STREET/URBAN CATEGORY WINNER

BEN THOMAS

What first got you interested in photography?

I spent a lot of time in my younger years working with the moving image, which ignited my interest in the visual arts. It wasn't until my mid-twenties living in Melbourne that I began to pursue photography. For me at the time, photography was more a toolset I used to discover and document my new home. It was this process of documentation and my pure fascination with my new surroundings that started the fire and the photography journey.

What do you try to achieve through your work?

I create work to challenge the boundaries of how a photograph is constructed and perceived. My hope is that this challenges perceptions not only of what photography is, but what a subject should be, being mostly centered around our urban built environment. I also aim to provide a way for people to consider how their surroundings affect them and the relationships that we form with our built environment.

How would you describe your photographic style?

Hyperreality.

What inspires you and your work?

A consistent theme of my work has been the built urban environment. I'm interested in understanding how people identify with their surroundings and how this impacts on future design.