Belle Sharrin Rees

VALE 1952-2016 remembers the straight-shooting Sydney photographer whose all-seeing lens captured perfect perspectives in interior architecture.

THE SUDDEN DEATH in September 2016 of gifted photographer Sharrin Rees aged 64 left the design community and friends in shock as most were unaware she had been diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).

Sharrin was a pioneer, a female leader in the once male-dominated field of architectural photography. She had a loyal following of clients, leading designers and architects, including the late George Freedman. They remembered with fondness her gentle, quiet, unassuming nature. Her manner belied a resolve to get the job done her way and “an oldschool approach with everything in perfect alignment”, says Iain Halliday of Burley Katon Halliday and a close industry friend for 30 years. “She really did follow through, even if you were shooting until 3am.”

Everyone who worked with her, myself included, remembers the early starts and late finishes – and the results, of course, which were always spectacular (Sharrin was tenacious in getting the perfect shot). Architect William Smart recalls being with her on a chilly 4am start to capture a few magic minutes of pre-dawn light to shoot the 44-metre Starship Sydney. Sharrin and her tripod were perched precariously on a clifftop while William called the ship’s captain to manoeuvre the vessel to the best angle. Another time, her childhood friend Anne Barton was so worried when the diminutive Sharrin was setting off alone at 10pm, aiming to shoot a massive Korban/flaubert sculpture at Sydney’s Bella Vista business district, that she insisted on going with her.

On another particularly late shoot, architect Telly Theodore, who worked with Sharrin, recalls nodding off and being gently prodded awake to assist. “Sharrin knew how to push through and it taught me a lot,” he says. She once admonished him to “never take a bad photo and never say a bad word” in her roundabout way. “It is a maxim I try for every day, although I would say not as effortlessly as Sharrin could,” he says.

While Sharrin’s background was in graphic design, architecture was her love. Her first job was designing signage with MSJ Architects. She joined Neil Burley Design (later BKH), becoming a partner and working there for most of the 1970s. Both keen photographers, Neil Burley and Sharrin bought a 6x6 Hasselblad camera, modified a darkroom and starting taking their own photographs. After the birth of her son, Kris, she set up practice as Sharrin Rees Design within BKH. Photography quickly overtook her graphic design business as her client list grew rapidly.

Throughout her demanding career she was a loving and much-loved mother. Now 30, Kris cherishes memories of her playing football in pointy shoes, chasing him around the bike track in colourful tights and being happy when they didn’t catch anything on a fishing trip because she didn’t want to hurt the fish. “She was caring, encouraging, adventurous and gifted. I never once went without. She gave me all the attention a child needs while maintaining her commitment to her other passion,” he says. “How lucky I am to have had such a love for 30 years.”