John Barrett’s Story

John Barrett

The Man Behind the Images

John Barrett has been an award-winning professional photographer for decades, having gone from high school straight into one of the best fashion photography studios in Australia.

Since that formative period he has never lost his passion for capturing unique, creative images.

Now based on the Gold Coast in Australia, John creates stunning images from a state-of-the-art photographic studio only ten minutes from Gold Coast Airport with the beautiful locations of South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales on the doorstep.

John continues to shoot premium advertising and fashion images for national and international brands with that same energy, creativity and pride— now enhanced by his understanding of the total client brand solution.

JB describes his personal ‘Why’ as: “Believe in and nurture passionate talent.”

It is this deep desire to help others understand, learn and create that led John to develop and launch his unique ‘Mastershot’ workshops.

John Barrett

From Surf Magazines to Rolling Stone

As a teen, John was a keen surfer and aspired to create the images that he saw in Surfing World and Tracks magazine. At fifteen, his passion to create was ignited by shooting with his first SLR camera and telephoto lens and the going rate of $6 per printed image.

Soon the human figure became John’s focus and he saw fashion photography as the way to allow his creativity to flow.

This led John to his first job as an assistant at Alan Nye’s Studio 49. A perfectionist himself, Alan shared his knowledge of photography, lighting, creativity, composition, posing and aesthetics combined with the technical understanding of photography (optics, physics, chemistry) with John, forming the beginnings of his signature style.

John started shooting during this time, soon being published in Rolling Stone and several major fashion magazines.

After landing on the Gold Coast in the mid 80s, John was offered the use of the photographic studio at Margo Mott Modelling Agency on the condition that he coach their Photographic Modelling Course.

John soon started shooting fashion for surf brands such Lightning Bolt and Starbus while still shooting editorial for magazines such as Tempo Libero. It was here that JB started shooting with one of his most iconic clients, Cheetah Swimwear, then the powerhouse of female surf swimwear. He continued to shoot with the owners Carl and Gail till the late ‘90’s, and they remain dear friends to this day.

Back to the Big City

JB missed the challenges of the big city shoots so decided to return to Sydney by the longest route possible via Europe and the United States where his contacts in the Surfwear Industry and editorial fashion magazines gave him the opportunity to sharpen his skills in exotic locations.

Upon a later return to Sydney, John was offered the opportunity to establish a world-class studio in an advertising agency. He used this time to understand the marketing and advertising needs of the national and international brands the Agency serviced. Here he shot campaigns for Coca Cola, Berlei Lingerie, Nescafe and the wine industry.

After establishing his own studio overlooking Sydney Harbour, John’s ’s client list grew through the nineties as he shot directly for Suzanne Grae, Just Jeans, Nutrimetics, Tarocash, Sheike, La Prairie, Wild, Avon, Germani Jewellery, Rodney Clark, Basic, Kulu Atoll, Rockport Shoes, Shady Haze, YD, REAL, and Citi to name a few. He also shot major campaigns through Advertising Agencies for Levi Strauss and Vodafone, amongst others.

It was at this time that John created Steel Pulse Creative Services to act as the project management company in these productions and bring together graphic designers, printers, and other creative services professionals.

In 2002, John partnered with a brilliant designer, Phillip Russell, and created the marketing agency, Neon Creative. Neon quickly grew to a team of nearly 30 from the agency offices and photographic studio overlooking the harbour at Pyrmont.

After a period of rest starting in 2014, John— known as “JB” by those close to him— is ready to ignite passion and skills in photography for a whole new generation.