Peter Johnson was 12 years old when he emptied his savings account to buy his first camera. His Mum was a bit annoyed but now that he's been a successful professional photographer for over 20 years, she's starting to come around.

As one of the most highly regarded food and still-life photographers in the country, Peter is in the happy position of being able to say he truly loves his work. And why wouldn't he? He gets to combine his love of photography with his life-long passion for food.

(He also gets to be voted Australian Food Photographer of the Year by the Australian Food Media Club).

Widely recognised overseas, his work is featured in books published all over the world. He's garnered countless nominations for food photography awards in America and in recent years has won some of the most significant ones, including the Julia Childs Award (twice) and the James Beard Award.

On the local front Peter's work has appeared in just about every major lifestyle publication in the country, including Belle, Gourmet traveller, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue Entertaining and Living, and Good Weekend.

He's also photographed dozens of ad campaigns for clients such as Qantas, Waterford Wedgewood, Nestle, Unifoods and John West.