It’s All Happening
Photography • Feb 10, 2021 by Brook McKeon, Interview by Scott Marlin
“Most people remember the best bits, I spose. I try to hang on to it all.”
From balls-out masculine snaps to soft feminine portraits tinged with a good-natured voyeurism, Brook McKeon’s photography is bristling with unabashed youth and the mystery and longing of growing up.
Deeply anchored in his native Eastern Australia, Brook’s candid scenes render moments big and small with heart and humor. It’s all too easy to get swept away in the bleached out, sun-saturated stories they tell of boys, girls, and the indomitable landscape of the beach as a place where masculine and feminine forces meet like waves and sand.
I was thrilled to have a chance to chat recently with Brook about his work and this incredible series.
Thanks for speaking with us, Brook. Excited to have you on Flash Punk. One of the things that strikes me about your work is its formidable range. With all these moving parts, what is it that inspires you, camera in hand?
I get hyped on old family photos. I love my family albums and the shots my mum took of us boys when we were little on camping trips. I love other people’s family photos too. Aussie movies like Somersault and Blackrock, old windsurfing mags, surf ads, and nineties skate vids. There’s always something to find and go like, “Yeah, why has that idea been forgotten?”
And probs more than anything, I love my distortedly glorified memories of growing up, summer surf trips, Commodores, parties on the boardwalk, The Vines on Rage, heat waves, foster homes, hand-me-downs, old beach houses, wasting time, bombing hills, having no money, being a pizza delivery driver in Rosebud, Daphne trees and dried out lawns, diamante belts and servo sunnies, and boogie boards under the house. Most people remember the best bits, I spose. I try to hang on to it all.
Can you tell us the story behind one of these photos?
The shot with the boys sitting on the front lawn of a beach house at Bluey’s Beach with boards on the roof ready to go… That’s my brother Richie and a good friend Nick. We were going for a surf but I was taking a while to get ready and they were waiting for me.
I stepped out of the house and saw them and had to grab a camera. I back-stepped into the house, loaded a camera, and took it without them noticing. I think cos I held them up even longer they looked extra bored, which was perfect. As a side note, the film used had been found by my mum in her old camera bag and given to me, so it was about 15 years expired.
“There was about two years in the middle I didn’t cop any flack for shooting film. Before that I was a weirdo, and now I’m a hipster apparently.”
What kind of camera do you use? Any favorite films?
As far as cameras go, there’s a selfie giving away that I use some kinda Fujifilm camera… for that photo anyway. With film there’s a bit of everything. A lot of Kodak in this series but I use a lot of Fujifilm, Ilford, Rollei, etc., too.
What do you love about analog vs digital?
I loved there was about two years in the middle I didn’t cop any flack for shooting film. Before that I was a weirdo, and now I’m a hipster apparently. But na seriously it’s about what works for you. Film is what I trained in, and to make a shift I’d have to change my skills and get good at things like Photoshop and stuff, so yeah I’m not sure that sounds like me.
Brook McKeon is a Melbourne-based documentary and fine art photographer. His work has appeared in print in “Casual” Zine and Pure Nowhere. See more of his portfolio at brookmckeon.com and follow his latest @brookmckeon.
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