Brisbane actor John Young shoots a pretty excellent headshot. Have a look.
Images by Anderson
Performing Arts Photography · Brisbane
Commercial work for Queensland Professional Photography Awards
At the 2019 Queensland Epson Professional Photography Awards, I was fortunate enough to be one of the finalists in the Commercial division. (Congratulations to the maestro himself Mark Duffus. I’m coming for you Mark!) Very excited to be able to submit commissioned work in to the Commercial category!
The pieces I submitted in my portfolio of four images were from the Queensland Theatresports Championships, Love Hurts, Around the Campfire, and Titanic The Movie The Play.
One little hiccup… For the original poster for Love Hurts, the tinder-like images were all supplied by Kat and Emily’s friends, so they needed to be replaced with photographs that I shot. With the gracious permission of some of our clients, and particular assistance from the most excellent Brisbane Arts Theatre, all of the images were swapped out for new (and generally cringeworthy) versions. That pulled it out of the Commissioned subcategory and over to Self-Commissioned, but that’s ok.
Actually, a second hiccup… For the original Queensland Theatresports Championships artwork, I used a lot of stock photography to turn the image around quickly for the client. I replaced all of that stock with nearly identical self-shot versions for the commercial piece.
Titanic The Movie The Play The Poster
After our set of solo character pieces for Titanic, we had an idea for a Titanic advertising image that would totally convey the careful balance of epic theatre, audience participation, and low-budget special effects that make Act/React productions so much fun. Taking imagery from the original movie as inspiration, we put a concept together to be shot on-set at the purpose built Titanic made by the Queensland Maritime Museum.
Sometimes photography is all about problem-solving. My team set up the shot while the cast were getting prepped and ready. We had the lighting and set up all good to go, and most of the cast members on-site… when word came through that due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, we had fifteen minutes to completely vacate the venue. Fifteen minutes!!
Part of our preparation for sessions like this is a detailed shot list, with details of each shot, the talent, the technical setup, any props, and guidelines for the posing and emotional states we want to travel through to give us not just the must-have shots but bonus shots that may end up getting a spot in the final piece. When the time constraint came down, we smashed this shot out (a composite of about eight different shots) in eight minutes flat. Full marks to the cast, who quickly took direction and somehow managed to make breathing space so their characters could explore the emotions they needed for the shot.
UPDATE; This image scored a Silver with Distinction at the 2019 Queensland Epson Professional Photography Awards, and was part of our portfolio as a finalist in the Commercial division.
