I was born as the second son, of a second son, of a second son, on the 22nd of September, 1980 in the city of Bitola. Back then it was the second largest city of the Macedonian state of Yugoslavia. Since reclaiming independence and undergoing several name changes, it is now the second largest city of the country known as the Northern Macedonia.

At only 16 months of age I was taken to Ljubljana, Slovenia (which is another independent country that was at the time, a state of Yugoslavia) to undergo major cardiac surgery in order to correct a birth deficiency that is commonly referred to as a hole in the heart. Having survived the surgery, my parents were told to prohibit me from any strenuous activities until I reached the age of 10, if no issues had arisen by then, I would then be able to do as much strenuous activities as I pleased and free to live the rest of my life without any imposed physical limitations.

Having survived through the surgery and then four brutal Macedonian winters where the mercury drops to -35 degrees Celsius, the only thing I had to look forward to according to my elder brothers testimony was the cheerfully endorsed corporal punishment of school.

With a moment that felt very spontaneous in my world, I remember my father showing me some green funny money notes with pictures of what seemed like fictional animals with fictional names like kangaroos drawn on them, saying that was the money used in the country we would soon be moving to.

My family migrated to Australia in November of 1985 to the Sydney suburb of Redfern, into an apartment of a two-tower commission housing complex affectionately known as - The Block.

It only took me one week to add my drama onto my parents already full plate of establishing themselves in a foreign land. While attempting to imitate Bruce Lee's agility and skill, I thought that running up a wall and then performing a backwards somersault looked easy enough to attempt. Unfortunately I was wrong.

A few months later I was enrolled into the Kindergarten at Redfern Public School, only to be suspended on my second day due to attacking on of my brothers 4th grade classmates because I saw him push and trip my brother after class.

My parents decided to send my brother and I to live with my grandfather in Newcastle. Enrolling us into separate schools, myself into Kindergarten at Mayfield East Public and my brother into year 4 at Mayfield West Public.

It was the 1986 end of year break that changed my life forever...

With most of our extended family from my mothers side living in Melbourne, having established themselves there years before I was born, it was the obvious destination for our first family holiday.

It was my two beautify aunties [pictured above] that felt it As a belated birthday present, my aunties gifted me with a Fuji camera and

my life was never the same again.

Ignoring the strict instructions to put the camera away,I had already committed myself to an experimental photo shoot for the night.

I still have the very first photo that I ever took back in Dec 1986 and that photo that (arguably) makes me the godfather of the - mirror selfie, which is a style of photography that needed approximately 30 years of technological advancements and a society equipped with smart phones for the style to even conceptualise, let alone become a trend.

My love for Metal came from ....