JIM HAYNES

23 rue Saint Croix de la Bretonnerie
75004 Paris
tel 01 42 74 68 40
e-mail: davidturn@hotmail.com

1970 received my Degree in Architecture at University of NSW in Sydney.

Ran my own architectural Practise in Sydney for 30 years, specialising in restoration of old homes.

1981/82 worked in Hong Kong; from there I smuggled 35 kilos of cheap watches into Kathmandu. Travelled in China.

1985 worked in London for one year; visited and worked in Paris for the first time.

1989 made the big decision, in a Sydney coffee shop, to sell my home and quit Australia to go out and discover the world. Went to Florence and travelled Italy for one year.

1990 moved to Paris and have lived, worked and travelled from here since.
Travelled periodically throughout Europe, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Japan and Cuba.

3rd October 1990, at the Brandenburg Gate, photographed the reunification celebration of the two Germanys.

3rd October 1993, in Moscow, got the communists' rebellion and Yeltsin's bombardment and destruction of Parliament House.

2001, in Sydney, all my photos of India and ancestral family photos destroyed in a flood.

My camera is an Olympus OM2. I photograph mostly in black and white, mostly street scenes and faces, which sometimes gets me in trouble. I am fascinated by the human condition. Streets, for me, are the stage of complex human drama - each person is a character in their chosen costume acting out their lives - a continuum of connections made not by plot so much but rather, more fascinatingly, by the mysteries of chance. I expect to see the unexpected, even if it is for only a split second, which, often, is all I have and sometimes, if I am quick enough, is all I need.
I have one daughter or, rather, she has me. For 25 years I have been writing to her about my life experiences with photo illustrations. She has become a world traveller.

This particular exhibition shows photos taken in Cuba, Israel, Japan, Spain, Morocco, Egypt and Paris.