SIMON Carter started at the bottom so he could spend the rest of his life on top of the world.
The Canberra-born adventurer who learned to climb rocks in Namadgi National Park has the following job description: travel the world. Climb cliff faces. Take photos. Repeat.
''I've never lost a camera but I've dropped 20 or 30 lens caps,'' the 45-year-old said.
Carter sells photos to magazines and adventure clothing companies. He makes calendars and self-publishes books.
GALLERY: Top shelf shotsThe married father-of-one's latest book, World Climbing Rock Odyssey, is a glossy compendium of climbers clinging to rock faces against vast backdrops.
''You only need to fall fourmetres to die,'' he said.
Carter attended Canberra Grammar School and Narrabundah College.
He decided he wanted to be a photographer at age 15 but said two years working in a dark room at Australian National University killed his passion for the artform.
Eight months with a camera and living frugally in a tent at the bottom of Victoria's Mt Arapiles was followed by a government dole program which paid for a fax machine and bills.
The rest of the story is documented in his photos which cover his trips around the globe to places such as Madagascar, Vietnam and Tasmania. He talks about his book at a free lecture at the ANU on Wednesday at 7.30pm.
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