About

Mark Lutz- Owner of Art House Reproductions

2024 sees me celebrating 24 years in business as Art House Reproductions, www.arthousehq.com, based at Bowen Hills in Brisbane. Art House began in 2001 when I joined forces with another well-known Queensland photographer, Len Phillips to create a unique business in Australia catering to artists and photographers alike, helping them succeed with their businesses.

Prior to Art House I spent nearly 3 decades working in the family studio of Lutz Photographics. My parents, Col and Lorraine, began the business in 1971 and I pushed them into retirement in 1996. Our main studio was at Mt Gravatt in Brisbane but for a few years, we also had a studio and minilab in Southport on the Gold Coast.

Back in those days, most studios did a bit of everything and while we specialized in weddings and portraits, there were plenty of commercial, aerial, christenings, funerals, headshots, and more to keep us busy. We began printing our own colour prints in the mid 70’s and ran our own in-house lab until 1996 when I moved the Mt Gravatt studio to my home at Wellington Point.

In the 90’s, not sure of the exact years now, I spent around 6-7 years on the Qld Council of the AIPP, serving two years as State President. I was also a Certified Professional Photographer in the PPAQ. The CPP program was instigated by Col during his term as President of the PPAQ. this gave me the opportunity to meet and work with many other professionals, learn from them and give back to the industry that I loved.

Just for fun around 2001-2004 I spent a lot of my spare time having a ball pretending to be a bloke from the outback along with my best mate, Rob. We were known as “The Goodall Boys” and we used to show up, invited or not, to bush poetry functions all over QLD and NSW, spruiking our peculiar brand of visual and poetic humour.

We were two mad lads from a little town called Innamincka – North East South Australia, we lived on the west side of town. Nobody was safe from a laugh if we were around and while many tried to escape, few succeeded. We compiled a book of bush poems, landscape photography, camp cooking recipes, and outback survival tips, sold literally hundreds of them, cut a CD and sold bucketloads of those, many more used as landfill, and stubbie holders… the stories I could tell you about them! Not very interesting but lots of them!!!

That’s about it – spent all my adult life and half my teens around photography, photographers, arty people, printing, marketing and sales. Seen many photographers come and go, the good, the bad and the ugly (you know who you are) and worked through the analog/digital transition – never want to touch a piece of film again!

This year I’ll be old enough to officially be classed as a Senior but I’m not ready to retire yet. I love what I do and I’ve got plenty left in the tank. I love working with arty people now, helping them grow their businesses and sell more art.

Anthony Lutz – Production Manager

Anthony really didn’t stand a chance, being the son, of the son, of a photographer, he was in this business whether he wanted to be or not.

Anthony’s first foray into the job market was when he asked if he could work in a mate’s Dad’s butcher shop as a cleaner a couple of afternoons a week. He was legally too young to work by a few months but he was keen. It’s here he learned the “do it nice or do it twice” attitude.

He followed this job up with a stint as a kitchen hand at Sirromet’s winery restaurant, Lurlene’s. He worked here almost every Sunday for 10 years… never washed the dishes at home!

Seems Anthony wasn’t ready for a full-time job after leaving school so I offered him a job here. Sacked him after a few months because his love of computer games, playing until 3 in the morning meant he was more often late for work than on time!

He had to feed his habit of the latest gaming computer so that meant another part-time job, wanting to upgrade his car meant a third. So, here’s this really bright kid, doing nothing much but working 3 part-time jobs to pay for his car, play on his computer and live at home with his parents, though we didn’t see him much behind the closed bedroom door.

Finally, he decided to do a little study and did a TAFE certificate Course in Web Design.

March 2014 and I was struggling here on my own so I offered him another chance to work here… BEST THING EVER for both of us!

We always knew he was smart, we didn’t realise that he spent some of that computer time learning all sorts of stuff that helped him help this business. Now if there’s anything technical required, Anthony is our go-to – he can find things we’ve never thought of to make our lives and yours easier!

If I were to give him a title here it would be Production Manager, but as part of the Art House team/family he is capable of filling any role in the building, he’s even working on mine!

Corey Pearce – Finishing

Corey is one of those blokes who just fits in. He joined us here in August 2017 and it was like he just belonged here. Corey’s role is Photo Finisher and fixer/upper. If we ever have a problem with equipment, Corey is first in to see what needs to be fixed. With an attitude of “It’s not broken till I say it’s broken, ” he always finds a fix.

Corey and Bec had worked together previously so it was easy for him to slot in… even though Bec said “Don’t hire Corey, he wants to chat all the time, he talks non stop!” Sure he loves a chat and he gives everyone a laugh but at the end of the day, the work’s all done, with the same passion for perfection as the rest of the team.

Corey’s working life began assembling push-bikes, moving on to an apprenticeship as a motorcycle mechanic. His respect for perfection and a clean workspace was born here working on high-performance racing bikes. The next logical step in many a young man’s life is to work in the family business, so he then took up driving trucks with his Dad, delivering all sorts of products all over the place. In 1999 the family bought a Pub in Brisbane and Corey managed it for 7 years – you learn a lot about people running a pub!

While there, he and a few mates bought a couple of greyhounds to race. Taking his camera to their first race he accidentally fell into a professional photography career becoming the official greyhound and harness racing photographer for Ipswich and Albion Raceway. He left the pub in 2006 and became a full-time photographer. But 7 days a week for ten years takes its toll so Corey decided to give it away and get a 9-5 job in the photography industry. That’s when he applied for a job where Bec was working. He was there for three and a half years before joining us.

Corey’s main interest now is his daughter, Hollie, who helps him fill his time with sewing, jewellery making, painting and shopping. A Dad’s life is so much fun! Gone are the drones and RC planes, gone are the blokey things he used to do – an 12 year old daughter means he spends his time keeping her happy. What more could a man ask for?

Russell X

There’s something a little weird about our Art Capture photographer. He arrives and leaves under the cover of darkness and manages to stay a mysterious shadowy silhouette against the photo lighting throughout the day.

He tells us he’s “highly edjukated” having graduated from Qld College of Art in the early 80’s.

Says he’s worked in the tourism/accommodation industry (sounds like he’s been on holidays) and had two brief employments in the commercial photography arena (hard for him to hold a job?)

When he couldn’t get a real job he created one of Australia’s first and very popular online photography communities. Nothing dodgy about that and with all that free time on his hands being an internetpreneur he decided to become a full time landscape photographer. Now he is one half of a dynamic Australian Landscape Photography duo trading as AustralianLight Landscape Imagery.

He is the inventor of the word “Centroptic” – want to know what it means? So do we!

LIkes?
His passion is landscape photography and he also has a huge collection of orchids.

Dislikes?
Has an intense dislike for fishermen who always seems to appear from nowhere to stand in his shots…
Has an intense dislike for the “that will do” or “near enough is good enough” attitudes…
Has never take a photo that he’s happy with…
Suffers from GAS – Gear Acquisition Syndrome but responds well to treatment… acquisition of more gear!

Some say that he once fought a 5m crocodile in order to get his camera back, just because his last shot was a good one….

He also came close to dying once from hypothermia after spending too much time at the bottom of a waterfall to get ‘the right shot’.

All we know, is that he is called “The Tog”