Jarrad Seng

Jarrad Seng (born 2 February 1988) is an Australian photographer and filmmaker.

Based in Perth, his work often mixes with his interests in music, travel and volunteering.

He attended primary and high school at Frederick Irwin Anglican School, graduating in 2005.

After high school, Seng began studying law at the University of Western Australia (UWA) but found it did not fit his creative nature and soon switched to an arts and commerce degree.

From 2008 to 2011, Seng worked in a range of roles at St George's College, the residential college he was living at, including Arts Representative on the College Club Committee, Student Director of Music and as an Arts Tutor in 2011.

Although Seng always had an interest in photography, he never had any formal photography education.

Seng began his photography career in 2009 while he was the music editor and writer for Pelican, the UWA student newspaper.

While filling in the media accreditation form for the West Coast Blues & Roots Festival, Seng surreptitiously ticked the box for a photographer's pass even though he was only supposed to be there as a writer.

Seng borrowed a friend's camera and researched how to take photos on the Internet.

The photos turned out decently, leading Seng to buy his own camera and continue pursuing photography.

Seng soon found photography could further his interests in music, travel and volunteering.

Seng says he "fell in love with the idea of capturing the beauty of the world on film" while volunteering at a school in Nepal in 2009.

In 2009, Seng also started a marketing internship at the Perth International Arts Festival, allowing him to photograph events and begin to get his work noticed.

Seng has held four solo exhibitions — Portraits of Tanzania (2011), Alltervatn (2013), Spirit of the Masaai (2014) and The Space Between (2015) — and a collaborative exhibition, Parallels (2016), with Perth-based artist Amok Island.

In 2011, Seng travelled to Tanzania to volunteer at a school and orphanage.

On the weekends, Seng would visit various villages and photograph candid portraits of the Maasai people.

The photographs formed his first solo exhibition, Portraits of Tanzania.

Seng frequently collaborates with English singer Passenger, serving as his tour photographer on seven tours between 2012 and 2015, as well as directing many of his music videos.

Seng has also toured with American band Matchbox Twenty and Australian folk singer Stu Larsen.

His personal photographic work has seen him traveling to both Tanzania and Iceland twice.

Since 2012, Seng has served as a tour photographer for a number of musicians and bands.

Seng has been the tour photographer for English singer Passenger on seven tours between 2012 and 2015.

Seng travelled to Iceland in 2012 to take aerial photographs of the country's volcanic river systems.

He hired a two-seater plane and photographed out the plane's window.

In 2013, Seng was a finalist in the Propel Youth Arts Award category at the 2013 WA Youth Awards.

In 2013, Seng toured with American rock band Matchbox Twenty on their Australian tour.

An ebook, Going North, was released featuring Seng's photographs and written accounts of the tour experience.

In 2013, Seng was a finalist in the Propel Youth Arts Award category at the 2013 WA Youth Awards.

Seng received international media coverage in December 2014 after a prank video, in which he walked around a music festival disguised as American DJ Steve Aoki, went viral.

He also toured with Australian folk singer Stu Larsen on his 2014 European tour.

In addition to music photography, Seng has also directed many music videos for Passenger, as well as music videos for Emma Stevens, Stu Larsen and Patrick James.

In October 2014, Seng's photo of an Amity Affliction concert in Perth won the 2014 Monster Children Photo Comp in the music category, winning him $5,000.

In April 2015, a short film directed by Seng to promote North Queensland won a competition run by Tropical North Queensland Tourism, winning a $20,000 prize package.

Seng was the subject of an episode of the ABC program On Assignment which was released on ABC iview in September 2015.

Seng competed in season four of Australian Survivor, which began airing in late July 2017.

Seng was born in the rural Western Australian mining town of Newman.

His father, Kim, is Malaysian and his mother, Alice, is a Christmas Islander of Chinese descent.

The family moved to Mandurah when Seng was three years old.

He placed 32nd in the 2017 Australia's Top 50 Influencer Awards.

He was also featured in a video released in March 2017 promoting the Microsoft Surface Book.