Russell Shakespeare
Monique Hohnberg
- Sitter: Russell Shakespeare
- Medium: Digital Artwork
- Dimensions: 62cm x 89cm
- Representation: This artist represents themselves
About the artwork
Russell Shakespeare is an award winning photographer, whose work has featured widely in many Australian and international news publications and magazines. He has been a finalist many times in the National Photographic Portrait Prize, the Moran Contemporary Portrait Prize and the Olive Cotton Prize.
Monique attended a workshop last year that Russell presented, and she decided to capture the man behind the camera. “His work is so often presented in public, but he is someone the public never usually sees.”
Russell Shakespeare sits in a posed position for the portrait but also seems ready to go back to his own work behind the camera.
“He’s like a nonchalant, 90’s rock star kind of dude, not much arteface, and that’s what I wanted to come across in the portrait.”
This image has an industrial feel and is full of grit with the concrete wall and the chipped stool. Monique Hohnberg chose the textured concrete and brick background to reference characteristics of Shakespeare’s own work. She presents him as a practical no nonsense operator, in his work clothes.
About the artist
Monique Hoehberg is a visual storyteller, memoirist, feature writer, photographer, teacher and ‘encouragement leader’. She grew up on a large sheep property in NSW, travelled, studied and worked in many different jobs including film journalist, AFI awards juror and actor. She loves spending time with her photographic subjects to understand them deeply. Her work has been selected in various competitions.
