ABOUT
Born in Melbourne, Australia, 1985, Ferris completed an Honours degree in the Arts, winning the Vice Chancellor’s university medal, and an Australian post-graduate scholarship to research and work at the University of New South Wales in the School of English, Media, Performing and Fine Arts. This precipitated his relocation to Sydney, where he started to seriously photograph around 2010. He organised and co-founded the Aussie Street Festival in 2018 and joined Burn My Eye Collective in 2021.
“In every spare, waking moment I have, I am making photographs or thinking about them. In my sleep, I’m dreaming them.
I walk the Sydney streets and my intent is - and always has been - to discover and make candid photos of our times, in public places, that are un-staged, unmediated, and representative of not only what I see but also of what I feel — my emotional experiences of the world.”
Ferris’ work has been exhibited across the globe and featured in numerous publications. His Sydney portfolio was selected for the recent Thames & Hudson compendium ‘Reclaim the Street’ (2023), edited by Matt Stuart, and he was amongst three Australian photographers with images selected for the title ‘100 Great Street Photographs’ (2017), by Prestel Publishing and edited by David Gibson.
Both Epic Revue Magazine and Leica Fotographie International Magazine have featured major showcases of his work, and other periodicals such as Internationale, The Guardian, Lonely Planet, The Sydney Morning Herald, Photo Review Magazine, Capture Magazine, and Eyeshot Magazine have all previously profiled Ferris and his photographs.
In 2023, Ferris’ image ‘On the way to inspections’ was awarded the City of Sydney $10,000 ‘Australian Life’ Photographic Prize. Previously, he was also a prize winner at StreetFoto San Francisco (2017), Lens Culture Street Photography Awards (2021), and Trieste Photo Days Projects and Portfolios (2023), as well as being a finalist in the Head On Photo Festival Prizes in the categories of Portrait and Landscape (2020, 2021 & 2023), finalist in the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize (2019), the Olive Cotton Portrait Prize (2023), Gomma Publishing Black and White Award (2023), and in numerous street photography festivals held in the US and Europe since 2016. In 2022, Ferris was invited to judge of the ‘Australian Life’ Photographic Prize, of which he has also been a three-time finalist in 2015, 2021, and 2023 (winner). He was named 'Australasia's Top Emerging Photographer' in 2019 in the category of documentary/ photojournalism by a panel of over 30 local and international judges and in 2020, he was profiled for the Australian Photographers’ Journal 'Why Photograph?' series. 2021 saw Ferris publish his first monograph, In Visible Light, which has since sold out in its first, second and third printings.
As well as collecting these many accolades for his personal work, Ferris has been commissioned by clients such as Credit Suisse, Noom Nomi, Leica Camera, Xiaomi, NAB, and VMLY&R, bringing his unique vision and street photography skill to various pitches, shoots and creative projects.
Ferris holds an Honours degree in Arts and a Masters of Teaching.
He lives in Newtown, NSW.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND PRIZES
2023 - Winner Art and About Sydney, ‘Australian Life’ $10,000 Photographic Prize
2023 - Trieste Photo Days Projects and Portfolios, Finalist and Winner (Third Prize) for ‘In Visible Light’
2023 - Olive Cotton Portrait Prize, Finalist for ‘On the way to inspections’
2022 - Winner CCP Hahnemuhle Instagram Wall Competition, exhibited at the Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne.
2022 - Winner of ‘Blue Hour’ Masters of Photography Competition, selected by Joel Meyeriwitz.
2022 - Judge for Art and About Sydney, ‘Australian Life’ $10,000 Photographic Prize.
2022 - Italian Street Photography festival, Rome. Series and Single image finalist.
2021 - Lens Culture Street Photography Awards, Winner (2nd Place), series category for ‘In Visible Light’
2021 - hEAdOn international photography festival, BURN MY EYE ‘Bestiarium’ group exhibition, Bondi Beach.
2021 - Art and About Sydney, ‘Australian Life’ finalist, Hyde Park, Sydney.
2021 - hEAdOn group exhibition ‘2020 Vision’, Southern Highlands Artisans Collective, Robertson NSW.
2020 - hEAdOn international photography festival, Finalist for ‘Portrait’ and ‘Landscape’ Prizes.
2018 - Italian Street Photography festival, Rome. Series category finalist.
2017 & 2016 - San Francisco Street Photography Festival, finalist and Series Prize Winner (2016).
2016 - Brussels Street Photography Festival, series finalist. Exhibition held at Galerie Ravenstein.
2015 - Miami International Street Photography Festival, finalist exhibition at History Miami museum.
2015 - Art and About Sydney, ‘Australian Life’ finalist, Hyde Park, Sydney.
2014 - Urban Picnic International Street Photography Competition finalist, Third Floor gallery, London.
PUBLICATIONS
Reclaim the Street, 2023, Edited by Matt Stuart, Published by Thames and Hudson, portfolio, text and assisted with Spotlight on Australia
Epic Revue Magazine 9, featuring ‘In Visible Light’ portfolio and interview
LFI - Leica Fotografie International Magazine, 3/2022, ‘In visible light’ portfolio and interview
IN VISIBLE LIGHT, 2021, AS PRESS, Sydney, Hardcover Photobook, First Printing ed. of 250 (sold out), Second Printing ed. of 250 (sold out).
FERRY TALES, 2020, self-published, Sydney, 26pp, 7x5 Lay-flat design photobook, First printing ed. of 100 (sold out)
OFF QUAY, 2019, self-published, Sydney. 40pp, A5 photographic zine. First printing ed. of 100 (sold out), Second printing ed. of 100
100 Great Street Photographs, 2017, Edited by David Gibson, Published by Prestel Publishing.
Photography as a Social Research Method, 2017, Sten Langmann, Springer Publishing, Singapore.
LINKS
Lens Culture, Solo Exhibition (digital), IN VISIBLE LIGHT (2022)
LFI Online, In visible light portfolio and interview
IN VISIBLE LIGHT, Featured on the Leica Camera Blog with interview
Australian Journal of Photography, ‘Why Photograph?’ Episode 2.
Lens Culture Editor's feature on In visible light.
Interview with Dani Oshi for BSPF (Brussels Street Photography Festival).