Young shutterbug’s dream granted when mentored by landscape photography inspiration through EnRich Scholarship

A young Narrogin shutterbug’s wildest dream has become a reality, scoring a mentorship with award-winning landscape photographer Christian Fletcher.

Arts Narrogin EnRich Scholarship recipient Casey Jacobs met renowned landscape photographer Christian Fletcher over video call on Thursday to mark the start of his 12-month mentorship.

Fletcher is a South West photographer who has won multiple awards for his work, including Australian Professional Landscape Photographer of The Year at the Australian Institute of Professional Photography in 2011.

Three years ago, Jacobs visited the Christian Fletcher Gallery in Dunsborough, kickstarting his love for the lens and igniting an appreciation of the farming landscape — the main subject of the 17-year-old’s photos.

Jacobs said he was thankful his EnRich application was chosen and he was “excited but nervous” to learn from the award-winning landscape photographer.

“I want to improve my skills overall in landscape photography, learn about my camera and make my photos more intriguing,” he said.

“His compositions and the colours are inspiring.”

At the end of the mentorship, Jacobs’ work will debut at Arts Narrogin, showing what he has learnt in his year with Fletcher.

“I am just so excited, and I thank Arts Narrogin for giving me this opportunity to be mentored by Christian Fletcher, getting that knowledge from him, and to hold an exhibition here,” he said.

As for what the future holds, the 17-year-old hopes to one day follow in Fletcher’s footsteps.

“If I can hold my own gallery somewhere in Western Australia that would be amazing,” he said.

Jacobs said he plans to spend the $500 scholarship money on quality and environmentally friendly frames made from real wood or recycled plastic to display his upcoming photography.