Flood destroys 100 artworks by Sydney photographer

Renowned Sydney-based advertising photographer Simon Harsent has been left devastated after his studio in the suburb of Marrickville was flooded within 20 minutes. The water rose so quickly that before long the building on Buckley Street was submerged, with water knee-deep in Harsent's studio. Fortuitously, Harsent happened to be in the studio when the water first started to enter the premises, and was able to save his camera gear and hard drives, but prints from his last four exhibition, ironically, one of icebergs, were lost. Along with the prints, furniture and other studio equipment was also destroyed.

Having recently taken a trip to fire-ravaged areas of the state, Harsent was philosophical about the loss. He told the SMH that: "It could be worse though. People have been affected far worse. I've been out documenting some of the bushfire affected areas in Kangaroo Valley, you see the devastation out there and there are people in a lot worse situations than me," he said. "We're all alive. You just suck it up and go again, that's all you can do."

To add insult to injury, all the gear that Harsent was able to save was insured by one policy, however the contents of the studio, which fell under a different insurance policy on the studio premises were not covered as the policy excluded flood damage.

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