Bill Pfeifer photos
I am a Sydney-based Television Camera Operator. For the last forty plus years I have worked in the Commercial TV Industry, mainly on large multi-camera productions and sporting broadcasts.
In addition to my work in TV I have always had an interest in stills photography. I have never had to earn an income from stills, and as it is a solitary pursuit – unlike TV, this has allowed me to relax and produce images just for pleasure, free from any financial or production pressures.
The photos on this site were taken over a ten year period, starting in the early nineteen eighties. At the time I had just moved away from home and was living in share accommodation in Britannic Mansions, a dilapidated block of flats on Campbell Parade in Bondi. The other residents of the Mansions were mainly students, surfers, and artists, many of them friends of mine from school or the surf.
We were living in a Bondi that had yet to be gentrified. The advantages were cheap rent, an eclectic community, and plenty of parking for all but six weeks of the year during the summer holidays. However the cheap rentals were usually dark and smelly, and the eclectic community included plenty of dodgy characters and low-lifes. So while you might not have trouble finding somewhere to park your car, there was no guarantee it would be there when you returned. Many of the photos here were taken of the people and places that I came across in Bondi during those years, but there are also images from other parts of Sydney, as well as from trips to the North Coast, Lord Howe Island, Central Australia, and also a trekking tour through the Annapurna range in Nepal.
At the time I was in my early twenties and had just recently discovered the work of documentary photographers Walker Evans, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and most importantly Robert Frank. Seeing their images caused me to experience a lightbulb moment and demonstrated a visual aesthetic for me to aspire to. Many of the photos here are my youthful attempts to emulate my heroes. For introducing me to these legendary photographers and for helping me to hone my camera and darkroom skills, I am forever grateful to my good friend John Adair.
A few of these photos have previously appeared in group exhibitions or have been used in some of Monty Webber’s books and magazine articles, but the vast majority have not previously been seen. Over the years I have been encouraged, (mostly by Monty), to exhibit some of my Bondi photos but it always seemed to me hardly worth the time and effort given that an exhibition would only ever be seen by a very small number of people. Hopefully creating a website will allow for a wider audience.
The photographs displayed on this site are low-resolution versions. However prints can be made using high resolution scans from the original negatives and printed on premium paper. Please contact me regarding print options and costs. I retain copyright on all the images displayed on this site. Their use in any form is forbidden without my permission.
Thanks for taking the time to visit.
Bill Pfeifer
In addition to my work in TV I have always had an interest in stills photography. I have never had to earn an income from stills, and as it is a solitary pursuit – unlike TV, this has allowed me to relax and produce images just for pleasure, free from any financial or production pressures.
The photos on this site were taken over a ten year period, starting in the early nineteen eighties. At the time I had just moved away from home and was living in share accommodation in Britannic Mansions, a dilapidated block of flats on Campbell Parade in Bondi. The other residents of the Mansions were mainly students, surfers, and artists, many of them friends of mine from school or the surf.
We were living in a Bondi that had yet to be gentrified. The advantages were cheap rent, an eclectic community, and plenty of parking for all but six weeks of the year during the summer holidays. However the cheap rentals were usually dark and smelly, and the eclectic community included plenty of dodgy characters and low-lifes. So while you might not have trouble finding somewhere to park your car, there was no guarantee it would be there when you returned. Many of the photos here were taken of the people and places that I came across in Bondi during those years, but there are also images from other parts of Sydney, as well as from trips to the North Coast, Lord Howe Island, Central Australia, and also a trekking tour through the Annapurna range in Nepal.
At the time I was in my early twenties and had just recently discovered the work of documentary photographers Walker Evans, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and most importantly Robert Frank. Seeing their images caused me to experience a lightbulb moment and demonstrated a visual aesthetic for me to aspire to. Many of the photos here are my youthful attempts to emulate my heroes. For introducing me to these legendary photographers and for helping me to hone my camera and darkroom skills, I am forever grateful to my good friend John Adair.
A few of these photos have previously appeared in group exhibitions or have been used in some of Monty Webber’s books and magazine articles, but the vast majority have not previously been seen. Over the years I have been encouraged, (mostly by Monty), to exhibit some of my Bondi photos but it always seemed to me hardly worth the time and effort given that an exhibition would only ever be seen by a very small number of people. Hopefully creating a website will allow for a wider audience.
The photographs displayed on this site are low-resolution versions. However prints can be made using high resolution scans from the original negatives and printed on premium paper. Please contact me regarding print options and costs. I retain copyright on all the images displayed on this site. Their use in any form is forbidden without my permission.
Thanks for taking the time to visit.
Bill Pfeifer