Tony Allison

BIOGRAPHY

Since the age of 14 I’ve had a camera in hand, though like many of us, it is a passion that rarely provides an income.

Having said that, I enjoy the freedom to explore my own creativity without the constraints of budget, briefs and deadlines.

 There’s something to be said for doing something purely for the joy of it, without obligation or expectation.

Having grown up in a small rural town close to the ocean in Southeast Queensland, and within easy reach of the mountains,

nature has always played a big part in my life. I enjoy the solitude and ever changing dynamic of light, weather and landscapes.

At times, I’m content simply being there without even switching the camera on.

Some things were meant just for you, in that moment in time.

I don’t think I could easily categorise my “style” of photography, it really depends on what environment I find myself in.

I’m equally passionate about environmental issues as I am about social justice and the preservation of culture

in a rapidly advancing technological world.

My travel photography tends towards a documentary style, often sharing my images with organisations that have a story to tell,

and raising awareness of people and cultures on the road less travelled. Sometimes the journeys are confronting,

but my experience has taught me that no matter where you live we all share the same planet,

 with similar hopes, fears and aspirations.

In those rare moments of “boredom”, I create my own fun, sometimes making different lighting tools to create

lightpaintings or selectively lighting abandoned buildings or the understory of a rainforest canopy.

When I can’t travel abroad, I travel minuscule distances [from the house into the back yard!] into the macro world

and find all manner of interesting things to keep me occupied in the most innocuous places.

When I’m not working as a festival site or production manager, I create art from recycled and re-purposed objects.

Sometimes my art combines my digital imagery & light, or kinetic sculptures from bicycle rims & wind chimes from bike cogs.

Or in this 'Miniatures' exhibition, old SLR cameras repurposed as wall and desk lamps.

I hate to see things thrown away and prefer to see them given new life in other forms.

I believe beauty exists everywhere and much like life, it depends on how you frame it and where your focus is.

Towering high-rise buildings at night can be futuristically stunning while a simple texture or pattern on a leaf

can speak volumes for the inherent magnificence of nature.

Currently I spend half the year here in Australia, based in Bellingen and Lismore,

and the rest of the year in Jogjakarta or West Kalimantan, Indonesia. While overseas I share my logistic skills with

 local community based organisations and document projects and people with an environmental or social justice focus.

Tony Allison | ecodigitography

www.about.me/tonyallison