About Andrew Bell

My life in photography began in 1980, travelling the world with a camera. Photography opened up new ways of connecting to people and places that still motivates my work today.

My approach to photographing subjects became more personal, more engaged, and more about slowing down the moment.

In the 90s I set up a darkroom and taught myself to develop and print, then moved on to formal studies of the art of black and white printing. I continue to work with traditional materials for the subtlety and delicacy that silver gelatin prints offer.

The 90s also brought my photography into partnership with my other love, music. I began an association with the Byron Bay Blues Festival as one of a number of official photographers.

In 1993 I exhibited limited-edition travel and landscape photography in a solo show “First Sight”, and 2 years later exhibited new work at The Orient Hotel, The Rocks, Sydney. A wider audience brought me to the notice of Nikon and led to a number of photojournalistic pieces in Light Reading Magazine and a cover shot for
Australian Photography Magazine.

My commercial photography has included the CD cover for blues guitar legend Dave Hole's The Live One; promotional and advertising displays for the Indian Tourist Office, Sydney; the David Jones Spring Spectacular in-store exhibition of 12 selected images from India.   


In 2004 I was commissioned to photograph the paintings of aboriginal artist Tex Skuthorpe for his book, co-authored with Karl-Erik Sveiby, Treading Lightly: The Hidden Wisdom of the World’s Oldest People, Allen & Unwin, 2006.

Over the past 15 years I’ve run adult education classes in photography (black and white darkroom as well as a regular travel photography courses) and have worked freelancing on assignments. For seven years I worked in association with the Australian company RealWorld Travel, conducting travel photography tours to India.