Tom Putt grew up Bayside in Melbourne, and whilst he only made the move to the Mornington Peninsula four years

ago, he has already made his mark.

Explains Tom, “I always saw myself living on the Mornington Peninsula, but thought it might be more in my retirement years. Thankfully my partner Mary and I decided to bring our blended family here, and we love it.”

“The fact that you’re not boxed in with everyone else and that we can have our own space and not even see any neighbours if we don’t want to, gives us such a sense of privacy. And being a landscape photographer I love the idea of being able to get out and about any time and take photos. We have such a fantastic environment here that is so exciting, I’m able to express my creativity very close to home.”

Tom and Mary have three of their five combined children at school locally now, and Mary works from home so she’s able to enjoy our beautiful surroundings every day.

Tom has been wanting to open his own Gallery for more than 20 years, ever since he walked into Ken Duncan’s Gallery in Southbank. “I’ve always really wanted to sell my landscape photography art, particularly large format prints that fill people’s walls. It made sense at this stage of my life to make it happen, and with the Peninsula being such a creative hub it felt right.”

Main Street Mornington was the ideal location to launch the Tom Putt Gallery, with foot traffic being so important for the exposure of the new enterprise. “It was always my dream to bring the Australian landscape to the people so having as many people see my work as possible is part of my purpose. I’d like to think that those who see my work will see Australia in a different way to what they’ve seen before."

With my aerial abstract landscape photography I’m getting shots from planes and helicopters from as high as 2000 feet or so, and I’m always looking to capture a part of the Australian landscape that almost looks like a painting. I’m showing off the beauty of nature.”

The Tom Putt Gallery offers a wide collection of pieces, from limited edition landscapes (limited to ten prints only) to open edition prints in various sizes which range from around $1000 to $3000 to smaller framed prints that average around $150 to Tom’s signature ice block acrylic prints that are the perfect decorator item or gift.

Tom is also launching his very first coffee table book which is being released soon through the Gallery. It features 80 of Tom’s favourite photographs of the Mornington Peninsula that he has taken over the last five years or so, showing off the beauty of the local landscape. It will be available towards the end of May.

You can visit the Tom Putt Gallery at 1/139 Main Street, Mornington – open seven days a week, 10am – 4pm.

You can also view and order his work online: www.tomputt.com.

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