Born in Sydney, Australia, Richard began his artistic journey as a black-and-white fine art photographer. Over the past 50 years, he has exhibited widely and explored many photographic mediums, from Polaroid and 35mm to large-format film, wet plate, and digital formats. His fine art prints, once hand-printed, are now produced using giclée printing.
The Digital photographic format has allowed Richard to enhance scenes, particularly in his landscape and seascape work.
As of 2026, some of his new work draws on all his knowledge and experience in traditional photography, now enhanced through software, allowing imagination and reality to merge in new visual forms.
“I’ve always explored and embraced new tools to elevate my photography — from various cameras and film to software like Affinity, and now, most recently AI. I’ve used all these tools to subtly refine some of my own photographs and now with AI to generate entirely imagined ‘Pictures’ exhibits. This latest process has taught me something: AI can enhance a real moment I’ve captured within boundaries, but fully AI‑generated images lack the lived experience behind a photograph. They feel like the loss of a moment. Being there — witnessing something unfold and capturing it myself — is an experience I’ll always pursue.
Take this photograph, for instance — I rose at 4 a.m., the winter wind spilling down from the snow‑laden mountains, just to witness this fleeting wonder. One moment among hundreds, each etched in quiet awe.
One lingering question remains about fully AI-generated ‘photos’ (images) is its integrity: is it merely sophisticated plagiarism?”
Fully AI-generated exhibits are clearly marked on Richard’s website.
His subject matter ranges from simplistic ‘zen-like’ landscapes, seascapes, dreamy garden-scapes, to intimate portraiture work.
All his (10″ x 10″) prints are delicately processed on Japanese Ragmount paper.
Richard has won numerous awards for his portrait of ‘Savitri’, a blind albino girl in India. Winner of the Olive Cotton Award, Ist Prize in the 2024 International Monochrome Awards , Honourable Mention in International Monovisions Awards 2024 and more recently 3rd Place in the 2025 International ND Awards. Richard has also won numerous awards for his landscape photographs, including an Honorable Mention Award in the 2024 Monochrome Awards, 2 awards in 2025 International Monochrome Awards and more recently 2 more Hounorale Mentions in the 2024 International Monovisions Awards.
For Richard, photography is like ‘finding and collecting jewels’. He invents projects and themes that allow him to explore ideas and moments freely.
Richard diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and Asperger’s syndrome, both shape his perception of the world. At times chaotic, at times melancholic, his photographs in particular, seem to convey a magical sense of calm.
“In visiting Richard O’Farrell’s photographic exhibition ‘One’ this restrained, elegant exhibition, I felt I had attended a seminar on Zen and the art of seeing. At this point I started to feel I had stumbled into a museum of aesthetics … from this clearly accomplished photographer.”
(Sydney Morning Herald) Robert McFarlane
“Photographs by Richard OʼFarrell shows a free flow of thoughts from a man who feels his emotions deeply and is able to be totally present in each moment. Most of this recent work was done in India and Sri Lanka, where Richard lived solely on water for twelve days as the result of a food-induced illness. His senses were highly tuned, and it shows. As Richard says – “My state of mind at the time may have been at either pole – or in between – and yet all of these works have an underlying sense of calm and serenity … My use of photography allows me a wonderful outlet to ʻwriteʼ the tumultuous thoughts in my bipolar mind.”
(Point Light Gallery) Gordon Undy
The French master photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson declared that his pictures showed the line between his inner life and external world. Richard O’Farrell takes this idea a step further. He lives with Bipolar disorder and his pictures unashamedly confront his internal world, documenting symbols that echo elation and distress. He produces images that range from the mundane to the ironic and sublime.
(Sydney Morning Herald) Robert McFarlane
Since 2012 Richard has also been a prolific Pastel Drawing/Illustrator with now a collection of over 3000 drawings, a ‘naïve’ style but with a strong intention for fun.
Recently, he has ventured into film, exploring both scriptwriting and filmmaking. He has just completed directing a teaser for his film ‘One Moment,’, the first of a trilogy (One Moment, I Assassin and The Fortress) about the life of a highly trained assassin. You can view the teaser at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZRMYmQgUE
Contact Richard – richard.ofarrell@bigpond.com
Website – www.richardofarrell.com
Instagram (Drawings) – www.instagram.com/richard.ofarrell
Instagram (Photos) – www.instagram.com/richard.ofarrell.photos