Tamara (Dean) and Dean (Sewell) are an incredible photojournalistic duo hailing from Sydney, who are some of the most technically practiced photographers I have ever seen. While I was not too interested in their presentation, it’s hard to not pay attention when the images they are showing have so much depth and emotion; I felt bad even sending a text message.

dean sewell - aceh

Dean Sewell opened the talk with a large portfolio of images taken in Aceh, after the tsunami in 2004. He is believed to be the first, and only international photographer to be in the region at the time, and he fly in under the pretence that he was a tsunami expert, tricking government officials to let him into the area.  It is interesting to note that Sewell shot with film instead of digital, as he believed the tragic events needed to be recorded on a quality medium, and he shot in black and white in order to draw the eye to the extreme scenes that were being represented. For him, colour would have added an overwhelming dimension, and would have distracted from the reality of the events he was capturing.

tamara dean - squatters

Tamara Dean, on the other hand, shoots a lot of scenes from everyday life, and suburbia, using friends and family as the subjects of her photos. While the images she captures are of the everyday, they are far from mundane. Extraordinarily emotions shine through, with a strong focus on femininity, family, and friends. She shared with us her Squatters body of work, entering the world of squatters living in Sydney’s inner west. Again displaying a range of technically brilliant works, perfect exposures, and emotive images.

Both Tamara and Dean have works in progress that have already spanned over a decade, with Tamara documenting the girls around her, and their journey to womanhood, and Dean attempting to catch those brief moments of amazing colour in his tricolour series based in Hillsdale, where he grew up in Sydney.

Dean Sewell is a founding member of the photographic collective Oculi, later inviting Tamara Dean to join. Both now work for Fairfax, and continue their amazing work through Oculi.

For more information on Tamara and Dean, follow these links:

Tamara and Dean have extensive portfolios at – www.oculi.com

an interesing interview with Tamara just before Semi-Permanent 09 – www.fourthousand.com.au