About
Katelyn Slyer is a Wollongong-based photographer who grew up in the ‘burbs’ of Sydney. Her earliest memories were helping her father, a commercial photographer, in his studio above their family home. Photography has been ingrained in her DNA and has always been part of her story.
Later in life, Katelyn's family relocated to Wollongong, NSW, and she began to travel extensively. Katelyn spent some of this time living in London, which had a formative impact and resulted in a large body of work.
Her experiences overseas led to the eclectic nature of her work, which can be defined in terms of a 'creative realism' -- equally documentary and artistic. Katelyn aspires to capture the defiance and vulnerability of her subjects.
Her images showcase the visceral reality of human experience, while also capturing their subjects' charm, refinement, and grace. They also foreground various countercultures, undergrounds, and alternative world views that most people aren't exposed to. The work is always un-staged, honest and raw, and it is inevitably drawn to the beauty in everyday life.
While the majority of her work might appear to fall into a documentation of early 2000s punk culture, the core of her work embodies the heart of human experience. Kate is a visual narrator, a documentarian and a collector of images, memories and souls. She shoots life as it otherwise was.