26:01.192 --> 00:26:03.066
It'd be cool.
551
00:26:03.066 --> 00:26:05.879
Well, I mean, lockdown is ending, people are gonna go crazy.
552
00:26:05.879 --> 00:26:09.096
I'm just saying now might be the time.
553
00:26:09.096 --> 00:26:10.314
Shoot your shot.
554
00:26:10.314 --> 00:26:11.310
Yeah, I want to try some big scale in nude, yeah.
555
00:26:16.645 --> 00:26:20.702
Yeah, so, it's just some crazy thought.
556
00:26:20.702 --> 00:26:23.724
All right, what about any shout outs or thank yous,
557
00:26:23.724 --> 00:26:27.188
that you wanna pass on in the interviewing?
558
00:26:27.188 --> 00:26:31.271
I really want to thank you, you guys hard work.
559
00:26:32.463 --> 00:26:36.388
And I really want to thank you NP, National Project Gallery
560
00:26:36.388 --> 00:26:40.319
'cause without you guys, I mean, we won't,
561
00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:43.266
although we still didn't able to get together yet,
562
00:26:43.266 --> 00:26:45.768
but I'm looking forward to it, yeah.
563
00:26:45.768 --> 00:26:48.287
Yeah, well, thank you.
564
00:26:48.287 --> 00:26:50.313
Everyone thanks us, but as well, it's you guys
565
00:26:50.313 --> 00:26:52.639
that make up the show,
566
00:26:52.639 --> 00:26:54.726
you're the bricks and we're just the mortar really
567
00:26:54.726 --> 00:26:56.621
that's holding the wall together.
568
00:26:56.621 --> 00:26:57.787
No, you're the land.
569
00:26:57.787 --> 00:27:01.050
Without the land, even the brick and motor
570
00:27:01.050 --> 00:27:03.679
they got nowhere to go.
571
00:27:03.679 --> 00:27:07.012
So this is the most basic, you guys are,
572
00:27:08.253 --> 00:27:10.686
as long as you guys there, we always come to you.
573
00:27:10.686 --> 00:27:12.258
Thank you so much.
574
00:27:12.258 --> 00:27:14.527
Well, now you're part of the family, really?
575
00:27:14.527 --> 00:27:16.437
Yeah, well, I'll keep working hard.
576
00:27:16.437 --> 00:27:18.597
Hopefully next year, my hard work is gonna hang there
577
00:27:18.597 --> 00:27:19.603
with the opening.
578
00:27:19.603 --> 00:27:23.032
You've broken (indistinct), we're going.
579
00:27:23.032 --> 00:27:25.506
What about Franky's parting words of wisdom,
580
00:27:25.506 --> 00:27:26.546
so this is the last one.
581
00:27:26.546 --> 00:27:28.801
So this can just be advice on any scale:
582
00:27:28.801 --> 00:27:32.544
photography, life, your words of wisdom.
583
00:27:32.544 --> 00:27:35.889
Well, I guess forget about the end result,
584
00:27:35.889 --> 00:27:37.867
enjoy the process.
585
00:27:37.867 --> 00:27:42.093
Enjoy every time you click on that shutter
586
00:27:42.093 --> 00:27:42.926
Yeah.