Patrick Boland is a Sydney based photographer currently walking that fine line between assisting and transitioning to a working. His personal work leans towards quirky subjects with bold colours and he enjoys the challenge of discovering narrative threads in long-term projects.

In 2006 he received an Australia Council New Works Grant to exhibit ‘this is what I ate’, a collections of 1305 images of every meal he ate for one year. The project explored notions of the transience of food, the everydayness transformed into the grotesque and ways of seeing.

Formerly Arts Coordinator at Macquarie University, Boland taught black and white photography for beginners as well as shooting bands and student activities on campus. ‘Teaching really helps solidify your position on a subject. For a while there I was convinced I could make a niche in the market by shooting just black and white because I felt not many people were holding onto such ‘old-school’ skills. While that was a fine idea, the reality was that people were asking me for event photography with a quick turn around. I still have a great fondness for B&W and shoot it regularly for my own personal work.’

In 2004 Boland left his job at Macquarie Uni to study photography at Ultimo TAFE. This gave him a firm grounding in the complex technical aspects of photography which he finds very useful when creative solutions are needed for practical problems.

‘I like to keep up with new photographic trends like HDR, plastic camera or TtV (Through the Viewfinder). The skills I learnt at TAFE allow me to blend my digital knowledge with some more traditional techniques to create unique images. At the moment I’m obsessed with documenting the extraordinary industrial remnants on Cockatoo Island using multiple exposure large stitched panoramas. It’s new-school techniques bringing a very old world to life’.

Boland is a member of the ACMP Trampoline committee, and an enthusiastic supporter of young and emerging photographers. He was one of the driving forces behind establishing monthly Sydney meetings (Bounce) and was the coordinator of Projections ’07. With almost four years’ experience assisting in the commercial and editorial fields, Patrick hopes the challenge of moving to pro status will bring creative and inspirational partnerships with people committed to producing fresh and innovative imagery.