He sat down with The Australian Pipeliner to discuss his unique career path, some of his favourite works and pushing the boundaries of his potential.
Many of us struggle to mix our working life with our passions, with the lures of financial stability often overcoming the desire to pursue a more creative outlet as time rolls on. While to the outside world a career working in the oil and gas pipeline industry doesn’t usually go hand in hand with an artistic interest, working at Spiecapag has allowed Phil to further explore a lifelong passion for videography and foster a burgeoning interest in still photography.
“Ever since my dad purchased a Sony Handycam in 2002 for capturing family holidays, I became interested in capturing moments on film,” Phil says.
“I studied film and television in high school and thoroughly enjoyed the practical assignments. I was never particularly interested in photography, I found it hard to tell a story in one frame/shot.
“I was always making camera rigs to try to mimic cinematic shots such as boom and tracking dolly shots. I enjoyed exploring camera movement and how music and colour grading can enhance the story being told.”
Unfortunately, like many of those with dreams in film and television, Phil says Hollywood didn’t come calling.
However, he eventually he found his way to working in field services on oil and gas rigs and, after completing a qualification in occupational health and safety, Phil took an opportunity to work on a pipeline construction joint venture with Spiecapag.
“Starting on a pipeline project for QCLNG as a labourer, I asked John Walsh, who was the Project Director (now Spiecapag Managing Director) about applying for a safety adviser role, and he gave me my first break as a Safety Trainee,” he says.
“I was very fortunate to be working alongside a brilliant Safety Manager, Simon Archibald. Simon was a few years older than me and inadvertently became my mentor, working closely together for almost four years.
“Under his mentorship I was encouraged and given opportunities to use my creativity to solve health and safety issues, whether it be safety campaigns, training material or integrating new technologies into the business.”
Back behind the camera
Although enjoying his work in the pipeline industry, Phil still harboured the desire to capture moments on video. So, on a 2015 holiday that crossed through Japan, the Arctic Circle and Iceland, Phil started publishing some of his work online after purchasing a GoPro and other camera equipment.
“I created my own YouTube channel, with the aim of posting my productions. Those adventures included some amazing experiences, like diving in Iceland in winter, ice climbing, photographing the northern lights and completing a five day husky safari in Lapland, in northern Finland,” he says.
“While on the adventure, I found myself enjoying the process of capturing these moments, and once back home, even editing the videos and sharing them on YouTube had its moments. While I didn’t quite get millions of views on YouTube, it did catch the attention of some of the team members on a pipeline project I was working on at the time with Spiecapag, the Eastern Goldfields Pipeline Project (EGP) in Western Australia.”
When Project Manager Olivier Balloy asked him to make a video detailing the risk and controls specific to the project, Phil says he “jumped” at the opportunity. This first production spawned further work, and soon his work in health and safety was combining with his skills behind the camera.
Phil began upgrading his equipment and rediscovered his passion, filming content on DSLR cameras and learning how to properly take still photographs in 2016.
“Specifically, I love capturing and creating pipeline-themed content because it’s a job that so much of the time goes unseen,” he says.
“Crews work long rotations, away from their loved ones in remote locations. I love the idea that I can capture a moment for them to share with their family, and to say, “I was there, I built that”.
“Currently I am enjoying trying to capture the people instead of just the pipe or plant. I have shot a few portrait-style images over the last few years and I think they tell a more personal story instead of the success of the project – capturing those candid moments of concentration, mateship and dedication.”
Branching out
It’s not just pipelines and energy projects that Phil enjoys shooting. After entering a Spiecapag project video titled ‘Vinny’ into the Australia Video Producer Awards, he was offered a membership into the Australia Institute of Professional Photographers (AIPP). This recognition gave Phil the confidence to form his own production company – Sonder Productions – aimed at helping small businesses make a digital footprint.
“I enjoy working with entrepreneurs and helping them showcase the business. I try to bring the feeling of a big budget production to a small budget,” he says.
“Sonder Productions has also seen a lot of interest from individuals who want to tell their life story through the use of Digital Memoirs.
A passion project that I had been working on for a few years, we now provide a platform for people to share their life stories through interviews, which we then edit into a 45-minute production.
“The result? Something they can share easily with their family and grandchildren and leave a very deliberate digital footprint behind.”
Phil says his approach to shooting is the same across every scenario and he tries to make everyone comfortable in front of the camera. Some of his favourite moments on film have come from his own travels and he recalls a pre-COVID-19 trip to France and Italy in 2020 that sticks in his mind.
“Like any holiday for me, my packing included 80 per cent camera equipment. I spent three weeks filming and photographing the Alps in France, and ancient ruins in the south of Italy,” he says.
“I produced a short two minute travel video of a small town called Agrigento, and this video, to me, is one of my best travel videos
I have made, where the colours, sound-scape and camera movement take me back to this place every time.
“Another favourite adventure I was able to capture was walking the Kokoda Track in 2019 for Mates in Construction, a not for-profit based suicide awareness charity that focuses on the construction sector. I completed the walk with my father and about 20 other people in construction.
“It was a real challenge trying to capture content over a seven day hike, with no access to electricity to recharge batteries and crossing streams and climbing mountains. The group raised over $150,000 and my documentary of the journey has helped promote the walk and the charity, as well as creating a memorable video to those who I walked with.”
Phil says he is equally happy to have not only rediscovered his passion for content creation over the last five years, but that he has been able to fuse this with his career in health and safety.
“I plan to keep capturing and sharing the moments with the crews, clients and Spiecapag. Hopefully I can ease up on the purchasing of equipment over the next ten years, although
I suspect with the technological advancements that won’t happen,” he says.
“Since 2013 and working with Spiecapag, I have been given many opportunities to advance my career and to pursue my passions. Accepting opportunities and pushing yourself to go beyond what you think you are capable of is a key element to realising your potential and self-growth.
“Identifying people around you who can mentor you, but equally push you will ensure you become the best version of yourself, has been an eye-opener. The journey of self-growth and development never ends.”
This article was featured in the October 2020 edition of The Australian Pipeliner. To view the magazine on your PC, Mac, tablet or mobile device, click here.
Examples of Phil Woodhouse’s work can be found at the Sonder Productions website.
If you have news you would like featured in The Australian Pipeliner contact Managing Editor David Convery at dconvery@gs-press.com.au