In this LensCulture interview, Australian photographer Sam Ferris reflects on the development of his long-term street photography project, In Visible Light, which documents Sydney’s central business district over more than a decade.

Ferris explains that he came to photography in his mid-twenties after moving from Melbourne to Sydney, using long walks and a camera as a way to understand an unfamiliar city and find his place within it.

Initially interested in architecture and overlooked urban spaces, he gradually turned his attention to people and the fleeting moments that define everyday city life.

A central theme of the conversation is Ferris’s fascination with light and its ability to transform ordinary scenes into visually striking and emotionally resonant images.

While early in his career he focused heavily on composition, geometry, and visual aesthetics, he now prioritizes photographs that communicate genuine human emotion and lived experience.

He describes Sydney as a city marked by contrasts—crowded yet lonely, ambitious yet exhausted—and seeks to capture these tensions through subtle gestures, expressions, and interactions.

Ferris discusses how years of photographing the same streets deepened both his familiarity with the city and his awareness of broader social issues, including rising living costs, social divisions, urban change, and the lingering effects of major events such as the Cronulla riots, lockout laws, the Martin Place siege, and the COVID-19 pandemic.He emphasizes that he is less interested in documenting these events directly than in revealing how they shape everyday life.

The interview also explores the meaning behind the project’s title, the balance between being an observer and participant in public spaces, and the influences that shaped his work, including photographers Alex Webb, Joel Meyerowitz, Trent Parke, Narelle Autio, and Jesse Marlow.LensCulture notes that Ferris has previously been recognized in its Street Photography Awards and will serve as a juror for the 2026 competition.