Statement
As a street photographer, I take an observational view of how our present circumstances govern our behaviour individually and in crowds. Progressively, we appear to interact with each other only on a synthetic basis. We attempt to mass connect with the aid of modern technology, but in so doing pay less attention to individual connection. I think this is compounded by the increasingly designed environment we inhabit. The codes we see, hear and read within it impact upon our behavioural processes and ultimately isolate us.
In developing scenes, I try to choose architectural backgrounds against which I can display separated figures, distributing or choreographing them across the frame. The architecture becomes incidental to a scene or situation that may or may not evolve within it. I tend to look for sites or places where people pass through without congregating. To begin with, if there is one figure or two or more figures who are positioned apart, I’ll wait until they’re joined by others in the hope that they’ll create a spatial and enigmatic dialogue. The figures often take on the look of stressed automatons acting out prescribed scenes. At a time when it’s becoming harder to discern what is human and what isn’t, their isolation from each other serves to emphasize an unreal and machine-like formality. These isolated figures don’t have to be interesting in themselves, so long as they create a narrative tension with others. It’s important that there is an element of movement from the figures. Everything must appear to be changing and in flux at the same time as retaining a spatial integrity. In an age wracked with anxiety and uncertainty, there is still a challenge to inject a boisterous creativity into a streetscape of robotic conformity.
BIOGRAPHY
Born Dundee, Scotland.
2016
- Finalist, LensCulture Street Photography Awards
2017
- Finalist, Best Series, Streetfoto’17, San Francisco
- PDN 7th annual Exposure Award winner
- Juror’s Pick, LensCulture Street Photography Awards
- Series Winner, PHoS Athens
- Finalist, Miami Street Photography Festival
- 2nd Place Winner, Chromatic Photo Awards
2018
- Finalist, Italian Street Photography Festival, Rome
- Projection, Voies Off Festival, Arles
- Dom Literatury, Lodz, Poland (Urban Photo Awards)
- LensCulture Network Gallery
- 3rd place, Bronze Star Award, Neutral Density Awards (Street photography)
- Finalist, Second Prize, Independent Street Photography Awards
- Winning image (FenchurchBuildings161018), Street Life, Life Framer
- 3 Honorable mentions, Chromatic Photo Awards
2019
- ESPY photography award exhibition, Elysium Gallery, Swansea
- Honorable mention, (OneShot) International Photography Awards
- Winner, Best Series, Streetfoto’19, San Francisco
- Series winner, Street Photography category (non-pro), 13th Pollux Awards
- Honourable mention, Street Photography category, Minimalist Photography Awards
- Series Finalist, Aussie Street 2019 International Street Photography Competition, Sydney
- Category winner, Neutral Density Awards (Street photography)
- Fotonostrum Gallery, Barcelona (13th Pollux Awards)
- Vernissage, The 2019 Independent Photographer Awards Exhibition, Alalimon Galleria Barcelona, CLB Berlin
- 3rd Place Winner, Chromatic Photo Awards
- Honourable mention, 2019 Exibart Street Photography Competition
- Honourable mention, Annual Photography Awards, Street category
2020
- Series Finalist, Bangkok Street Photography Festival
- Gold award, San Francisco Bay International Photography Awards
- Member, iN-PUBLiC
- Portfolio Award, San Francisco Bay International Photography Awards
- Honourable mention, Street Photography category, Minimalist Photography Awards
- Featured in “The Square Mile” iN-PUBLiC Online Exhibition
- International Exhibition 2020, Glasgow Gallery of Photography
- Jurors’ Pick, 2019/2020 Chelsea International Photography Competition, New York
- Honourable mention, “Dis/harmony” Group Exhibition, PH21 Gallery, Budapest
- Honourable mention, Special category, PX3 Prie de la Photographie, Paris
- First prize, “Street Photography” New York Center for Photographic Arts, New York
- Shortlist, 212 Photography Competition, Istanbul
- Honourable mention, Neutral Density Awards (Street photography)
- Street Photography Exhibition, Downtown Arts Collective, Orlando, Florida
- 2 Honourable mentions, Chromatic Photo Awards
- 3rd Place Winner, Annual Photography Awards, Street category
2021
- International Street Photography Exhibition, Glasgow Gallery of Photography
- Photographic Visions – Winter 2021, PH21 Gallery, Budapest
- “The Poetry of the Ordinary”, Photo Place Gallery, Middlebury, Vermont
- “Taking Pictures: 2021”, Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon
- “Composed”, Photo Place Gallery, Middlebury, Vermont
- “Motion”, PH21 Gallery, Budapest
- Honourable Mention, “The Streets”, Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 2021 International Photo Competition, Viewpoint Gallery, Bedford, Nova Scotia
- Honourable mention, Vienna International Photo Award (VIEpa)
- Passepartout Photo Prize, Plazza di Pietra Gallery, Rome
- Honourable mention, Special category, PX3 Prie de la Photographie, Paris
- “Minimalism”, Decode Gallery, Tucson, Arizona
- Curator’s Choice, “-scapes”, Group Exhibition, PH21 Gallery, Budapest
- “Open Theme”, Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- “Color: Photography Now”, Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon
- “Street Photography”, Blank Wall Gallery, Athens
- Budapest International Foto Awards, 1st place winner, People category
- 3 Honorable mentions, Chromatic Photo Awards
- Honorable mention, Annual Photography Awards, Street category
2022
- The Urban between Reality and Utopia (video), Tiradentes Photo Festival, Brasil, and Rotterdam Photo Festival
- “All About the Light”, The South East Center for Photography, Greenville, South Carolina
- Winners of 2021 Budapest International Foto Awards Exhibition, House of Lucie, Budapest
- Lenscratch, The 2/22/22 Exhibition: Pairs and Diptychs http://lenscratch.com/2022/02/the-22222-exhibition/
- “Open Vision”, Decode Gallery, Tucson, Arizona
- Silver winner, People category – street, Muse Photography Awards
- “The Streets”, Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- “Taking Pictures: 2022”, Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon
- 8th Fine Art Photography Awards, Street Photography category: Nominee
- The Art of Photography, PH21 Gallery at Valid World Hall Gallery, Barcelona
- International Street Photography Exhibition, Glasgow Gallery of Photography
- Street Sans Frontières, Galerie Joseph – Le Palais, Paris
- Center Forward 2022, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado
- “Significant Colour”, PH21 Gallery, Budapest
- “-scapes”, PH21 Gallery, Budapest
- “Focus: Shadow and Light”, Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon
- Winner, Photofolios:22, Photopolis Festival, Agrinio, Greece
- Nominee, reFocus Awards, One Shot Photo Contest, Street category
- “Photo Shoot: 2022”, Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon
- “Telling Tales”, The South East Center for Photography, Greenville, South Carolina
- “The Poetry of the Ordinary”, Photo Place Gallery (Online), Middlebury, Vermont
- 3 Honorable mentions, Chromatic Photo Awards
- Honourable mention, Annual Photography Awards, People: Street Life category
2023
- “Street Photography”, Blank Wall Gallery, Athens
- Photography in the Visual Culture, Centro Internazionale di Fotografia, Palermo
- “Stories”, Decode Gallery, Tucson, Arizona
- “Framed: Shadow and Light”, Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon
- “Street”, Glasgow Gallery of Photography
- “Urban”, PH21 Gallery, Budapest
- 6th Chania International Photo Festival, Crete
- “Silence”, PH21 Gallery, Budapest
- “Movement”, Glasgow Gallery of Photography
- “-scapes @Barcelona”, PH21 Gallery at Valid World Hall Gallery, Barcelona
- “The Streets”, Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- “In-Between Moments”, Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Finalist, Photolucida Critical Mass 2023 Top 50
- “Dynamic: Shadow and Light”, Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon
- “Letters, Numbers and Symbols”, Praxis Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Official selection and honorable mention, (people/street) International Photography Awards
- Head On Photo Festival, Sydney
- “The Poetry of the Ordinary”, Photo Place Gallery (Online), Middlebury, Vermont
- “Masters of Street Photography”, Glasgow Gallery of Photography
- “Light and Shadow – Barcelona”, PH21 Gallery at Valid World Hall Gallery, Barcelona
- Bronze Star Award, Neutral Density Awards (People/Street Photography)
- 3 Honorable mentions, Chromatic Photo Awards
- Tokyo International Foto Awards, Honourable Mention, Street Photography category
- 1st Place Winner, Annual Photography Awards, People: Street Life category
2024
- Shortlst, “Street Life”, Competition, Life Framer
- Fresh Eyes Talents 2024, Haute Photographie, Rotterdam
- “Alone Together”, Critical Mass Top 50, Colorado Photographic Arts Centre, Denver, Colorado
- “Taking Pictures: 2024”, Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon
- 10th Fine Art Photography Awards, Street Photography category: Nominee
- Editor’s Pick, The Independent Photographer Street Photography Award
- “Parallel Voices”, Photometria International Photography Festival, Ioannina, Greece
- “All About the Light”, South East Center for Photography, Greenville, South Carolina
- “The Poetry of the Ordinary” – Solo exhibition, Gastfeld, Fotokunst Gallery, Bremen
- “Street+Night+Architecture”, Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon
- “The Land of Silence”, MUSA Pavilion (Screen Room), Venice
- “Green”, Glasgow Gallery of Photography
- “Light and Shadow”, Photo Place Gallery (Online), Middlebury, Vermont
- Honourable mention, Analog Sparks Awards
- “Photo Shoot: 2024”, Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon
- “Street”, Glasgow Gallery of Photography
- Semi-finalist, Exposure, Head On Photo Festival, Bondi Pavilion, Sydney
Bibliography
2017
- Urban Street Dive
- The Street Photographer Book Vol. 2
- Interview – Streethunters, PHoS Athens
- Chromatic Photo Awards Annual Book
- The Best of LensCulture, Volume 1
- www.lensculture.com/articles/streetmax-21-the-cold-automatons-of-contemporary-london
2018
- The Best of LensCulture, Volume 2
2019
- World Street Photography 6: The Finest Photos in International Street Photography
- Eyeshot Magazine, “Street Jungle” – Streetfoto ’19 Best series winner
- The Independent Photographer: Talents of the Year 2018/2019
- Chromatic Photo Awards Annual Book
2020
- Feel the Street in Your Hands, The Street Photographers Book
- Cities 7, Urban Visions by Italian Street Photography
2021
- SEEN Magazine, 050310-(150121continuing)
- www.streetsstorytelling.com Gallery Collection
- Street, Bokeh Bokeh Photo
- www.tagree.de, Streetscapes of Robotic Conformity
- www.thepictorial-list.com Portfolio and Interview https://www.thepictorial-list.com/post/interview-streetmax-21
- Intersections, iN-PUBLiC zine
- Tales of the Unwritten, A Tribute to Street Photography
- Edge of Humanity Magazine (Aug 30), Injecting a Boisterous Creativity into a Streetscape
- “Two decades of iN-PUBLiC street photography”, Amateur Photographer magazine, Premium Edition, October 2021
- FotoNostrum Magazine Issue No. 20
- Al-Tiba9 Magazine Issue 09
- https://budapestfotoawards.com/interviews/streetmax21/
2022
- Beyond the Frame – @StreetMax21 by Word on the Street, YouTube
- Leadenhall Lovers? One Photo Story, PrivatePhotoReview.com
2023
- Photography in the Visual Culture 2022/23, Serradifalco Editore
- PHMuseum.com Stories, 040116-310322
- Woofer Magazine, 171213-240423, https://woofermagazine.com/2023/06/07/171213-240423/
- PierAndOcean1-6, Stories, PrivatePhotoReview.com
- Mounting the Scaffold, Stories, PrivatePhotoReview.com
- https://artpil.com/streetmax21/
2024
- Fresh Eyes 2024, GUP Magazine
- Are Sexy Phones Dialing Down?, Stories, PrivatePhotoReview.com
- F-Stop Magazine, Open Theme 2024 issue
Museum of Avant-garde, Mendrisio, Switzerland