I have been compiling images from working on set over the past 14 years (!!) for the South Australian Film Corporation, who requires a stock collection of images for their various film promotion and documentation resources. It's been quite an adventure!

I've been trawling through backup drives and Lightroom catalogues, through negative sleeves in storage, and through boxes of rejected transparencies. I had quite a tight deadline so in the end I delivered 95% digital files, with only a few images scanned from neg / print. There just wasn't the time to adequately digitise these images for their consideration. It's interesting how inaccessible my reasonably well archived film work really is, in this day and age. Everything is needed "yesterday", and with digital turnaround times so well established in client expectations, the film work remains largely un-recognised. I just know there are some real gems in there, reflecting not only a variety of styles of photography but of course telling stories about what happens on set, what a 'behind-the-scenes' looks like behind the veneer of various fictions, and also what moments were caught 'off-camera' by another camera lurking on set.

When I first started working in film & television, I always captured a good range of 'on set' images, driven by my interest in capturing the special nuances of what unfolds before my lens, and by my sincere passion for observation - and enjoying the complex interpretation that is possible of that observed moment. I have found recently that producers actually request that limited crew photos are delivered, or that only very specific images are requested. I must say that this has impacted on how I shoot on set, and I generally shoot less digital 'on set' work now than when I was shooting transparency film! This image of Cinematographer Roger Dowling is still one of my favourites, shot on B&W film on set for the first seies of Chuck Finn. It was such a different world back then. I remember cruising around on set with at least 3 cameras, having to be equipped at all times with low ISO for daylight and high ISO for interiors, as well as good ol' HP5 Plus 400 ISO, and the obligatory Hoya 25A for B&W opportunities.

It is actually quite a surreal world on a film set. The intricacies of what has to happen before the camera rolls is just amazing. It has to be said that often the last person anyone wants to see is the stills photographer, who is pretty much the only person on set (besides the publicist) who is not a cog that needs to be in place for 'action' to be called. The photographer is generally considered to be a nuisance (which is one of the many reasons I often use a long focal length and lurk like a papparazzi photographer) and no one likes to hear the clicking of the shutter during a rehearsal where the actors are forced to endure being in costume despite the unfavourable weather conditions! It takes a pretty thick skin to get the shots some of the time. But when I am working with a good publicist, and when the director and producer are both focussed on the importance of shit-hot stills for their distribution/release publicity, it is just the best job in the world. I LOVE the opportunity to be in incredible locations at the best times of the day. I love the people, and we do have a wonderful family of filmmakers in South Australia, who are generally friendly, fun, considerate and supportive of one another's various pressures. I love the challenge of getting shots that resonate with the complexity of the narative, and the challnge of doing this against all odds. And I love observing the unfolding of a new truth as the script comes to life before the silent crew as the sun sets on a new drama / romance / comedy.