Mark Forbes

Sunshine Coast National Art Prize 2025 - Finalist

_{[Image courtesy of the artist]}

Artist Statement

I am an image collector. The vast majority of my photos occur organically, very much by happenchance, usually on the way to a different destination. People often comment that my photography gives them a sense of déjà vu and longing, even when they know they’ve never been to the places photographed. However there is something very familiar, something intangible that can be related to. It is this deeper connection with the viewer that I strive to achieve through my photography. 

The scenes that I choose to document are clearly ordinary life, commonplace and mundane. However it is the approach to these scenes - the human presence - despite an abject lack of a person, the personality of objects within, the tangible details and the importance of documenting scenes that tend to disappear over time - that for me combine to create the images that are essential to share.