Twitter has thrown so many new contacts and friends at me, from such different and unexpected directions, that if I were an actor being interviewed for an upcoming movie I’d say I was ‘blessed’.
But it’s great, I reckon, to find people who ‘like’ your stuff (on Facebook / offline), who get what you do, have similar values and who are part of your supportive business / friend network.
Tim Anger is a photographic legend, designer of the graphic variety, daddy to Miss Amalia Grace and the other half of academic, journo and much-loved Tweeter Julie Posetti.
Here he is.
Describe yourself.
Honest, Creative, Generous.
What do you do?
Web & graphic design pays the bills, but photography is moving from hobby to a bigger part of my work life.
What are you passionate about?
Imagery. And great design.
What are your feelings about social media and communities online?
Mixed. It’s hard work – but any good relationship is I guess. I have a couple of blogs, as well I’m on Facebook and Twitter. My connectedness is growing, but I often find I don’t have time to take care of all my social media activities – my blog is usually the most neglected – as my Facebook has taken over the short blog functions, although the blog still works for the more long form, such as feature articles I’ve written.
Who do you credit for getting you to your current place in the world?
More of a what…cancer. Weird huh? I left school, obtained a degree in civil engineering and set about building the world – or a little corner of it at least. After a little over a decade at that, I was diagnosed with cancer and I spent the next couple of years being treated or recovering from it – climaxing in a bone marrow transplant (which seems to have done the job).
During the downtime I started fiddling with web design to keep my mind active while my body wasn’t. That morphed into a part time income, with a little engineering on the side, to the point now where I haven’t done any engineering for a few years. And while I had an interested in photography and drawing when I was younger, it was never anything beyond a hobby, until recently.
What excites you?
Knowing that something special is happening in front of my lens.
What disgusts you?
Greed & dishonesty. Most potently at the moment, the asylum seeker debate makes me so angry – that so much venom, attention and money is spent essentially demonising a few thousand people who are so desperate that they risk everything for a safer life. I know it’s not kosher to get political in the professional sphere, but the dishonesty of the political debate around this issue really does disgust me.
Do you have a secret to getting things done?
Probably would be music…pumping hard. Get’s the feet tapping and the work flowing.
If you could work with anyone, who would it be?
That’s such a hard question. There are many people I admire professionally, or for their achievements and struggles. The person I’d most like to shoot would have to be, as clichéd as it might sound, Nelson Mandela, or Martin Luther King, if I had the Delorean time machine. In terms of working beside someone, the list is very long.
“If I could turn back time…”
It’s always tempting to look back on your life and decisions with the hindsight of many years hard won wisdom and wonder what would have been. But you can’t go back and mess with the time continuum, Doc Brown taught us all that. Having said that… I would have followed my passion for photography from the get go.
Favourite quote:
“Hmmmm, doughnuts.” – Homer (The Simpsons)
Here’s how to say g’day to Tim online:
www.timanger.com.au
www.enigmacreativemedia.com.au
facebook.com/timangerphoto
twitter.com/timangerphoto
timangerphoto.wordpress.com
1photo1print.tumblr.com
