LIFE BEHIND THE LENS
A collection of some of my most interesting experiences filming over the last 20 years.
Heavy Sheeting Rain, Seemingly Falling in All Directions. Eyes squinting as the biting wind produced tears before immediately whipping them away. Sheets of roofing metal flying up the street. Trapped on a street corner while a Category 4 cyclone crossed over - the most intense experience I had during my career as a network news cameraman.
“Can you go to Seoul ?" "F--- yeah I can!" That's how it started. One minute I was on a stakeout near Ipswich, the next racing off to get organised for a breaking news trip to South Korea. "Will you make it?" "I'm stuck in morning traffic, but I'll absolutely make it."
On the first morning I met Clara Pferrer, the producer I was going to be working with for the next 4 weeks. Clara is a reporter and producer based in Germany. We spent the next 2 days at the International Broadcast Centre, learning the processes for filing and editing our stories for Olympic Channel News (OCN) as well as the procedures in place while on the ground at our events. Based out of the Ariake Urban Sports Park I was working on all the skateboarding and BMX events. In the lead up Clara and I filed athlete and venue profile stories as well as any other stories of interest we found.
March 2020. A global pandemic is declared. International borders close, followed by state borders and a steady trickle of new restrictions are introduced. Lockdowns. Essential workers. Quarantine. Everyone has been impacted, the ways as complex and unique as we all are.
