Can you tell us about what inspired you to start this project a decade ago?
The series came about very organically. I had been fascinated by long exposure very early into my experiments with photography before I became a professional, it really made me fall in love with the magic of cameras. I left it alone for many years as I delved into being a professional and fulfilling other people’s briefs. On our first trip to Palm Springs I decided to go out shooting one night and it happened to be a full moon. I got about five good shots and they haunted me for a year. I booked a trip to go back and bring together enough for my first exhibition in 2014. Since then it’s just been a rollercoaster of falling deeper and deeper in love with the place and the process of the series, it’s been an incredible adventure.
The new series features some incredible pairings, like the Meyers Manx driven by Steve McQueen and his own Palm Springs home. How did you gain access to such iconic and valuable items?
In a word, luck and knowing the right people. The car was thrust upon me by an incredibly generous collector who insisted that if I was to borrow some other cars that i find a way to do justice to the Manx which he had recently acquired. A mutual contact ended up knowing the owner of the house who text me back within ten minutes telling me my name was on the door of the private road and where the spare key was hidden. The first time I shot a house on that road it took me eight years to get through those gates, I couldn’t believe this time it happened in ten minutes.
‘Midnight Modern’ has been exhibited around the world but hasn’t been shown in Melbourne since 2017. Are you excited for it to be showing it in your hometown?
Very much so. I can’t believe it has been so long, very excited to be sharing my passion for this work back on home ground with all my nearest and dearest.
What has been the most challenging aspect of creating the ‘Midnight Modern’ series over the past decade?
To be honest the post production phase probably drags out the longest for me, everything else is such an incredible adventure with this ticking clock of days and hours until my window to shoot is closed and I have to get back to Australia. I usually arrive home exhausted and find it so hard to do the very little work required to get them ready for print. Everything else is such a great adventure!
Can you share a particularly memorable experience or anecdote from one of your moonlit shoots in Palm Springs?
This shoot had some pretty epic moments. Standing in front of the House of tomorrow as three cars worth $10m total arrived on trucks from LA as the sun set. Blasting up the private mountain road in the McQueen Manx flat out on the way to shoot it by the pool. Drinking cocktails made by generous home owners as we waited for the clouds to clear. Putting garbage bags over 20 glowing street lamps at 4am hoping no one is awake to wonder what I’m doing. Joyrides in a $2m 1957 Mercedes 300SL roadster. Seeing so many homeowners who’s houses I have captured in previous series who I now count as great friends for life.
How do you choose the locations and cars for each shoot in the ‘Midnight Modern’ series?
Initially I had a list of all the most famous homes in Palm Springs that I needed to tick off which involved trying to get access thru contacts and often in advance. Having basically captured everything on that list my approach is now really organic. I arrive in Palm Springs, go straight to the phone store to get a local sim card, update a calling card which has all my details and a bit about who i am and the series and head straight to Fedex to print 100. I then spend the next 36 hours or so getting very little sleep and driving around every street in town dropping calling cards on homes I think might possibly work. The next day my phone starts ringing hot and its a scramble to produce everything as I go and get it shot. I have five-to-six nights to shoot before the moon becomes too dim and rises too late to be practical – it’s a rollercoaster.
How has your approach or technique evolved over the course of the six ‘Midnight Modern’ series?
The first series (a result of two trips) was shot surreptitiously without knowing a soul in the town, nowadays I rely on full access working with the home owners, car owners and even neighbours involved. A single errant floodlight on a neighbors house can ruin a shot, i ask for a lot of favours from the whole town and i am always amazed at how many people are happy to help.
What role does post-processing play in your work, and how do you ensure the final images maintain the ethereal quality you envision?
There is very little post production on the images. If everything goes right, the moon is out and there are no lights in the environment overpowering it the aesthetic is right there on the back of the camera, it’s a hard thing to fake. Post production just allows me to get things consistent and retouch out the touches of modernity like air conditioners and tesla chargers that I think detract from the timelessness I am going for.
In what ways has the ‘Midnight Modern’ series influenced or changed your perspective as a photographer over the past decade?
The series completely transformed my life. I could never have dreamed that standing there eleven years ago pointing my camera into the darkness waiting for the shutter to close that it could have taken me so many places and given me and so many other people so much enjoyment. It taught me to be an architectural photographer which is now my full time commercial practice and something I adore and have so much energy for.
What’s next for you after the sixth series of ‘Midnight Modern’?
I guess at some point there is bound to be a seventh series. I’m not sure I’ll ever get sick of this wild adventure of a process I’ve created and hopefully people won’t get sick of seeing the images. Each year more and more of these cars and homes end up scrapped and set aside so I think it’s my duty to capture them and share them with the world, they will all need stewards to keep them alive in the generations to come.
I’m also working on the release of my monograph for my Japan series Nihon Noir which should be out late next year.
“It’s always different and it’s always fresh”: Space Between and At The Above