John McRae

John McRae is a Sydney-based photographer with a strong international reputation, working primarily on exhibition projects, commercial photographyand portraiture. Born in 1960, in Horsham, Victoria, he is a member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP).

As a fine artist, McRae’s powerful and characteristic images have been featured in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums in Paris, New York, Rome, Berlin, Malta, Shanghai and throughout Australia. He is represented in Rome by the prestigious Gallery Il Ponte Contemporanea. His work is regularly reproduced in magazines around the globe.

In addition to his artistic endeavours John also runs a successful commercial photography business. He specialises in architecture, interiors and portraiture where he has carved a reputation. John’s background in fine art gives him a unique grasp of how to maintain a high aesthetic standard and a faultless sense of composition within any assignment. His ability to conceptualise a theme that best suits the client’s brief is paramount to the success of his imagery.

His clients include some of the bigger players in Australia’s architecture and construction industries including Hansen Yuncken, Prime Construction, Multiplex and Xenia Constructions, architects such as SBA architects, Hames Sharley and Schamburg + Alvisse, as well as fashion, music, theatre and art world commissions.

He is well known in the theatre industry and works with many of Australia’s top actors, producers and directors where he lends his creativity to producing some iconic imagery for a variety of productions.

He shoots for many artists, documenting their work, in both 2 dimensions and 3 dimensions. Of note is his work with Margaret Olley, towards the end of her career, where he photographed many of her works and helped produce the last and only giclee print of her work.

After his successful exhibition of male portraits entitled, “Blow by Blow” in 2003 in NYC, he was selected as one of the top 100 by OUT Magazine (America’s leading LGBT publication), for his contribution to the visual arts. In 2004 several works from McRae’s "Sailor Style" series were selected and exhibited at the Maritime Museum, Sydney, as part of an exhibition of the same name, curated by Rosie Nice, exploring the perennial allure of the sailor and the influence of maritime style as portrayed in art, fashion and film. McRae’s “Sailor Style” series went on to be exhibited in Berlin (2005) and Malta (2008).

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Some of his Works

Amirah (from the series Spot the Arab)
Jaden (From the Series Spot the Arab)
Portrait of Margaret Olley in her Paddington studio, 2013 (Taken 3 weeks prior to her death)
Vanity Fair (Part of the series, Spot the Arab)
On Deck I, 2003 (From the series Sailor Style, part of the museum show, Sailor Style, curated by Rosie Nice, Maritime Museum, Sydney)
Double Icon (Portrait of Matthew Mitcham with Olympic Gold Medal, Beijing Olympics, 2008)