I am an image maker, storyteller, content creator and accidental adventurer. I am one of the privileged few whose vocation allows me to venture to remote and spectacular locations around the globe. But the cold hard facts are I am no big wall climber or hardcore alpine mountaineer, nor am I a platinum frequent flyer with a suit in one bag and snowboard in the other. I am in no-mans land, somewhere in between.

I am a professional happy snapper, writer, travel bum, salt water addict and sponsored photographer. I'm a wannabe coffee snob and I overuse the term 'happy days.’

I was born and bred on a wild coast of the driest continent on the planet, where mountains are of liquid form, moulded by the cold winds of Southern Australian winters colliding with the great ocean swells of the Pacific Ocean. My childhood uniform consisted of wetsuit and board rather than camera and film or ice-axe and crampons.

My parents instilled in me a love of Australia's vast deserts, then the power of Southern Ocean before I discovered the silence of Australia’s Alpine wilderness. They all ignited an awe of mother nature and her offerings.

Along the way I studied biomedical and forensic photography, I collected a degree ... I worked in a hospital... for a month.

The adventurous souls I collided with convinced me to explore the fascinating world of adventure sport and our natural world through image making. I soon concocted projects, assignments & goals, all the while commissions surged from private clients.

Somebody, somewhere noticed my work and brands I revered offered sponsorship. My sponsor family grew. I don’t know if I am deserving of such fortune, but I will ride the wave whilst it will have me.

My photography spans editorial & commercial. I tell stories through imagery for brands and global companies all whilst feeding a passion for fusing photos with the written word through commissioned editorial.

I explore motion picture, I am in awe of the power of motion storytelling.

More than a decade in and I still have too much to learn.

Some label me a commercial photographer, others a documentary photojournalist... I remain unconvinced of either. My world see-saws between commissions both home and abroad while personal projects grow in scale on a notepad. I challenge myself with high-end studio projects before boarding a plane to a frozen Arctic Tundra.

By and large, commissions revolve around environment; A world of winter and summer.

It is a spectacular playground Mother Nature provides, and she is often the true hero.

Capturing energy balanced with the grandeur of some locales does not always come easily... Mother Earth can be harsh. But I have gathered from experts or learned the long way, just how to get the job done.

The side effect of imagery, documentary & exploration is a continual search for excuses to venture to inspiring destinations, even when sometimes it does not make sense. But the upside is I get to explore imagery for a living, tell stories and document remarkable cultures, people and brands . All immersed within a majestic landscape, sometimes natural sometimes man made,

And along the way, and most importantly, “I get to Live!”

Who is Mark Watson:

Mark Watson is recognised as one of Australia’s foremost commercial photographers working across the genres of travel & lifestyle, environmental documentary, action and adventure.

In 2009 he was nominated as one of the first seven Nikon ambassadors in the world, and remains sponsored presently as a Nikon Asia Ambassador and an Elinchrom brand ambassador.

Watson’s work has been published globally, from high end advertising campaigns to local editorial publications and viewed in scope and scale on billboards, storefronts, online, TV, corporate simulations, magazines, social media and many more.

Ambition to push the boundaries of conventional photography in some of our planet's harshest environments has gained Watson a reputation for delivering the goods for his clients, especially when the going gets tough.

He is constantly in demand by both national and international clients, working on assignments from the Arctic Wilderness to Himalayan Peaks and Patagonian Rainforest.

Watson’s subjects vary from the calming arena of landscapes, wildlife and natural history to the extreme sports of freestyle motocross, BMX, climbing and ski mountaineering but it is his passion for the natural world that dominates much of his imagery, and thus represents brands such as Australian Geographic, The North Face, Land Rover, Kakadu, and varying tourism bodies.

A charismatic & laid back personality complements Watson’s artistic and technical knowledge, leading to a sharing of his knowledge as a Nikon representative, keynote speaker and guest workshop instructor.

Whilst Watson’s images speak for themselves, it is "the challenge to create emotion," within his imagery that continues a drive to pursue far flung assignments in some of the remotest corners of our planet and he claims “Mother Nature is always the hero, I just try to work with her.”

“My clients and I dream of an idea, a concept and I work backwards from the end-vision to see if it can be realised. This could be anything from ski mountaineering to a tourism campaign. I then simply work with the best people and the best equipment to ‘make it happen.’”