A Little Bit About Gen Engelhardt

As a Melbourne-based photographer, I’m always searching for the small, easily missed moments in the city—the quiet fight between the urban and the natural world. My photography isn’t defined by subject matter alone, but by how I capture it. With a background in Graphic and Digital Design, I’m drawn to the aesthetic of everyday streetscapes, urban sprawl, office buildings, and suburbia. It’s not just about what I see, but how I frame it—through bold compositions, unusual angles, rich colour, and those strange little details most people walk past without noticing.

My creative process is intentionally natural. I avoid heavy digital manipulation, instead focusing on in-camera technique. I often take 10 to 20 shots of the same scene just to get the right colour balance and crop. This mindful approach makes me reflect deeply on what I’m photographing and what I want to express—the beauty, colour (or absence of it), and strangeness in everyday life. Sometimes, these ordinary moments take on a surreal quality, transforming the familiar into something quietly extraordinary.

I primarily work in landscape, urban, and night photography, but I’m expanding into event and live music photography—a shift that’s helping me grow more comfortable with directing people and capturing dynamic scenes. While my heart remains in urban and natural environments, I’m starting to introduce people into my compositions to deepen the contrast and narrative in my work.