A SPONTANEOUS RAMBLE

An image is to; move us, take us there, inspire us, make us bleed and warm us.

I want to keep it honest, keep myself honest. I want to see people for who they are - make them shine by being completely open with who I am. I want to capture this genuine connection photographically. I believe whole heartedly in people and I like to try and find this essence through my camera and keep it for reflection.

I love where I live . My family mould my world. This world is gently filtered by the green glow of gum trees and soft hues of ocean. As a relatively recent emigrant from a transient decade of cities, travel and roller coastering indulgence through struggle, it is here I call home. It is the community that I share it with that also really makes me happy.

So as a photographer with a history that has taken me from the status of struggling artist to lowly paid photojournalist, and onto commercial photographer, I now say I'm a freelance photographer.

With my camera these days I'm shooting everything. Social documentary stands at the forefront of my inspiration, but I happily allow this to seep into the worlds of art, surf photography, editorial, commercial, and even, (clear the throat) wedding photography. I'm directionless in this realm for now but for the fact that I am sure that I currently have multiple directions.

It's been a year now following this dream of being where I want, with I whom I love, and throwing caution to the wind, with nothing but presumption that it'll all be taken care of.....even if it does mean packing shelves in Frankies.

So far so good. I've somehow managed to keep the jobs flowing, the family fed, and score a couple of waves in the meantime. In the last year I've shot everything from council workers, to dental practices, from 15' waves to King Cheetahs. Shackside is about documenting this journey and sharing with you some of the joys and foibles of being a photographer in paradise.

The Official Bio Sketch

2006 extract from Capture Magazine (australia’s top-selling pro photography magazine):

“With solo exhibitions across Australia over the past five years, Dampney is fast becoming a renowned photo artist. As a street photographer his tendency is to find Australians in their lighter moments, enjoying life for its simplicity and beauty. From shooting surf photography from the water (mostly from the North Shore of Oahu) to his time as a photojournalist, Dampney has found himself immersed in the thick of things on more than one occasion. It is ironic that his more renowned work of black and white images depicting peace and innocence, are often from a time for him as a photographer where riots and twenty-foot swells were a regular occurrence. Dampney’s background as a software engineer with bachelor degrees in Economics and Science further add to the enigma. In looking forward, he intends to continue capturing people in their everyday lives, often surreptitiously, and in such a context that both beautiful stories can be told and poignant messages can be made. Dampney currently works as a commercial photographer and freelances as a photojournalist.”

The Shack

Above all, The Shack represents simplicity, love and character.

The Shack is on the South Coast of NSW, Australia. To potential clients it's always "a relatively short drive down the coast."

The Shack has a corrugated iron roof that rattles like a war zone in the rain. It's a hotch potch construction of second hand materials, with windows etc layered in peeling paint. It's home to both my family and numerous domestic spiders.

We have three adopted Bantam chickens, a pup (Alby the super pup) and a really big yard. There's also a long suffering vegie patch and some beautiful big gum trees.

The Shack lies within a short walk to a stretch of coastline that I've always held really close to my heart. The beaches are clean and mostly deserted. The surf is pretty damn good alot of the time, and most of this stretch is declared national park.

It is also my office. From this corner between the one bedroom and the old bathroom, I have declared my office.

The shelves represent my first handyman effort ever and are laden with fat photography books that constantly threaten to tumble down on my head. Otherwise where I sit here is a cheap blue desk that I picked up off the side of the road, and before me a very modern Macintosh computer.

To my left I look out one of the aforementioned windows towards the ocean.

Currently I'm Shooting With:

Nikon FM2, D2H...and Canon 5D. Good lenses.

Aquatech water housing.

A big fleck board and a couple of simple lights.

PhotoShop CS2 and my Mac.