Local Profile | Embracing a Lifelong Passion for Photography

With almost 50 years of experience as a photographer and a life filled with travel and adventure, Andrew Monger is an interesting character who considers himself a visual historian. He has operated his successful photography business, AJM Photography, in Newcastle for over 30 years. And now, celebrating his longevity as a sought-after photographer in the region, he has published his first coffee table and souvenir book, Newcastle and Beyond – A Pictorial Guide to Newcastle and Surrounds, with publisher Paul Newey Sr.

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Born in Camden, New South Wales, Andrew's family moved to the Whitebridge area of Newcastle when he was just a baby. He grew up in the area until the age of 14, playing on the Fernleigh Track and around the mines when his mining engineer father took a job in Melbourne and then, two years later, moved again, this time to Brisbane. Young Andrew was not into sports or the military, so his mother encouraged him to join a club, which is how he discovered an interest in, and a talent for, photography. Even while still in high school, Andrew began his first photography business. His fellow students hated drawing specimens in biology, so he had a thriving business photographing the specimens for his friends and photographing sports carnivals and school events. After school, he took a job in Coles as a Planning Manager, but when he missed the bus one day, he dropped into a local photography business and landed a job there, learning commercial photography and processing in the dark room over the next two years.

When Andrew turned 20, his father moved the family back to Newcastle, and Andrew decided to come with them. He spent the years from 1975 to 1980 working for Hannan Photography, specialising in commercial industrial photography.

"I loved the heavy mining machinery, the challenges of photography underground in the mines, aerial photography – it was as if my Dad's mining engineering work had somehow rubbed off on me," said Andrew.

"Newcastle was a thriving heavy industry environment at that time. We had one of only two flameproof flash units in Newcastle, and Paul Hannan didn't like going underground. I always got that job, and I did it enthusiastically. You had to have a special flameproof flash so that it didn't ignite gases underground. It was all fascinating. It wasn't all mining and construction, though. We also did fashion shoots for David Jones!"

In 1980 at the age of 25, he decided to take a six-month holiday and, like so many young Australians, took off for London. His six-month holiday turned into ten years, and while he was away, he worked as a sheep farmer in Kent, a waiter in remote parts of Scotland and a window fixer in the city of London. He did up a van and took to the roads to tour Europe. He lived and worked in Switzerland for three years, mainly in the city of Zermatt, which is a mountain resort renowned for skiing, climbing and hiking and is located just beneath the Matterhorn peak.

"There were lots of Aussies there at the time," Andrew remembers. "I worked lots of different jobs – I was a 'dishologist', a 'buffet executive' and even an assistant chef. I had to ski to and from work, even carting boxes of apples for the apple strudel the restaurant was famous for. It was there that I met a guy on a chair lift who was a photographer, taking photos of tourists on the ski slopes. He and his business partner ran a photography business out of Vermont in the USA. Before I knew it, I had a permit for the US as a 'specialised alien' and was working for them in Vermont as a photographer."

The next stage of Andrew's life was filled with action photography in glamorous locations. He photographed white water rafting or skiing at a number of resorts around the US, including the Coloma River in California, Purgatory, located in the rugged San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado, Beech Mountain Resort in North Carolina and the famous Kualoa Ranch in Hawaii, where the Jurassic Park movies were filmed. It was living trapped on an island that finally nudged Andrew toward home.

In August 1992, Andrew returned home to Newcastle and opened AJM Photography. He bought a block of land in Adamstown that backed onto the railway track, which, as we all know, eventually became the cycleway known as the Fernleigh Track. He used sleepers from the tracks to build retaining walls, and even now, they provide a rustic backdrop for his studio clients and their portraits. By 1997 the house and studio were built, and he remains there to this day with no plans to move.

"I won't be retiring," said Andrew. "I love my life. I enjoy the convenience of working from home. I have a green key for the studio and a red key for the house. Green means go to work. Red means time to stop work!"

With such a complete and blessed life, Andrew's bucket list contained one item that he hadn't ticked off, and that was to publish a book. Having taken photographs across the region for such a long time, he is passionate about how much Newcastle has to offer the world. It was the late Meg Purcer, who had worked with Andrew on many projects, who introduced him to Paul Newey. Paul became Andrew's coauthor and publisher of the book Newcastle and Beyond – A Pictorial Guide to Newcastle and Surrounds.

"I'm really proud of the book," said Andrew. "I believe that it makes a great souvenir for visitors to the region, perfect for our international students to send home to their families to share images of where they live. Newsagents were clamouring for such a book. These are photographs of the real Newcastle, the places that are unique to us, and I'm thrilled with it."

With such a long career, Andrew has had to navigate his path through the many technological changes in his profession and admits that moving from film to digital was difficult at first.

"I had no choice but to embrace it. The difference now, though, is that I still have all the core photography skills that I needed when we worked with film. So many of the photographers today don't have that experience or skill set, and I think it makes a real difference."

It's not just technical skill, however, that makes Andrew so good at his job. It's his people skills, his natural curiosity and his passion for documenting the history of people and places. He has a knack for getting the best out of people, making them feel relaxed and confident and is not shy about organising the details of his shoots. He once straightened the tie of then Prime Minister John Howard!

"One of my favourite jobs is actually doing wedding photography. When you photograph a wedding, you are documenting one of the most important days of someone's life. They will be busy all day, so it's my job to make sure they don't miss any of the little details. I make sure that I photograph every single guest. If they are in attendance, they have been deemed as an important part of the lives of the bride and groom. I do the same thing at funerals for a similar reason. People who are mourning won't notice all the guests or the little moments that are quite special. I show up like someone's Uncle Benny and make it happen!"

"I have been taking an annual photo for one client's family every year for 18 years. The girls have grown up, and I've photographed through pregnancies and every important moment. It is something very precious to be able to see them grow and change year after year."

This role of recording history for others is leading Andrew into a new project with the working title of "Photomonger". With some technical assistance, he is digitising his entire catalogue of photographs from his earliest days to the most recent. They include lots of aerial shots that show the progression of the region over time and the change from heavy industry in the city. He hopes to create a resource for the university or local libraries and those interested in local history.

Andrew credits the fact that he learns something new every day with his continued passion for photography. In his own opinion, he is not the best photographer and freely admits that there are others who are more skilled than he, but he does believe that his ability to work with others and to make people feel comfortable is what sets him apart. That, and his extraordinary career and experience are what make him one of the city's best photographers.

Andrew's book, Newcastle and Beyond – A Pictorial Guide to Newcastle and Surrounds, is available to purchase for $34.99 from www.ajmphoto.com.au, local newsagents or direct from the publisher on www.neweyprintingcompany.com.au.