Kris Baum is one of those photographers that makes people look at their work and say ‘Damn, I wish I could do that.’ Baum takes a range of subjects and captures them perfectly- from people to structures, from events to artistic shots. If only drinking copious amounts of alcohol worked so well for everybody, because that’s how he got into photography.



‘I moved to London and drank beer every night of the week, that’s not mentioning what weekends were like.. My liver got sick of this so I decided to educate myself a couple of nights a week instead, then drink beer with my new school mates when class was finished

In saying that though, my interest was backpacking through Europe 6 years ago and having my brother’s SLR armed with very basic photography skills I learnt in high school. I traveled solo so my camera got a lot of use. I sent my photos to a few friends scanned and they thought some pro took them. This stroked my ego.’
           
From boozy nights in London however, his style has evolved.

‘My photos used to be a lot busier and not so refined or composed in a way that really communicated the relationship with the subject, now my style (which is beginning to be a lot more people & location based) is looking a lot more cleaner. All the way though, with the exception of a few thousand b&w negs, I’ve always loved using colour to the extreme.



I love oversaturating or colour toning an image. As soon as I got Photoshop I started doing this.’

As Baum’s style has developed, so too has his career as a working photographer.

'It’s been a great ride so far – I had huge issues breaking into photography – you know, the usual self doubt and fault-finding that a lot of ‘artist’ types get. Add to that the misconceptions that photography is an art, therefore it’s hard to make money from, therefore I am destined to be a struggling artist begging parents, family and friends for the rest of my life and being confined to a smelly studio somewhere in the inner west.'

'So one day I just went for it at one point while getting bored in my former career in London, where I lived for four years. London taught me to just jump and see what happens. I guess being highly commended by the Guardian – Observer photography competition made me think ‘well, I might not think I can be a photographer but others can’. Strange as it sounds, but if others like my work I figured I must be able to sell some of it  - somewhere. '

'I resigned from my I.T. career and enrolled in a very hardcore photography course for 3 months. That was at the end of 2004. It was 10am to 10pm and we did nothing but shoot on medium format, learning from industry experts and all of us became super proficient in lighting a studio. I learnt so much from this course, although it was tough, above all I learnt the importance of a portfolio and the basics behind getting clients. We had regular portfolio discussions, and by the end of the course I was armed for the real world.'



'Originally my business tried doing too many genres. Fashion, advertising, editorial, news, events, social, weddings, portraits, locations… wow that’s funny now I spell it out! Now my slogan is ‘spaces, faces, fashion’. Most of my clients are big event companies. Companies like David Grant Special Events – who are one of Australia’s leading event companies. Other clients are more commercial such as graphic designers or fashion labels.’