WHEN he is not behind the lens of a camera he is at the Mater Hospital where he works in medical physics in the field of radiation oncology.
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Joerg Lehmann is a Newcastle-based, but German born, photographer who began taking photos in childhood.
“I had my first camera at six or seven,” Lehmann says.
“Light was my first word according to my great grandmother.
“I was pushed through a dark alleyway in Germany and I looked up and said ‘licht’, which is German for light.”
This is no surprise. His Film Noir inspired images, some of which will go on exhibition in Newcastle this week, are very much about light and shade.
Before coming to Australia four years ago, Lehmann lived in the US for 12 years where he worked his day job but also studied photography.
“I became a professional photographer there, joining the Professional Photographers of America association,” he said.
In the US Lehmann worked professionally focusing on portraiture, even photographing Arnold Schwarzenegger, and also taught photography.
However, since moving to Newcastle the artist's focus has become much more artistic with less onus on running a photographic business.
He works from a studio at the Newcastle Community Arts Centre where he also teaches photography.
Lehmann acknowledges he is a very busy man, balancing a day job, a passion for photography and a family, but said his job and photography did have something in common.
“There is a lot of imaging, x-ray imaging. There is a lot of photography in medical physics,” he said.
So much so he co-founded an annual photographic competition called PiMP (Photography in Medical Physics).
Titled Beauty and Smoke, his current exhibition intertwines images with a narrative. At its centre is a series of four works – each containing several photographs which all have a storyline. It is his second solo exhibition and is on between February 11 and 28 at the Newcastle Art Space, 246 Parry Street, Hamilton East. The opening is on February 12 between 5 and 7pm.
He is also teaching a fundamentals of photography course at Finite Gallery, Caves Beach. The next course will be on April 9. For more information visit: finitegallery.com
To see more work by the photographer visit: photoJL.com