Heart of the Nation: All the world’s a stage for Sam Ferris

After moving to Sydney in 2008 Sam Ferris started carrying a camera on his daily walks to and from work; it’s a habit he just won’t break.

Sam Ferris’ street photography captured in Sydney. Picture: Sam Ferris

Sam Ferris’s priorities in life are as follows: his family first, then his passion for photography – then his shoe collection, the scale of which would make ­Imelda Marcos blush. The 40-year-old father of two young boys works as a high school English teacher, a job he loves, and scratches his creative itch through street ­photography. Here’s a selection of his images, captured in Sydney CBD and around his inner-west neighbourhood.

Ferris grew up in Melbourne’s western suburbs and ­inherited an artistic sensibility from his father, a painter. “I can’t paint, or even draw, but I’ve always had an eye for composition,” he says. After moving to Sydney in 2008 he started carrying a camera on his daily walks to and from work; it was a way to explore and engage with his new ­surroundings at a time when he felt isolated and lonely, he explains.

   

   

Pretty soon, he discovered the greats of street ­photography, like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Australia’s own Trent Parke, and a great passion was born.

“I’m drawn first to interesting light, which is what creates the drama,” he explains of his modus operandi. He talks about the qualities of light like a connoisseur. “It can be harsh, direct sunlight or soft, filtered light or even reflected light... when I see an interesting patch of light I’m attracted to it like a moth.” Street photography is an exercise in serendipity: hanging around, hoping to catch those fleeting ­moments when the light, the built environment and the characters come together to create an striking tableau. Sometimes he’ll actively patrol the streets; other times it’s more like a waiting game. “If I find a good ‘stage’ for a photo, I’ll wait at that spot for the right ‘actors’ to emerge on it.”

   

   

Ferris devotes at least a little time every day to shooting. “I have a very understanding wife,” he laughs. “She knows I have this problem, this need, to do it.” And outside of work and parenting, the couple collect shoes – in particular basketball shoes from the early to mid ’90s, an era when Ferris was in primary school and idolised the Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan. There’s a thriving collector’s market in these shoes, either originals or reissues.

   

   

“We have more than 200 pairs – and 75 per cent of them are mine,” Ferris says. They take up pretty much a whole room at home. “Collecting them is largely about nostalgia for me,” he explains. “I couldn’t afford shoes like that as a kid – but I can now!”