Through the photographer’s lens

“I have been a photographer for most of my life. In that time, I have always worked from an intuitive perspective rather that from an intellectual one.”

Ashley Mackevicius discovered photography at the age of 15 while still in high school. With a darkroom set up in the laundry and a hunger to experiment and learn, this newfound ‘hobby’ soon overtook more mundane pursuits such as homework.

In 1975 he enrolled at Prahran College of Arts majoring in photography, where he studied under icons of Australian photography such as Athol Shmith, Paul Cox and John Cato.

Needing to make a living Ashley Mackevicius turned his skills to commercial photography where a career spanning 40 years blossomed. Gaining numerous awards including ‘Australian Photographer of the Year’ his commercial work ran in parallel to his artistic work. “My aim is to challenge the viewer to see beyond the object as a ‘thing-in-itself’ through the  manipulation of scale and the abstraction of recognisable forms.”

Ashley recently spent a day photographing inside and out of the old school buildings at our Waterbrook Bowral site. The results are an array of tonal emotions that are atmospheric, melancholy and invite contemplation of the past lives of the buildings and the people that inhabited them.

The images are available as large, framed prints (as seen above) or as a collection in a hard-cover book of which we have a copy of at the display residence.

Ashley has a permanent gallery and studio at the SHAC in Robertson and it is well worth the visit!  Please contact Lizzie at Waterbrook if you are interested in viewing or ordering the book.  hello@waterbrook.com.au