Stuart Cantor's European Summer

Stuart Cantor takes a quick break from his travels to share a peek behind the lens.

Who or what inspired you to pursue travel photography?

Photography has always of interest, though my earlier career was in high-end property development. It was really a trip to the Amalfi Coast around 10 years ago for a friend's wedding that sparked photographic prints as a new career. I took a few snaps and created prints for my own home - and having received so many positive comments about them I decided offer them commercially - and here we are!

Your St Moritz, Switzerland collection of photographic prints where you have captured the vintage car race day in the snow is a favourite with our customers. How did attending this event and being on-location come about?

I choose to photograph St Moritz because in addition to the stunning scenery it has so many interesting and novel events for non-skiers. Cricket and Polo on the ice, the famous horse race on the ice - The White Turf, and then the now iconic ICE event (International Concourse of Elegance) where the most prestigious collector cars from around the world are showcased by driving around the frozen lake. Upon noting my interested in St Moritz to the town's key tourist body - word spread and I was invited to attend the event as a photographer. It's an incredible event that I will return to.

FRAMING TO A T stock your new coffee table book, 'STUART CANTOR, A EUROPEAN SUMMER'. There must have been so many images that you wanted to include, how did you arrive at the final curated selection?

A EUROPEAN SUMMER was a labour of love! I worked on it for over 2 years and am very happy with the result. In relation to the images included, I feel the hard work on selection was mostly done prior - in that the book features all my limited-edition print images - so the review and hard curation decisions had been done when I was creating the various art series over the last 9 years. The fun part was diving into the archives and including images that were outside my art collections (but have now been added). And yes, here I could have added a lot more but I had the wise counsel of an excellent Art Director from Switzerland who helped with the 'in' or 'out' questions, and also on the sequence and layout — to which is an art in itself! They had to be images that added to the magic and story of each location, as well as complemented each other as the book flows.

You capture beautiful imagery of exquisite holiday destinations. do you have a favourite location that you've travelled to and featured in your collection?

Like choosing a favourite, child - impossible! I do a lot of research on locations and only choose to photograph locations that I know I will love and that will add to my collection of prints. If pushed, I would say Lake Como, the Amalfi Coast and the Marbella Club Hotel all have a unique essence and magic that will draw one back time and time again. I could never tire of the beauty of these locations.

Do you and your family have any holiday rituals, whether at home in Australia or when you're travelling abroad?

Aperol as an aperitivo after a shoot is as close to a ritual as I get. I love travelling with my family and having taken our son (then 2 years old) to St Moritz and throughout Italy, I can see the joy the new experiences bring to children even that young.

Where can we see the Stuart Cantor photography collection travelling to next?

I have a long list of destinations, and I am working on deciding which of these really brings something new to my art collection. There is more to do in France, Switzerland and Italy, and the Caribbean also remains on the list. Let's see!