John McRae Photography & Studio
Sydney Professional, Commercial & Corporate Photography
I made new portraits of Obed Karwhin and his brother, Samuel. Obed is a sportsman who hopes to become the first full-blooded African rugby league star to play professionally in Australia. I wish him all the best in his sporting career.
I also worked with Leigh Pritchard on shots for his modelling portfolio.
The end of the year was a busy time for MaisonNets, a rapidly expanding company which manages short term rental stays on the east coast of Australia.
Here is a small selection of some of the interiors of their beautiful homes in Neutral Bay, Potts Point, Cromer, Leichhardt and Surry Hills.
Circa AD Catalogue Shoot
The well known personal jeweller, Adrian Dickens has produced his annual catalogue and once again I had the pleasure of working with him on the 2019 edition.
If you would like more information on Circa AD and Adrian Dickens’ designs, click on the link below:
New work from Malta & Sydney
I have recently completed new portrait sittings for my ongoing series, “Spot the Arab”, during my travel in Malta, Italy and Australia. Further exhibitions on this theme are underway.
Click for more information on “Spot the Arab”
From the series, “Spot the Arab”, 2018. Davide, Malta; Rose, Gozo; David, Malta; Bhavna, Sydney; David, Malta; and Bhavna II, Sydney.
New look corporate head shots
Hansen Yuncken, the largest privately owned construction company in Australia, is progressively up-dating its corporate head shots. The feel for these portraits is relaxed and at ease with a clean and fresh look. I kept the backgrounds as neutral as possible and slightly out-of-focus.
Every year I photograph Matthew Mitcham, Australia’s gold-medal Olympic diver, award-winning cabaret performer and television entertainer, in my studio. This portrait is added to a series of similar portraits, one taken every year, which commenced in 2008, before his rise to Olympic fame.
Each portrait is taken under similar conditions. MMXVIII marks the 11th portrait and the 11th year of this ongoing series.
Thank you Matt for your support in continuing this series, in allowing a very public view of your “personal time-line”. I am still wondering if you will ever age?
The complete sequence can be seen at
https://www.johnmcrae.com/exhi…/annual-matthew-mitcham-portraits/
The series is printed by the artist in an edition of 9, with 2 artist proofs, and is available for purchase.
Contact: John McRae mb: 0419 619 161 e: john@johnmcrae.com w: www.johnmcrae.com
Here is a re-cap of recent shoots in Sydney for various clients.
Construction
Architectural photography is continuing to be a strong sector with development in every direction. I enjoy working with new design projects. You are generally working outside in the sunshine, with lots of space. There’s a meditative aspect as you consider the structure and how best to approach the shoot. You are alone, often in areas that are remote and new, as you wait for sun to slowly set.
Here is a selection of recent shoots:
Inner Sydney High School
The beginning of the Inner Sydney High School transformation….
Of particular mention is the start of construction by Hansen Yuncken of the multi-million dollar project of the new Inner Sydney High School. At the corner of Cleveland St and Chalmers St, Surry Hills this new 11 storey building will be a “state of the art” educational facility.
John McRae’s work is featured as part of “The figure of the mother in art: an embematic representation of love” by Pepe Alvarez and Fernando Galan, published in art.es in December 2018 (pages 59-64). It is part of the special issue of the Spanish art magazine dedicated to the theme of the mother. The article discusses the broader concept of maternity in Michelangelo’s “Pietà”, the female viewpoint as presented by the contemporary artists Nathalie Djurberg, Leiko Ikemura, Francesca Marti’, Isabel Munoz, Yoko Ono and Cindy Sherman, and the work of James McNeill Whistler, John McRae, Roman Ondak and Tatsumi Orimoto. John McRae is represented by Lois (2006), a portrait of his dead mother. This work was chosen as a finalist in the 2006 Olive Cotton Award for Photographic Portraiture at the Tweed Regional Gallery in Murwillumbah, Australia.
As the art.esarticle states, “The figure of the mother, and maternity as a concept, have played an important role in the historical development of mankind as reflected in its cultural manifestations. The cult of the mother is as old as humanity … a link to the earth, making the mother the only real and tangible point of reference.”
