LEFT: Next Level. I was in Japan
shooting a TV commercial. Directly
opposite my hotel was this incredible
building. I was drawn to the graphic
details and repetitive design of the
stair well. Fujifilm GFX 50S, GF100-
200mm F5.6 R LM OIS WR lens.
1/60s @ f9, ISO 200.RIGHT: Night trees. After a big day
hiking with my wife in New Zealand I
saw this stand of trees. The following
day I snuck out late in the arvo and
watched in awe as the light swept over
the landscape. This image was made
up of several different exposures and
merged in photoshop. Canon 5D Mark
IV, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L lens.
240s @ f5.6, ISO 100.“I FIND THAT PHOTOGRAPHY OFFERS ME A FREEDOM
THAT I DON’T HAVE WITH MY CINEMA WORK.”
“When I was at school I had hoped to become an
artist because I always liked the visual,” says Koppe.
“But I guess I was discouraged from that by my par-
ents who kind of said ‘yeah, great, but you need to earn
a living’. So I thought that cinematography was a way
for me to have some visual expression and earn a dollar
at the same time.”
After graduation from NSTC, Koppe worked as
both a camera assistant and picked up work video sto-
ryboard editing and operating a projectionist’s booth
for Leo Burnett - an advertising agency in the heart of
Sydney. It was through his time at Leo Burnett’s that
Koppe got to know fellow Australian cinematogra-
pher John Lowry - whom Koppe would go on to work
with for several years.
“We hit it off and I essentially went to work as a
freelance assistant to John for many years,” Koppe
recounts."That’s where I picked up a lot of skills for the
trade. I was a focus puller, clapper loader and things
like that.” But with his love for the craft still at full
tilt and with an ambition up to the ears, Koppe
would spend the majority of his free time shooting
his own material, leading to a string of music vid-
eos that would become the staple of his early career.
Music videos were “all about the visuals”, says Koppe
allowing the young creative an opportunity to hone
his personal style through “crazy techniques” like
double exposures and other things. “That’s how I
built up a showreel that allowed me to get into com-
mercials and a career shooting TV ads”, he says.A CREATIVE OUTLET
For Koppe, photography is firmly a creative release and
perhaps even a rejection against the technical and cre-
ative guidelines often imposed upon his day job.PROFILE: ALLEN KOPPE ACS