“I walk the streets and my intent is - and always has been - to discover and make candid photos of our times, in public places, that are un-staged, unmediated, and representative of not only what I see but also of what I feel — my emotional experiences of the world.”
Sam Ferris (b.1985) has been shooting on the streets of Sydney for more than 10 years. He is an organiser and co-founder of the AUSSIE STREET FESTIVAL and competition. His work has been published in Leia Fotographie International, Internationale, Photo Review Magazine, Capture Magazine, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian, Lonely Planet, Fellow Traveller the magazine of China Rail, and as an Editor's selection on Lensculture. In 2019 Sam was named as the winner of ‘Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer’ in the category of Documentary/ Photojournalism. His images have been exhibited both in Australia and across the world.
BASED IN NEWTOWN, NSW, AUSTRALIA
PORTFOLIOS
RAIN RAIN GO
“It was a deluge of biblical proportions, a torrential assault on the unsuspecting metropolis. The skies over Sydney had cracked open, and the unrelenting rain showed no mercy. I can’t look away. Each raindrop is a punctuation mark in a narrative written by a celestial typewriter gone haywire, and the people of Sydney are characters in a story told in liquid ink.
The photographer in me relished this wet dreamland, finding beauty in the absurdity of it all. Darting across George street, drenched to the core, I documented the surreal scenes. For three months, Sydney experienced this: a ‘once in one-hundred year weather event’. It nearly killed my camera.”
IN VISIBLE LIGHT
“In visible light is a personal project that interrogates my perceptions and experiences of living in Sydney - a city where the cost of living has never been higher and the sense of anxiety never more acutely felt.”
OFF QUAY
“The harbour precinct, Opera House, ferry terminals, and their surrounds attract an array of local and international visitors. I became fascinated with the vibrancy of the terminus at peak hour, when ferried commuters glide by, seemingly immune to the harbour's charms. People of all ages, from different backgrounds and walks of life, are corralled into the same condensed public space. When a ferry docks, wave after wave of people come streaming through, and the chiaroscuro light serves as a disclosing tool that exaggerates and magnifies the sheer chaos and multitude of people caught up in this daily ritual.”
