Late last year I had the privilege of shooting G.E’s ‘Australia Works’ campaign with the handsome peeps at Clemenger BBDO.

To match the challenging brief we searched high and wide all the way around Sydney, Western Australia’s Pilbara region and Japan. We tramped through deserts in home-made Boy Scout outfits to shield us from the sun, needle grass and Death Adders (sadly, no photos survived of the makeshift outfits). We stayed in the famous Pier Hotel of Port Hedland – a venue that holds the world record for ‘most stabbings in one night’. The record stands at eighty three, a number set back in the 90′s when two rival bikie gangs sat down over a few pints to discuss their opposing views on art theory and existentialism. To this day, it’s still not the most ideal location to order a weak skim-milk mocha-frappaccino with chocolate sprinkles…if you know what I mean.

From there, we jetted to Japan’s Shizuoka region, where we were confronted by a super-typhoon on shoot day and a shaved pigs ear at dessert. During which time we learnt a lot about Japanese culture…For instance, did you know that when a westerner eats something completely random, such as pigs ear or an entire bowl of warm fish roe, it’s Japanese custom to laugh your arse off ? (out of respect, of course!).

All behind the scenes images were shot on the run, out of hotel windows, a moving car, whatever. Often they were captured just taking a breather while waiting for the light to get good.

Tight  Digs: This is what $450 gets you at the Pier Hotel, Port Hedland, in WA’s Pilbara Region. The last motel room available in town, it has the proud record of ‘most stabbings in one night’ (76!!).

JAPAN.