The story begins on a train journey from Melbourne to Perth. In a time before endless scrolling and social media, entertaining yourself meant sitting still and using your imagination. While Simon was sitting in the café car on the train he found that looking out the window across from him on the carriage was like looking through the viewfinder of a camera. And he really enjoyed watching the landscape hurry past. If he could continue to see the world that way, and share that viewpoint with others, then that meant that he wanted to be a photographer. 

Like most teens in their 11th year of school, Simon wanted to be a lot of things at that point in time. So one would forgive his parents for reminding him, in jest, that he had also wanted to be a truck driver a week prior. His dreams of photography were not quite as fleeting, however, and he soon got himself his first 35mm film camera. Self-teaching led to learning opportunities, and the years were filled with photography as a form of art, an expression of self, and an appreciation of the world and the people living in it.