365People

The world is full of characters, and everyone has a story. I'm photographing a new person, everyday, for a year.

[365ppl]

365|365 People

Tom Jones of Leicester, UK.

This is me. 

I'm from the UK, but have been living in Sydney for just over 2 years, working for various film and TV companies, and taking as many photos as my spare time allows. I really love my music, a good film, and a big cup of Earl Grey tea (or Shiraz). I'm passionate about my veganism - I think animals are pretty damn awesome, and I believe we need to look after our environment a lot more than we are doing.

For the last year I've left my house each and every day with my camera around my neck, stopping strangers on the street and asking them for their photo. I've met some incredibly interesting people, and one thing I've learned is that everyone has a story which deserves a listening ear. This blog has been wonderfully challenging and immensely rewarding, and I've met some great friends along the way. I'm a little sad to see it end, but I'm excited to start something new, and spend my lunch breaks actually eating. Keep an eye on my photobytj.tumblr.com blog for upcoming and future projects.

Thank you to all who helped me along the way, and to the 364 people who told me their story. You've been fantastic.

Hope you all enjoyed it. Bye for now..

29.9.13

[365ppl]

364|365 People

Suzie Boyd of Kyogle, Australia.

I strolled past Suzie as she was setting up a stall in Glebe, selling her old clothes with two of her mates. Between taking her photo and hearing what she does for a living, I learned that she really likes bats. They have more vocal chords than us humans apparently. Anyway. Suzie just spent a few years working as a photographer, but she's now returning to her previous career as a teacher. She once taught art and photography to high school kids, but now she's hoping to work closer with her indigenous roots.

28.9.13

[365ppl]

363|365 People

Kat Thomas of Jersey.

In 2007 Kat set up a PR agency in Sydney. One Green Bean she called it, and they are responsible for some of the most interesting things you'll read in the paper and see on the news. Whether it's marrying a flat-pack loving couple in Ikea, or fronting Virgin Mobile's campaign with Brad Pitt's brother; their work turns more than a few heads. The Beans even have cool business cards with their baby photos on. It's all in the detail. Kat herself has been working in PR for many moons before this Sydney venture, having worked in London for a good while. But her life now revolves around the stylish area of Sydney that is Surry Hills, and she's got a minor (/major) obsession with spectacles, owning god-knows how many pairs.

27.9.13

[365ppl]

362|365 People

Matt of Sydney, Australia.

Matt is a retoucher, meaning he touches all sorts of things, but specifically photos. He helps society buy a can of Coke by making their cans extra shiny and look extra delicious; working for a large media and advertising company. Outside of office hours he'll strum his guitar, sing a bit of rock, and grow his beard - this one's been going since January. Keep up the good work!

26.9.13

[365ppl]

361|365 People

Luke O'Brien of Sydney, Australia.

A sparky. That's Luke. He's here wiring up a shell of a house for it's future residents to enjoy the wonders of electricity. What does he do in his spare time? He likes to party and get fucked up. His words, not mine. And he told me to write them. He just got back from Thailand where he made the most of the full moon with his girlfriend - travelling the islands by speedboat. The rest of the time he's spending building his car - he told me what it was but it kind of went straight over my head. It sounded fast.

25.9.13

[365ppl]

360|365 People

Zorin Milosivljevic of Zijecar, Serbia.

In 1971, Zorin came to Australia with a Serbian football team. And here he stayed, to play on the right side of midfield. He returns to his home - where Serbia borders Romania and Bulgaria - every year, to visit his son and family. He's enjoying peaceful retirement, strolling the streets of Crows Nest and helping with his brothers business.

24.9.13

[365ppl]

359|365 People

Nina Kelaher of Sydney, Australia.

Nina left home about a year ago, at the age of 16, because living with her mentally ill mother was too difficult. She found refuge in a crisis shelter, and she's lived with them ever since, rooming with a couple of fun musicians who make a racket. Nina is working at an ice cream shop in Crows Nest at the moment, slaving 7 days a week, earning her way to Europe, where she wants to see the sights and live in the UK. She skates everywhere - something that she's recently fallen in love with, and she paints still life and abstract art; you might spot her work hanging in various cafés across northern Sydney.

23.9.13

[365ppl]

358|365 People

Otto Reitano of Sydney, Australia.

Otto is Lane Cove's 'Crust Extraordinaire!'; he makes pizza; lives thanks to hospitality; and his home is in Chippendale; his room down the hall from mine. He dabbles in DJing and creates his own tunes, all whilst looking for a job in the media industry, though like many of us he's still figuring out what he wants to do with himself. He's one for travelling - he has family members from here, there, and everywhere - and his next trip is Sri Lanka then Europe at the end of this year. He's a real storyteller and a good one at that.

22.9.13

[365ppl]

357|365 People

Firesun Thorpe of Adelaide, Australia.

Firesun has been working with sound for a long time, she worked with Shamanic Healing for a while and she still collects interesting acoustic instruments. Her father didn't want her to have more than two names, so two names she had, until the early nineties when she began using the name Firesun, pushing her first name into second. Officially changing her name in 2001 made her officially become the coolest name I've photographed. 

21.9.13

[365ppl]

356|365 People

Jack Lynch of the Central Coast, Australia.

Jack's life is all about surfing. Surfing and food. And teaching. He's hoping to be a science teacher in the future, and is studying his way towards that goal. He travels the hour+ journey from his home to Sydney most days for uni, but living on the Central Coast means him and his surfing girlfriend can be closer to their favourite parts of the Ocean. They're hoping to venture further north in the coming years to live their "dream laid back surfy lifestyle". Over the last few years he's spent extended periods of time in the USA, Canada, and Japan where he tears up the pistes and samples some fine cuisine; "Traditional Japanese food will change your life so fresh and flavoursome but extremely simple." And his recent trip to Bali was spent just surfing and eating their way around. Jack is a man of wonderful and simple pleasures.

20.9.13

[365ppl]

355|365 People

Kameron Ruxtan of Quandialla, Australia.

Kameron buys a new badge for his jacket each time he embarks on a motorcyle rally. I've never heard of the rallies themselves, but they've got catchy names like Thunderbolt and Brass Monkey, and they take riders on various famous bike routes across Australia. His passion is his bike; I photographed him at about 10am, and he'd been up since the early hours already, working on his wheels. Paying the bills by cooking food is what he's done since he was 15, and he's more than happy with it.

19.9.13

[365ppl]

354|365 People

Kata Japunčić of Ararat, Australia.

Practising Chinese Medicine, that’s how Kata makes her way. She’s got a love for encouraging community healthcare, and recently spent 4 months visiting clinics and healing justice activists in North America, feeding her passion. Twenty years ago she left Australia, feeling like an outsider, and lived in Europe developing skills around community action and organising. She was a part of a squatting community who set up a social centre in Amsterdam that continues today. Her commitment to accessible healthcare started in 2003 as a street medic and barefoot doctor in a collective that organised healthcare trainings and ran a by-donation clinic.

18.9.13

[365ppl]

353|365 People

Jo Cadman of Sydney, Australia.

You're looking at the Australian National 4x4 Rally champion. Yep that's right. Jo and her husband are two of the top 4x4 rally drivers in Australia, and have just been crowned champions for this year, a first for them, so congratulations!! Jo's driving has taken her to some of the most beautiful spots in Australia over the past 15 years. When she's not behind the wheel she's working in television, usually as a production manager for anything from TV Ads to feature films to Disney shows. She's dabbled in directing (scary she says), producing, and various other roles in video production over the last 25 years. In contrast to her fast paced working environment and her time behind the wheel, she rewinds in her garden. "Making nice peaceful gardens, creating beautiful environments."

17.9.13

[365ppl]

352|365 People

Zane Heemi of Aukland New Zealand.

I welcome another musician to my blog - these guys n gals are all over Sydney. Zane is a player of the Sax and the Trumpet, and plays anything Jazz. He's recently decided not to pursue a music career, but instead opt for a career as a chef, and is currently considering a move to a fine dining restaurant in Queensland. Apart from playing music and cooking fine French food, he's not up to much, just getting the odd random tattoo, like the tear drop on his inner finger; there to hold up to people complaining about the insignificant.

16.9.13

[365ppl]

351|365 People

Leigh Johnson of Durban, South Africa.

Leigh has some pretty interesting stories to tell, and I'll try and cover a few of them here. When she was 7 years old Leigh joined a gang in her hometown in South Africa. There were 15 of them in that gang and she's the only one still alive. She can shoot any gun and throw any knife you give her chance to; growing up in Apartheid South Africa does that to you. Some time later, now in Australia, she didn't appreciate her mother's partner's late-night visits to her bedroom, so she voluntarily lived on the streets for 2 years. She's done a lot with her time since those early years; she's a qualified chef, a black-belt in Karate, a business owner and a community worker. One of the businesses she runs is a modelling agency, but with a twist - they model wearing body paint rather than clothing. The community project she's working on at the moment is one of her real passions too - taking less privileged children, many from the streets and many Aboriginal, and hosts dancing classes for them, run by guest dancers. These guest dancers are some of the best dancers and choreographers in the world, and it sounds like an amazing way to keep them from drugs, crime and violence. Leigh's dream is to make other peoples' dreams come true. Quite inspiring.

15.9.13

[365ppl]

350|365 People

Danny Shaw of Melbourne, Australia.

Soon to relocate from his home city of Melbourne, moving to the sunny beaches of Sydney, means Danny has an exciting few months ahead of him. He's a software developer and web designer, but of the earthy kind. He's keen on camping and spends as much time in his van as he can, hopping between the different festivals Australia has to offer. He is studying transpersonal counselling at the moment, which sounds very interesting, and he's a bit of a music man, dabbling with his acoustic guitar.

14.9.13

[365ppl]

349|365 People

Sonja of Sydney, Australia.

Sonja, aka Jelly, is a fellow photographer and she specialises in the event, wedding, and children's side of things. The last 10 years or so has seen her travel the world, volunteering her photography skills in countries such as Cambodia, Haiti, and Guatemala, and she lived abroad for 5 years, mainly in the Dominique Republic. She's a Barista on the side, a practiser of yoga, a vegan (like myself), and the owner of a one-eyed 14 year old pug.

13.9.13