Australian artist Peter Brew Bevan launched a new book last week, documenting the last 13 years of his brilliant photographic career.

Now a highly sought after portrait artist, his portfolio is bursting at the seams with intimate studies of film stars, sportsmen, designers and those who are famous mostly for being famous.

The scene caught up with Peter to ask about his work, and why he thinks celebrity fascinates the public like nothing else.

TS: You use a range of mediums for your art, but it is your portraits that have captured the public’s imagination. Why do you think that is?

PBB: I think it’s because we’re bombarded with images in this day and age and even though there’s a lot of work that goes into my portraits, they are very simple, very direct and easily accessible to people.

 TS: As an artist, how do you see society’s fascination with celebrity voyeurism? Does it inspire or concern you?

PBB: There is a pap angle, which I don’t think is tasteful at all, but the way I see myself is as a cog in the machine. My job is to help reveal these people’s persona rather than infringe on their rights when it’s not really called for.

 TS: So do your subjects tend to  come to you?

PBB: Yeah, which is nice. Before it was commission based, a lot of magazines. But now its publicists who are approaching me.

 TS: And do you stay friend with your subjects after the project is finished?

PBB: Well, you click with some and not with others but yes, I’ve stayed fiends with quite a few of them. The ones that I do, tend to be people I click with on an artistic level more than anything.

TS: Anyone in particular?

PBB: Barry Otto was one of the first and he helped me launch the book on Tuesday night. Indirectly, he taught me a lot about portraiture and about people who are of the celebrity nature.

TS: Do you get a strict brief or are people trusting enough to leave the direction in your hands?

 PBB: I’m really lucky that most of the time I’m left to my own devices, and that started way back in the early 90s when I’d just started doing portraiture and working with celebrities. They just let me go and create my own thing.

TS:  How long would you spend on each project?

PBB: It all depends, things can be quick or they can take days. I really couldn’t say.

TS: What time frame does the book cover?

PBB: It covers 13 years of my work. It took 18 months to produce it, so it’s been a very interesting time.

TS: I understand you recently went back to landscape painting. Did you just want a change or did you need a rest from celebrity?

PBB: I use it as pure escapism. Back when I was younger I put as much pressure on my painting as I do on my photography and I ended up not liking painting. Now I don’t put any pressure on myself and I love it, it’s like meditation.

Click here for a preview of SHOOT

For more details regarding SHOOT, visit www.murdochbook.com.au