Michael Bradfield is a Sydney based photographer and filmmaker whose work centres on the capacity of images to distil experience into moments of clarity. Working across still photography and moving image, he brings a refined understanding of light, atmosphere and composition to projects that range from commercial commissions to collaborations with artists and cultural institutions. Over more than three decades Bradfield has developed a reputation for imagery that combines technical precision with sensitivity to the emotional and narrative dimensions of a subject.

For LUSTRE: Australian Artists in Greece and Crete, Bradfield will produce a photographic series and documentary film tracing the journey of twelve Australian artists travelling through landscapes shaped by the history of the Second World War. Moving between Greece and Crete, the project retraces routes taken by Australian and Allied soldiers during the 1941 campaigns, revisiting sites where memory, landscape and history intersect.

Within this context, Bradfield’s role is both observer and participant. Through photography and film, he records the unfolding experience of the group while reflecting on the layered histories embedded in these places. Having lived and attended school in Athens as a child, he maintains a long-standing affinity with Greece and its culture.

Equally important is the quieter dimension of the journey. Bradfield seeks to capture intimate moments in which artists pause, listen and respond to the stories carried by each site. In these encounters between artists and landscape, the camera becomes a witness to reflection and contemplation, recording how contemporary practitioners engage with places shaped by conflict and memory. The resulting images and moving footage from both a record of the expedition and a meditation on remembrance.