African Design Magazine May 2016 | Page 78

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