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Ross McLennan

@getrossco

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Cinematographer / Photographer
@halfartstudio darkroom and studio
Runner Up & Finalist @monoawards ‘26
Finalist @photoaccess_inc Canberra ‘26

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PRINT SALE ! 🇺🇸Utilitarianism. September 2017. I took this photograph three years ago whilst on a road trip up to Pendleton, stopping whenever and wherever the light or subject happened to take me, a freedom that unfortunately isn’t afforded us right now. In the meantime I’m honoured to have been asked to donate this and two other film photographs to help support out of work filmmakers through @keepgoing.world who are selling prints like this and loads of other fantastic work by many a talented cinematographer and director, take a look, help a fellow filmmaker and get some art, win-win! #wecandoit #filmsnotdead #printsale #keepgoing #california #missyouguys taken in Planet Earth by @getrossco

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6 years ago

🇬🇧Jack Bevan Nov.8th 2018. Excited to finally share these wet plates shot at @gasproductionhire studios in Walthamstow last year. I’ve been lucky enough to have shot music videos for the @foals with @thisisnotdavema can’t believe it’s been over ten years since we shot “Olympic Airways” in London. To have been asked by @ynnsphilippakis to shoot the band was nothing short of a dream come true. Can’t wait for the new album. 8x10 Wet Plate Collodion Aluminium Type. #largeformatcamera #largeformatphotography #wetplatecollodion #wetplatedarlings #foals #portraiture #portraitphotography #deardorff taken in London, United Kingdom by @getrossco

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7 years ago

🇺🇸 Venice Fastback. June 2022. Been sort of shooting a little street photography of late, not really, as I’m driving around with an 8x10 camera , same but slower and more expensive. Consequently I don’t shoot much but when i do, people are excited to see the camera, come up to have a chat, speedway has a vibe up that end, cool in the shade, hot in the sun, people walking dogs, the sound of flip flops and seagulls, the smell of sea salt , jazz cabbage and a little gasoline, drifters, tourists, locals , a really rich mix of humanity most days you float through. #mustang #fordmustang #venicebeach #kodake100 #8x10camera #8x10film #largeformatphotography #patina #beachlife #filmisbetter #drivevintage #classicsmagazine taken in Venice Beach by @getrossco

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4 years ago

Roger ‘Fergo’ Fergusson, September’26

I’ve been asking Fergo for a portrait for a few years now and with the help of a mutual friend we finally managed to wrangle it. Fergo wouldn’t come to my studio in Fredrickton , too far away apparently, so I brought my studio to him and I was happy to find him wearing his ever present knitted headwear that I may actually have never seen him without?

Fergo has lived in Crescent Head long enough to call himself a local and around here that’s at least twenty years minimum I’m told. Being a surfer for many years yet no longer being able must be tough in a small regional town that’s more recent relative heart is surfing, yet he now pours a lot of that energy into organising and running the @crescentheadmalibuclub annual Crescent Head Classic Surf Competition. When you see that caravan appear at the point you know many surfers will follow young and old creating quite the buzz in town and right at its centre you’ll find Fergo, in his element.

Thank you mate for finally allowing me to make your portrait. Fergo isn’t on Instagram yet when I texted him this portrait this was his response;

“If i knew i was going to get this old i would have taken better care of myself…the trouble with growing old is that you don’t, and yes the North Coast is the place to go for us fellows that don’t want to grow up, ha ha!

#largeformatfilmphotography #portraitsonfilm #ilfordorthoplus #oldschool taken in Crescent Head National Surf Reserve by @getrossco

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8 hours ago

Self Portrait 3.10.26
It took me most of yesterday making these photographs and up until today to unpack everything that has brought me to a point of understanding.
The purpose of these photographs is to firstly busy a mind consumed by emotion, secondly give me multiple points to accept failure as part of the creative process and lastly to understand what wasn’t understood prior to it all starting.
It’s difficult for me to admit to rage as I’ve been taught to suppress it as it’s wrong and a failure rather than an emotion that needs attention to understand its source.

The deeper I look the more I see this rage was lit by shame. Shame for not controlling my emotions and lacking the fortitude to express my true feelings to someone I loved.

This rage once broke a relationship I cherished. That and my lack of self love led to a mental breakdown and then antidepressants which muted those feelings, it muted most all feeling in fact. This did however pull me from the brink far enough to realise this is not how I want to live.

After six months I stopped taking them, this gives you a few days of joy followed by the same hard time coming off them as you had coming onto them. This I forgot as forgetting is another side effect of coming off or on the drugs.

As with all lessons I have failed to learn in my life they keep returning to gift you another chance at finding how to react from a perspective of love rather than fear and hopefully move forward.
The day before yesterday I was gifted another chance, I’m ashamed to share these photographs are the result of the same fear, shame and rage cycle.
I feel they illustrate an exhausted, scared and impatient man fed up with not being able to access who he once was before this all started.

What does feel good right now is my ability to cry again whilst I write these words. Tears are my barometer for pointing toward the places within that have been neglected and something I’ve missed whilst medicated.

That really hurt coming out, sorry if it’s all too much. Rage is ugly, shame is destructive, fear needs staring in the face to be precise with the aim of your love.

#selfportraitureasmedicine #shame #rage #fearoflove taken in Dunghutti Country by @getrossco

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6 days ago

Pretty chuffed to be in print 😊 taken in Dunghutti Country by @getrossco

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11 days ago

Paul “Fluffy” Sinclair 25.9.26 8x10 Ilford Ortho 80

Had a great morning meeting @paul_fluffy_sinclair when he popped into @halfartstudio for a portrait with his little whippet, Ian, that I didn’t actually notice in the bottom of frame as I was so intent on making sure I got Paul’s eyes in focus.

If you’ve not heard of Paul and you enjoy having a laugh whilst finding out about this amazing country we live in go check him out, he’s one of the few bringing joy to this platform.

Thanks again for swinging by, this is exactly why I build this studio, a place to meet people and create together in this medium I’m doing my best to keep alive as each day passes it seems to solidify that the old school is quite simply the best school.

Paul is also the number one pick right now for going into the @bigbrotherau house here in Australia, if so he’d be the only reason I’d turn to that on the telly.

#largeformatfilm #portraitsonfilm #ilfordorthoplus #8x10 #largeformatportrait taken in Old Cheese Factory Collective by @getrossco

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16 days ago

Aaron Andrews ORTHO SURFERS

Something I’ve been forced to learn with this series is patience. Patience for the weather, for the surfers and with myself to just let it be created at the pace it dictates.

Here’s @azzaandrews10 down at the point earlier in the year, I mistakenly fogged his close up and in spite of our best efforts we never got a chance to reshoot that before Azza moved up to Byron so here’s his wide shot and some words from the man himself.

For me, surfing is an escape from everything that normally fills my head. It gives me a chance to switch off, reset, and leave everything else on the shore for a while. Out there, there’s no work, no expectations and no noise, just the ocean, the next wave and the freedom to do nothing but be present. It’s one of the few places where I can completely disconnect and come back feeling like myself again.

Thank you @azzaandrews10 for your time, see you up in Byron ✌️❤️

#largeformatfilm #portraitsonfilm #surfer #homedeveloped taken in Dunghutti Country by @getrossco

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a month ago

Matthew Roach 20/08/26 8”x10” Ilford Ortho80

I’ve been thinking a lot lately on how to illustrate a state of mind within a photograph. Show what it’s like to feel exposed in a way that has you shying away from people until the feeling subsides. Difficult to spot if you don’t know someone well enough to see it or if they’ve perhaps mastered the craft of suppressing emotions.
Matt and I often talked about this and I really value hearing his perspective. From my perspective he has committed himself fully to finding the thoughts and actions that can carry him through his days as he would wish to exist. We were talking about how no matter how much breathe work, no matter how good your diet and regardless of how much you exercise some days that big black damp heavy blanket gets thrown over you and you’ve no idea where it came from yet there is no doubt of it’s arrival.

I’ve also been thinking a lot on what it is to live in a small regional town with a population less than 1500 people. What the relative isolation gives you, and what it takes away and what it’s like to struggle with your mental health in such a place.

I’m not really sure where this series is going and that feels so beautifully light to just let it take me where it needs to go.
Matt and I were talking the other day about this perfectly apt grouping of words that made us laugh.
“I’m sorry for acting strange,
I’m strange,
It will happen again.”

Matt if you’re strange, I surely am too brother, proud to call you a friend, thank you for making this photograph with me. ❤️

#largeformatfilmphotography #filmportraits #8x10 #ilfordorthoplus80 #regional taken in Dunghutti Country by @getrossco

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a month ago

“In the Reeds” 13/8/26 8”x10” @ilfordphoto Ortho80

At last fatigued from constantly searching for why I persist with getting in my own way all the time, I’ve now given up trying to understand, instead I’ll just make work that can hopefully do the talking for me.

Grateful for now not feeling like then and for using my camera and not my monkey mind with its’ fist stuck around the answers within the jar. Hoping to learn to let go rather than smash the jar.

Thank you to @willliamsjosh for listening when the black dog bit me and for sharing your experiences when it bit you. Thank you too for your time and enthusiasm in making this together. ✌️❤️ darts n libation

#portraits #largeformatfilmphotography #portraitsonfilm #homedeveloped #ilfordorthoplus taken in Dunghutti Country by @getrossco

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2 months ago

Self Portrait 10/8/26 4x5 @rollei_analog Infrared film.

Not posted anything for a few months as to be honest I’ve still been struggling with my mental health and learning how to live with taking Mirtazapine and Escitalopram.
I was hoping to wax lyrical about how much better I feel but in reality it’s been a rough ride, still dipping into debilitating depression as well as manic days of doing all the things yet oddly feeling as I’m somehow fast forwarding through life and never really being present.
I’m grateful for not bottoming out with my lows yet I miss the highs and now just seem to be able to exist in what feels like a parallel dimension.
Navigating one’s mental health from the inside whilst under the influence of chemicals working on adjusting your serotonin and mood is difficult, doing so whilst trying to embody being an artist finding my place in the world constantly searching for meaningful work to commit myself to has led me back to looking at myself trying to understand who I am and what am I here to learn.
My inner voice is slapping me in the face and screaming get over yourself writing this but that simply doesn’t work, never really did, and more than likely is why I’m here in the first place.

Whilst searching all these answers my intuition led me to making this self portrait on film stock that sees the world only in light wavelengths between 645 and 715 nanometers and like mental health none of which are visible to the human eye but accurately expressing elements of what it’s like in here.

I’d have much rather presented something beautiful and positive with the hope of inspiring others nonetheless I still believe speaking one’s truth and being vulnerable about how one feels to others is a positive mechanism for understanding and healing. ✌️❤️
#selfportratureasmedicine #selfportrait #mentalhealth #infrared taken in Dunghutti Country by @getrossco

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2 months ago

Jin Moriyama 🇯🇵 13.1.2026. So glad to be back shooting this Ortho Surfers series again, I’ve been busy / overwhelmed trying to put together a little studio and darkroom over @halfartstudio but when I heard @surfboardsbyjin will be leaving us again I couldn’t miss capturing him for this series as he is the personification of old school surfing culture in my eyes, 100% dedicated to the craft of shaping boards and the life style of surfing. Not the modern egocentric and aggressive world of locals only and dropping in but the all inclusive good times enjoyed with friends wrapped in all the elements of nature.

Thank you for finding the time to be part of this series @surfboardsbyjin , so good to have you here again. Here are some words from Jin and a tune from his dad’s band, I’m not sure he could be any cooler if he tried.

“Surfing…every surfer is different with where they get a good feeling from. Some surfers get a good feeling from big waves. Some surfers love the small waves. Surfing for me is freedom.
We just have to respect nature, the locals and all surfing styles.
Surfing keeps me staying humble and the point at Crescent Head is special to me as I’ve met both good friends and teachers there.
This song is from my home in Japan and it’s my Dads band.”

#orthosurfers #largeformatfilm #largeformatfilmportraits #ilfordorthoplus80 #8x10photography #deardorff #surf #surfer #frother taken in Dunghutti Country by @getrossco

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9 months ago