ABOUT STEPHEN RILEY.

Stephen was born in the early 1950s in Sydney. From a young age, he had a fascination with optics, constructing home made telescopes and viewers. Through enthusiastic teachers, he also developed drawing and painting skills. After the family moved to Melbourne in the 1960s, he fell in love with science in late high school and eventually completed a degree and then a master's degree majoring in biochemistry - leading to a career in clinical chemistry for many years and an ongoing interest in the life sciences.

His commitment to photography flowed naturally from the synthesis of artistic and scientific interests.

He has had a lifelong interest in Asia - in particular Chinese language and character etymology, poetry, painting and 20th century Chinese history.

He also has a love of Australian art (such as the Heidelberg School) and its struggle to depict and interpret the ancient Australian landscape. As with some Australian printmakers, Stephen's photographic compositions are often influenced by Chinese painting principles.

Stephen has had a passion for photography starting in the early 1970s and which he is still developing. He is constantly on the lookout for compositional images, whether it be a momentary juxtaposition of seemingly disconnected elements in a Wuhan traffic jam and snapped with an auto SLR (or smart phone!), or a deeply meditative study using a vintage large format camera on the banks of the Yarra River.