Which Direction is North?
North Sullivan believes that photography is the "art of seeing", that "being in the right place at the right time, is only half the story", and most importantly that "nothing is ever ordinary, it's only the way you see it."
In his 30 year career as one of Australia's most respected advertising photographers, North has chalked up an enviable resume of credits. He has sold his beloved country to the world (4 hugely successful campaigns for the ATC), launched a mysterious new SUV (GMC Envoy), carried the torch across a wide brown land (AMP's Olympic Torch Relay) and given the famous voices of the flying kangaroo their place in history (the Qantas Choir). He has the knack of being in the wrong place at the right time (New York on September 11) or the right place at the right time (dawn over a perfect landscape – somewhere).
And when he is not shooting for a living, he is shooting for a passion. Wielding an unassuming pocket camera, he pursues his subjects with the exuberance of a street photographer capturing real people in their real time. Whether hookers in the street or a soldier at Ground Zero, he constantly nudges open the door to provide a narrow sliver of life as it really is.
North's passion for creating powerful imagery goes well beyond the initial capture. Constantly evolving, he has become an enthusiastic exponent of today's Digital Darkroom. His recent works are an assimilation of both black & white and colour, partly crisp, partly soft, part reportage, part illustration. A look that is both casual and carefully considered.
Beyond his own work, North is also the celebrated founder of Australia's most respected collection of contemporary photography (The Fuji ACMP Australian Photographers' Collection) and one of the industries passionate (and outspoken) champions, respected universally for his contribution to the art, the industry and the community to which he belongs.