About

Portrait by Lucy Allan

Peter Bennetts

"Camera at hand, you might find Peter Bennetts on a remote coral atoll in the Central Pacific, topping out on a tropical glacier or skiing a black run in the Alps. When he’s not fighting global warming and his own fears you’ll find him maintaining the image of those architects & designers most dedicated to the idea of sangfroid. St Kilda, Melbourne-based Bennetts’ work appears in The Guardian, Conde Nast Traveller (UK), Travel & Leisure (USA), Time, Domus, Frame and AR."

Inside Magazine, Issue 29 2003

"In a climate that too easily confuses exaggerated form and distorted space, for the genuine strength of expression embedded in all fine architecture, Peter Bennetts is one of the few photographers who consistently know the difference. Rather than exploit the hollow tricks of photographic illusion, Bennetts interprets and distills the real qualities of a project, in such a way that smoke and mirrors are not required.”

Andrew MacKenzie, Editor, AR Architectural Review

PETER BENNETTS was born in 1967 in Sydney, Australia. He studied photography at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. His initial pursuit of environmental reportage assignments has led Peter to photograph features all over the world including Argentina, Austria, Chile & Easter Island, China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Fiji, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Portugal, West Papua, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Spain, Solomon Islands, Switzerland, Thailand, U.A.E., U.K., U.S.A. Vietnam and Vanuatu. He has particularly focussed his camera on the island nation of Tuvalu, whose coral atolls are especially vulnerable to a changing climate.

Environmental reportage led to Peter’s burgeoning interest in the constructed environment and since 1997 Peter has been photographing the pre-eminent architecture and design of both his home country of Australia and in the international arena. His work in the field of architecture, interiors and graphic design has allowed Peter to indulge his passion for great design in all its forms.

His work regularly features in the Australian publications Architecture Australia, Artichoke, Belle, Inside, AR, Monument, inside and Vogue and he is a frequent contributor to Wallpaper*, Frame, Mark, Dwell, Domus, Casabella and other international publications. His photography has appeared in numerous books including four monographs and the two volumes of the Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture.

His architectural images have been described as having “a remarkable crystalline stillness” and he is known for his “straight-shooting” style of architectural photography, focussing on the formal, material and atmospheric qualities of a project.

He maintains a keen interest in environmental concerns and keeps the Leica at hand.

Peter lives in Australia with his wife; architect Rowena Hockin, and their two young sons.

Clients

Peter Bennetts has undertaken advertising, documentary and corporate  photography for major clients and agencies over the past 20 years. National & international clients include Air Nuigini, ANZ, AMP, BHP Billiton, BP, Bluescope Steel, Bodyshop, Boeing, Bond University, CSR, Deloitte Touch Tomatsu, Emirates Airlines, Fabio Ongarato Design, GPO Melbourne, Global Agenda, Goldman Sachs, Greenpeace, Hilton, Houston, Hyatt, LG, Lonely Planet, Macquarie Bank, Melbourne University, Miele, Minter Ellison Lawyers, Monash University, Multiplex, National Australia Bank, National Mutual, Office of the Prime Minister of Australia, Orica, P&O Nedlloyd, Red Earth, RMIT, Rockwell Aerospace, Shell, South Pacific Regional Environmental Program, The European Union, the .tv Corporation, the United Nations, the University of Queensland, UTS, UNSW, Tourism Australia, Tourism Victoria, VicHealth and VicUrban. 

Clients - Architecture & Design

Spanning 20 years Peter's architectural and interior design clients include Allan Powell, Allom Lovell & Associates, Andrew Burges, Andrew Maynard, Anthony Gill Architects, ANZ, Architecture Australia, Architecture Review, Architecture Record, Ashton Raggatt McDougall, Bates Smart, Bennett and Trimble, BKK, BVN, Bryce Raworth, Buro North, Carr Design, Casa Bella, Cassandra Complex, City of Melbourne, CODA, Cornwell, CRAB, DML Property, Delphin Properties, Domus, Durbach Block Jaggers, Edaw, Elenberg Fraser, Emery, Fabio Ongarato Design, Fender Katsalidis, Fernlund + Logan, Foster + Partners, Gestalten, Grant Amon, Grollo, Hecker Phelan Guthrie, Herbet & Mason, HASSELL, Hannah Tribe, Houston, iredale pedersen hook, Jackson Clements Burrows, Jean-Paul Rollo, John Wardle Architects, Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Kristin Green, MAKE, March Studio, Melbourne Docklands, MGS, Lonely Planet, Lovell Chen, Lyons, Miele, Minifie van Schaik, Monument Magazine, NADAAA, NH Architecture, NMBW Architecture Studio, Nettleton Tribe, Nobbs Radford, Oculus, OMA, Paterson + Pettus, Paul Morgan Architects, Phaidon, Phooey, the Powerhouse Museum, Rush/Wright, RBA, Shareen Joel Design, Simon Drysdale Architect, Stephen Coliier, studiobird, Sunland Design, the Urban Land Corporation, Tourism Victora, Wood/Marsh Architecture, Woods Bagot and Zaha Hadid Architects.

Awards & Collections

Peter's work has been recognized with awards from the Melbourne Advertising & Design Club.

With author Professor Catherin Bull and photography by Peter Bennetts the book 'New Conversations with An Old Landscape: Landscape Architecture in Contemporary Australia received a COMMUNICATIONS AWARD OF MERIT - 2004 AMERICAN SOCIETY OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS PROFESSIONAL AWARDS 'A beautifully presented assemblage showing the great diversity of works of landscape architecture. High quality photography and clear text reveal the beauty and diversity of the natural and man-made landscape of Australia'.

Peter's work has been widely collected and features in the collections of the Corning Glass Museum (NY), National Gallery Victoria, World Wildlife Fund Collection (Gland, Switzerland) and the United Nations (New York).

Kit

Bennetts photographs most of his work with possibly the world’s best camera - an ALPA of Switzerland system paired with Rodenstock HR and Schneider APO Digitar lenses and a 56MP LEAF APTUS II-10 medium format digital back. The clockwork whirr of the shutter punctuated by a full stop digital beep. This websites' splash page sound is that  clockwork whirr!