Scott Perkins

Scott Perkins is an Eora/Sydney-based contemporary photographer whose landscapes are distinguished by their pared-back minimalism and atmospheric nuance. Captured in remote locations across Australia, New Zealand and Europe, his images of brooding, gothic forests and sweeping seascapes are reduced to elemental forms – softly gradated horizons, silhouetted escarpments, silvery skies – rendered with extraordinary precision and haunting stillness. Presented in finely crafted, architecturally formed natural-timber frames and softly illuminated within custom light boxes, these works are as much about perception and emotion as they are about place, drawing viewers into meditative, ambiguous zones between clarity and abstraction.

“Scott Perkins was rare in emerging artist terms because he presented a complete, accomplished aesthetic – all served up on a platter,” says Michael Reid OAM, reflecting on his earliest encounter with the artist’s work, which followed an enthusiastic recommendation from Australia’s pre-eminent fine art printing specialist, Warren Macris of High Res Digital.

“His age brought with it a measured wisdom. He wasn’t blindly chasing trends or bouncing from one idea to another, as undergraduate emerging artists often do. Perkins’ visual language was original. The quality of his presentation – printing, framing and light boxes – was decades beyond what you’d expect from an emerging artist. In only a handful of artists, across nearly forty years in the arts industry, have I seen the beginning of an artist’s career crafted as though it were the pinnacle of a career.”

“A Sydney-based photographer who commands attention for his abstract photography, Perkins merges technical mastery with conceptual depth. His works often explore the interplay between light and dark, creating atmospheric and mysterious landscapes. I feel a contemporary Gothic in his photography. The atmosphere of Perkins’s work can be haunting and melancholic, evoking a deep sense of isolation and emotional intensity – a brooding, almost surreal world where light and dark are in constant tension.”

“Perkins’s use of lightboxes adds a sculptural element to his photographs, transforming spaces with carefully engineered lighting and high-quality materials such as Hanhnemühle metallic paper. His practice is grounded in abstract photography, focusing on unidentified landscapes and botanicals. These are presented through a blend of macro and micro imagery, resulting in strikingly dynamic visuals. His photographs suggest a space beyond the visible, capturing the viewer’s imagination with their surreal and serene atmospheres.”