Who or what has been your favourite subject to date? I love photographing performers whether they are an actor or a musician. Performers tend to have an understanding of how things will come across in a shot; actors can emote so many nuances with small movements or just the twitch of an eyebrow; and often musicians know how to take centre stage and put on a show for the camera, either via the relationship with their audience or the relationship they have with their instruments.

Who or what would you love to photograph but have yet to pin down yet? This sounds a bit random and is perhaps a little off-brand, but I would love to visit the Sheldrick Trust in Kenya and photograph the keepers, and the elephant and rhino calves that are in their care. And also maybe Gillian Anderson.

‘A picture is worth a thousand words’: discuss . . . Pictures can mean many things to many people. Our job as photographers is to ensure that a story is told to many in a way that conveys a message that reads similarly to many, or to only a few. That is the beauty of being someone that makes pictures; you have so many options as an image maker (such as framing, lighting, colour etc) that give you the control to tell the story you want to tell. Pictures can be read a thousand ways and over and over again.

What tactic(s) do you use to put a subject at their ease? It is driven by what I want to achieve, but on most occasions it ends up that I smile profusely and babble nonsense until I create a relationship with the sitter. Depending on the person that I am photographing, I’ll also do some research on their background before meeting them to see what we may have or don’t have in common; it’s good to have things to chat about. Most people also want it to be an enjoyable experience in the end, so we have that in common from the beginning.

Who was the biggest influence in making you pick up a camera and become the photographer you are today? There’s a couple of answers to this question for me. My grandfather was the one that first introduced me to photography as a small child. He built a darkroom at home and I still remember the smell of the developing chemicals, a wonderful smell which puts a smile on my face to this day. We had darkrooms at high school and thanks to a wonderful art teacher, the beginning of wanting to make photography a career has always been at the back of my mind. Growing up, my father had a music store in a coastal town in Australia, and I spent much of my childhood hanging around the shop dissecting the album and CD covers. My photographs ‘Underworld Parts 1&2’ which were featured in Vogue Italia, are based on some of the multiple album covers I loved, including covers from Kate Bush and, more specifically, the Roxy Music Avalon album cover. Avalon is the name of my family property/home in Australia. And, of course, Richard Avedon, Walker Evans, Leibovitz, Crewdson . . . I can go on.

‘The camera never lies’: discuss . . . The camera doesn’t lie, but images can. At what point is it that someone’s individual perspective becomes an entire truth? As a photographer you have control of the image by choosing what you do or don’t put in your frame; you are only seeing part of a possible entire scene. Context and perception are very powerful tools, and photography relies on these tools to tell stories. Not just that, you can manipulate how people view an image whether it is in black and white, vibrant colour, high contrast, dimly lit; you can use angles, lens choice, shadows, tone, light . . . these are all tools to tell a story that you want to tell. Even street photography can be considered a manipulation.

Is AI a threat to your business? I don’t feel it is a threat to my own photography no. If anything, I see it as a tool that I can use to speed up the editing process when considering the time it takes for retouching. The type of photography that I do is all about recording a moment, including performance photography or a portrait. Portraits are far more than just the composition of the lines on someone’s face. They are also a record of your interaction with the person you’re photographing: a moment in time. If you use AI to create pictures of people or performances, it cannot achieve the same message as those moments then become simply imaginary.

What’s your favourite bit of photographic kit? I wouldn’t say I really have one specific piece of kit that I favour. I love all my lenses and I love working with lights, but I guess it just really depends on what I am shooting: sometimes it takes lots of kit and sometimes it takes very little.

What would be your main advice to an aspiring photographer? It depends on what your end game is, but in the beginning choose to throw yourself in the deep end as much you can. Shoot many different scenes, scenarios, events, jobs. Doing this means you could gain more experience in as many lighting conditions as possible. Shoot jobs you might ordinarily shy away from as it means that you can confidently go in and shoot any scenario moving forward. You’ll be surprised what you can learn and what can come out of the most unassuming shoots.

My Favourite Photo

It has been really hard to choose, but I had a great experience photographing Domhnall Gleeson (I mean . . . Star Wars!?). He was visiting Edinburgh to promote Medicine, a play for the Edinburgh International Festival, written and directed by Enda Walsh. It is still, to this day, one of the best plays I have ever seen. We didn’t have long together, but I love this photo because, as an actor, Domhnall gives so much through the eyes. This was a hugely poignant moment in my career where I felt extremely lucky to do what I do. 

Read more of our photography special by checking out our interviews with Mihaela Bodlovic, Tommy Ga-Ken Wan, Kat Gollock and Andrew Jackson; visit Jess Shurte's website.