IOGRAPHY
As a child, Tristan McLaren believed a life
as an architect was the obvious route to
take in adulthood, having been exposed
to the vocation by his father, Gerald, being
an architect. However, when it came to
the crunch, Tristan didn’t even make
it through 1st year of architecture at
Wits. A combination of things lead to his
decision, including a lack of maturity, lack
of patience, distractions on the cricket
field and the harsh realisation that the
glamourous image of being an architect
may not necessarily always be fact. The
prospect of being beholden financially
to an uncertain course was also a major
reason for his decision.
Needing a way to pay off the student loan
that funded his 1st year, Tristan stumbled
on a job at the bottom rung of a 1-hour lab
that operated as a general photographic
shop. Thus was discovered a passion that
was also a cool way to make money.
Following the shop work, Tristan assisted
a host of commercial photographers