Australia’s art scene is growing from strength to strength, thanks to the likes of Tom Blachford, who has made a name for himself as one of the best photographers from Down Under.
The Melbourne-based snapper works his craft on interiors, architecture, aerial, personal and fine art photography.
Not only has Blachford, born in 1987, worked with some of Australia’s most prominent architects, he has featured in a considerable number of art and design publications, and exhibited around the world.
Some of the teams he has worked alongside include Foolscap, Studio Esteta, Ritz & Ghougassian, and Mim Design.
According to his biography, the reason behind his success is that Blachford is “obsessed with capturing the moments of clarity, colour and mystery that exist just beyond the limits of our human perception”.
He focuses on moody images, using only existing light sources. For instance, he utilised the moon in his series Midnight Modern; the neon electric lights that lit up Tokyo in Nihon Noir; and the ever-present street lights in LA for Noct Angeles.
Adding to this, his ability to create “mystery, unease and wonder” in everyday sights is why people from all over the world clamber over each other to look at, and buy, his work.
Indeed, he has had solo exhibitions since 2011, starting at the Port Melbourne Gallery in Victoria, Australia. Since then, he has exhibited in California, New South Wales, New York, and London.
Blachford is also a regular at art fairs, whether they take place in The Netherlands, Germany, Florida, Canada, California or London.
Those who have been unable to see his photographs up close might have caught them in publications, which he has featured in since 2014.
Blachford, who has nearly 57,000 followers on Instagram, believes taking snapshots of architecture acts as a “stage for unwritten narratives that implore the viewer to script their own drama”.
This is particularly the case for one of his most popular series, Midnight Modern, which included some of the most famous sites in California’s prestigious Palm Springs.
He snapped the Kaufmann Desert House, Frank Sinatra’s Twin Palms Estate, and the Bond Villain-esque Doolittle House by Kendrick Bangs-Kellogg.
The artist is able to add a dark element to his photographs, thanks to only using already existing light sources. Therefore, those who look at his pictures of these famous landmarks get a sense of eeriness and atmosphere.
In addition to architecture, Blachford, who has been featured at New York’s Toth Gallery since 2018, is also adept in fine art photography.
His long exposure photography means he is able to capture clarity in his pictures, such as his Influorescence collaboration with Kate Ballis.
The detail on the flower pictures are second to none, adding an out-of-this-world quality to the naturally-occuring blossoms.
Blachford keeps his social media followers regularly updated with his impressive pieces, but the best way to enjoy his work is, undoubtedly, by buying your own and going to a framing shop in north London to frame it.