More than just point and shoot

NOT surprisingly, Western Australia's leading commercial photographer doesn't like getting his photo taken, but it's not a matter of vanity; rather it's out of respect for photography as an art form and for the artist he still aspires to become.

Undoubtedly, you would've seen his images gracing the pages of your favourite high-end, glossy magazine, or walked by one of his many billboards positioned on buildings in some of the world's capital cities.

But for Allan Myles, who is arguably Perth's most renowned photographer, when the focus is directed away from the subject matter and onto him he often feels like a deer in the headlights.

"For me to appear in a newspaper like this is very unusual," Mr Myles tells WA Business News.

"It makes me feel a bit naked - I'd rather be the guy whose work everyone knows but they don't know me."

And most people would be familiar with Mr Myles' work, even if they're not familiar with his name.

This Scottish-born, now Swan Valley resident's client list reads like a how-to guide for conspicuous consumption.

BMW, Mercedes, IBM, Nokia, Guinness and ESPN are just a few names from his Rolodex of international clients, each one proving a unique experience.

Especially a popular campaign he did for Stolichnaya Vodka a few years ago, which involved travelling around Moscow, visiting places like the Kremlin and scouting shooting locations with a member of the Russian mafia as his tour guide.

Mr Myles received various awards for his work on Stolichnaya's 'The Truth' campaign and many more for his other campaigns, including a number of gongs from Cannes, the New York Festival and the Perth Advertising and Design Club.

However, this level of success is not always beneficial.

"The more you get international, the bigger you get, the more pigeon holed you get," he says.

Mr Myles is well aware that the economic downturn is affecting every industry, including advertising and photography.

"The past 10 years have been very good but you go through these peaks and troughs and right now it's a bit of a trough," he says.

"I deal in the higher end of the market and the higher end of the market is less and less."

And this is not the only challenge Mr Myles is facing.

"Because of reducing budgets and time, people want things now and also clients become very overbearing on the creative process," he says.

"I think technology has done a lot of damage in our aesthetic, as in you're not competing against other photographers, you're competing against everyone else with a camera.

"People are becoming much more photo literate and that causes you problems in that your client, who is paying you, is questioning your skill and to me, personally, it's about disrespect.

"What will still baffle people is lighting, thankfully computers can't do lighting."

But Mr Myles remains positive about his current place in the field.

"In these downturns things will happen, as long as you keep your standard high and remain in touch with your market - as they say: out of sight, out of mind," he says.

"So I'm going up to Japan in July to sell and Shanghai in August to show them my book."

Mr Myles' ideal situation would be to shoot more international work in Perth.

"I've shot Nokia here, MSIG I shot here, they're one of the biggest insurance companies in the world," he says.

"What does make me feel most proud is to bring work to Perth.

"I can use my people and they are getting wealth out of international money.

"Photographers can be all arty and airy-fairy as you like, but basically you run a business, you have to have all the service values in a business but you also have to manage your business."

Are you an artist?

No, I'm a commercial photographer, it'd be an insult to the art world if I was to say I'm an artist. I'm not. I take photographs of other people's ideas, that's the principal part. My images are enhancements of someone else's ideas so therefore they're not truly mine.

What would you do if you were premier for a day?

I would legislate for daylight saving. I wouldn't even put it to a referendum because it's a waste of money. $10 million could be put into health service and education, especially in a recession.

Do you have a favourite quote?

A London advertising executive called Graham Fink once said, "If you know what you're doing, you're doing nothing original."

What's your biggest indulgence?

I do watch a lot of English soccer, or European soccer. That and history. I watch a lot of docos and that. Anything to do with history, I don't know why, I studied the history of art and I find that really interesting. Layers of why this happened and that happened.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Three things I wanted to be - one was a footballer, one was a soldier, the other was a designer.