Another documentary called “The Mother Project” which Peter’s been involved with over the past three years gets its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this year. When I called Peter to arrange an interview he was busy preparing press kits for the event.

Shot over the course of three years, this evocative and revealing documentary follows the controversial and intensely personal art photographer Tierney Gearon as she completes a new body of work that examines her very personal relationships with her schizophrenic mother. Gearon is best known for an image that caused great controversy in England, of Emilee and Michael, her two children who were then 6 and 4, facing the camera head-on and completely naked except for the animal masks they were wearing. The film is yet another example of Peter’s ability to access an otherwise delicate situation and capture it with great understanding and respect for his subjects in order to expose the intimate and compelling stories behind them.

Peter Sutherland, The Mother Project, 2006

Speaking about his photography, Peter refers to it as more of a “Personal Art form” that he is able to enjoy without concerns that come with shooting video such as bulky equipment and audio. Being more in control and having this ability to move around freely he says, makes photography somewhat “easier” and “more enjoyable”.

The subjects he chooses to shoot are things that he’s constantly getting ideas to document and there might be several ideas on the go that he’s simultaneously “chipping away on”. The latest venture, a book about Deer called “Buck Shots” is something that stems from his upbringing in Colorado where he had direct access to natural habitat of deer and also people who hunted them. “I’ve always had this thing about owning animals”, referring to the fact that we own cats and dogs, “I like deer because they’re in a domestic setting but you can’t own a deer like cat or a dog”. The fascination for animal world is a constant theme that often crops up in Peter’s work.

Peter Sutherland, Deer, 2002-2007

His first images ever taken with a camera shows a dark night sky lit up with the reflection of his flash hitting a swarm of moths that appear almost like stars. Another shot, which he took from the back garden of a friend’s wedding party, show’s a chance encounter with a wild fox who was momentarily frozen and staring straight into Peter’s lens from afar. The image is just one example of “an awkward moment” between fox and a person that he was able to capture by being in the right place at the right time.

Peter Sutherland, Sightings

When I ask Peter about his current work and things in the pipeline he tells me about a couple of projects: a film about an eccentric guy he met in Chinatown that lived in a van that was also home to dozens of his pet cats, a way less commercial venture Peter admits but “it’s gonna be weird!”. There’s also a book in the works, a portrait of one of Peter’s favorite hip-hop artists who is a Brooklyn based rapper that Peter approached after a performance to ask whether he’s be interested in collaborating.

These personal ventures are what drive Peter to be a self-declared workaholic, although he has to set aside time to do the occasional commercial job. Peter’s time is currently divided between occasional freelance gigs, sometimes working as an assistant on documentaries and at other times on photo shoots for magazines. The ratio, he tells me it’s currently at about 70:30, seventy percent being personal work and the remaining thirty being commercial, and I can’t help feeling a bit envious as I quickly tell him that’s a healthy ratio to have!