Georgie - Away From The Camera

Pete George (00:02.478)
It's been a big few months, not just behind the camera, but in life, from refining my work with Peter George Photography, to building the Go On project, and the short film, without a word. Everything's been about one thing: purpose and connection.

In this episode, I want to share where it's all heading, what's changing and why it matters. It's not about doing more. It's about doing what matters most.

Pete George (00:43.893)
Hi, I'm Pete George. Friends call me Georgie and welcome to Georgie Away From the Camera. So this episode is all about sharing what I've done over the last, I think it's four months, maybe a little bit longer. We all go missing somewhere along the line and we're trying to find the right lane for where we want to be in life and

…try to shift away from the norm. And one of the things that I've always fallen back to… …even through the mental illness and things like that was photography. And…

This is where everything has stemmed from and where I'm moving to. If you don't do something that you're passionate about or love, then you won't succeed at anything in life. How many times have you seen people stay in the same job for over 30 years and they've done that because that's the norm?

It becomes secure. I've unfortunately got this gene in me that says I've got to try to do things a little bit differently and be what I need to be. And that even stems back to when I started photography. It came about from Drive where I went back to Melbourne School of Art, studied photography and then evolved from having a hundred thousand dollar job.

Back in the early 2000s to running my own photography business and things like that. So...

Pete George (02:48.382)
So the photography shifted from a business to now being something of purpose. It's no longer just a portfolio. PeterGeorge.com.au is a creative home. Now what I've developed is two principles. One is shoot with purpose and share with the heart.

And the other one is the shooting principle that helps you slow down and that's 180, 36 and 1. And this episode isn't to explain all of that, but what's come about that is the signature series prints, the limited editions, the image that stands out and I can stamp my name on it and be proud of it, not enter it in.

Competitions, there's no two ways about that. And I've developed them and do that in conjunction with Atkins Lab over in South Australia. When a signature series print is completed at my end, then work with Atkins Lab to find the best way to present that.

To you in a limited number of 10. So that's what I've been building there on the photography side. And then I also have the studio where you can see all my work down to the 36, what I call the 36, the one roll that stands out from a shoot. And they're broken down into a couple of categories, that section, the same with the signature series.

Life and living. So that's that there. And then the reason I now shoot is because I want every frame to matter. And that's even the ones that don't make it on the wall. I'm deliberate in what I do with my photography now. And hopefully

Pete George (05:10.581)
the slowing down and the seeing things again will reflect in your work and hopefully at petergeorge.com.au you'll be able to enjoy that and share that journey with me and nudge nudge wink wink say no more hopefully you'll be able to purchase a couple of images along the way so pop over there and you'll be able to see more.

Now you're listening to Georgie away from the camera and this is the other thing I'd like to do and that's talk.

Pete George (05:52.423)
So yeah, talking is something that comes natural to me. If you know me, you'll understand that once I start on something, I can't stop.

So if you want to put it in photography analogies, my voice is going to become my second lens where I'll reflect on stories from images and hopefully interview people with real conversations. It's not about perfect. It's about telling the story and

in a world that we have today. And as Gen X, as we all see it, that we don't live in an Instagram world 24-7, we live in a real world. And that real world for me in 2021 was attempted suicide, mental illness got the better of me. But now I'm here back and you'll see what happens with a few of the projects that I've developed.

over the last few months as well. So this is what the podcast is. Yes, I will have a YouTube channel, but there's got to be two distinct variants. The audio side of it or this show, Georgie Away From the Camera, is where I'm telling stories. So it could be like this episode that I'm doing now where...

There's a matching blog post over on PeterGeorge.com.au and there's more detail in that blog post and you can pop over to that. If it's to do with images, you'll be able to see the images that I'm talking about. I want you to really sit down and listen to these episodes because there is a message in them or there's a great story behind them. So that's what the audio side of it is. Then I will have the video side.

Pete George (08:01.055)
which will be the interviews and the work that I do. if I'm out at, say, for instance, I'm going to do a shoot at Karamban soon, I'll have a camera with me, a DJI action cam, and I'll have the wireless mics going into that, and I'll talk through the day of what I see, what I do, and how I shoot.

and what I'm seeing when I'm shooting. So it's got to be that type of thing. So they're the two differentiators between audio and video for Georgie away from the camera. So as much as the show's about me talking, it's about you being involved as well. So feel free to drop a note on the socials or anything like that if you want me to address a topic for argument's sake, if you're unsure about something with photography.

Just ask a question and I will answer it. Don't be scared of that. And when I get smart enough and I work out how to add.

messages onto like audio messages onto the website then we'll do that as well. So this now takes us into the two projects and one was always there but I didn't know how to do it. Do it justice and the other one was

something as an ode to Jane for supporting me and that is the short film that I've written the script to which is called Without a Word A Silent Promise and it's for the people that have the courage to show up.

Pete George (10:02.263)
It's not strength, it's courage. Totally different thing. Thank you, Don LaChance, for pointing that out to me, and it is true. So the films are not from the mental illness side of a relationship where someone does have mental illness, and in this case it's written around...

Jane and myself when I went through it and it's really about the unspoken promise and quiet endurance we live or your partner lives through when you do have a mental illness. it's, I've in the middle of as we speak.

on this episode that I'm trying to work with a production company to help me get it to the next stages. And it's got a fair bit of an emotional weight to it. It's light, it's dark, it's got all of those nuances to it. So that's the goal with that there.

That'll be ongoing. As I've found out, it's not an easy process to write it, but it's a hard process to get to the next stages and do what I believe is a topic that needs to have the justice done to it. So then it brings us on to the next section, which is the Go On Project. Now, some of you who know me may have heard of me talk about

out of the cave many years ago and that was to help guys with mental illness. Now, I found that hard. can't help others when you need help and I did it at the wrong time. So now I've worked on putting together a project called Go On and it's the power of

Pete George (12:20.973)
standing beside someone, not judging them, not giving your point of view across or anything like that. It's just a matter of standing there with them so that they know that whatever step they got to take and if there's hurdles along the way, you got to be there for them. So this was born from

listening to Simon Sinek and his book called Leaders Ain't Last. And it was about his time in Afghanistan. And then when he returned, how...

He broke down when he was talking to all the generals of the forces. And in the real world or in the corporate world or in today's world, people would have just patted him on the back and say, take your time, you'll be right, which is, that's your problem. Deal with it and then get back into it. Whereas...

a general, the highest ranked general in the room stood up and said, go on. And that was it. And what they mean by that is that go on and we'll stand here with you through thick and thin. And he now lives that through his friends. And I want to live that through this project. And the project isn't about sitting there…

helping what it is, is getting someone to do something different. And as you know, as a photographer, this is where I got to drive it through photography. And what that will do is let them see what's in front of them as the way they see life at the moment through a different lens. So we'll be out in the streets and let them shoot.

Pete George (14:39.618)
No, it's not a lesson in photography, it's a lesson in life. And it'll be over four weekends and things like that. So it's all on the petergeorge.com.au website, but it's all part of a bigger picture of discovery again. So as you can see, I've been doing a fair bit and…

I've had a fair few guys at starting things and not following. I'll follow on and I'm through to a point where you don't know what direction you want to take. And now I have that full direction. And it also comes down to the support of the people that listen to the show or watch the YouTube channels or read a post or.

Excuse me, or just get involved.

All I ask is that you just...

What's a word? I don't want to sound like a sales pitch, but just follow us and see me work, see what I do, see what I'm trying to develop and as it grows, then we can keep on having chats. Now, all I can say is thanks for listening to Georgie away from the camera. If something in this early episode says, yeah, OK, I want to listen to

Pete George (16:22.916)
to this guy a little bit more or who's he at a interview or what's Jane's point of view. And that's my darling wife on Bali or Tasmania or wherever we go. This is the direction it's gotta be taken. So this is more to do with what we do, not how we do it. So share it with someone. If you got some value from it.

and that's how the conversation keeps alive. You can find more stories, images and updates over at PeterGeorge.com.au. And if you haven't already, follow the show wherever you listen.

It helps others find their way here too. So until next time, shoot with purpose and share with heart. Thanks, I'm Georgie and see you next time or speak to you next time or let you listen to me next time. But have a great day always.