Heading on to Head On - Two Chairs

Head On Photo Festival is again about to be upon us. Well, there is a call for proposals. Today a sneak peak at the work I am putting forward to be exhibited next year.

To be honest I had thought I may skip this year as I have shown in half a dozen exhibitions this year including my solo show in Head On, "The Distracted Sky". The time calling for proposals this year was remarkably short for Head On, and I have been considering putting in a proposal for a show in the Ballarat International Foto Biennale.

However browsing through my image folder I happened upon this idea of two chairs which I had apparently been collecting unconsciously and unawares. I like that.

The series speaks to the notion of companionship, loss and solitude. Two chairs sit patiently, quietly waiting for activity to acknowledge their existence. Alone yet watchfully keeping in place the environment, those who claim this space as their own and the time that passes un-noted and unnoticed.

I'll be dedicating this series, Two Chairs, to my Mum and Dad.

 

Fine Arts in Gosford

Feeling very fortunate again to have two photographs hanging in the Gosford Regional Art Galleries, Art Prize Exhibition. (That's a mouthful)

Please take the time to travel up, down or across to Gosford and have a look at the show. It is very good, and includes photography, ceramics, sculpture and even some painting.

Many exhibitors from TAFE Fine Arts, both staff and student, are represented in the exhibition, with one of our Hunter st teachers taking out the Best in Show ($10k) prize for a wonderful painting. Congratulations to Leslie Tilley.

Please do all the artists a favour and visit the show and support the Fine Arts, as there is not much support coming from our current state government. Shame Barry shame.

The image below is called 'Lost'

Into the Black

Neil Young once sang 'Out of the blue and into the Black' Well that's were we are headed. It's been a wait but well worth it for me. The Black is where it all is. There is light and there are the after effects, I'm talking old school here. Whatever is touched by the light, and that's what I want, to be touched, swamped and overwhelmed by the light.

And then... into the black

Shoot the Chef

Have been meaning to have a go at this for some time now. Probably a couple of years at least since I heard about this particular event. Shoot the Chef. It sounds kind of dark, but clearly it is all and only about light.

There are many images entered into this prize that have the chef hunching around with animal carcases on there shoulders or, more likely, dead fish somewhere in close proximity. Often standing in a pool or body of water by the sea, the hapless chef endures these creative indignities in the name of art (in whichever dialect the photographer speaks)

I have opted for a plain speaking portrait of my Chef that I hope shows some dignity and honour towards this fine profession. Too many chefs these days I think subscribe to the idea that they are celebrities simply because they are able to cook something and sprout some sort of attitude forth from the television screen. A vague generalisation I know, but this is the way it seems to me. Just take a peek at Celebrity Chef. Why not just call the program 'Chef', or isn't that the point. Fine people like Jamie Oliver at least has done much with his celebrity for the good of the community.

My Chef originally trained in jolly old England at the Savoy Hotel in London no less, is a neighbour and friend of many years. Virginia constantly amazes me be being able to make something tasty, so easily out of almost anything. Cooking is in her imagination. It is an instinct, rather than something she has trained for. Currently Virginia is co-running the Sourdough Baker Cafe in Newcastle. She breathes life into all things.

Stand in - Stands out

Just setting up to shoot a friend for the 'Shoot the Chef' portrait. My trusty side kick and stand in fills the gap so I don't keep my chef waiting for too long and her hungry customers begging for more , or even some. My girl did well so I'm putting up a couple or three shots.

Competitive Blogging

And from my own family no less. My daughter, the soon to be hairdresser to the very beautiful, has restarted her hairdressing blog. Thankfully, I'm her photographer of choice for this project and I've just taken the first couple of shots this afternoon.

It's rather a cute idea. We just watched the film, Julie and Julia, about the woman who determined to cook her way through Julia Child's first American cook book and keep a blog of her adventures. Well my daughter is going to curl and twist, plait and bun, layer and braid her way through a series of collected hair styles, with herself as the model. She will pop the first images up tomorrow but I am here slipping my version of a couple of the images up tonight.

The new blog will be called Hair-Do, I think and I'll link it up when it's on the road.
http://hair-doo.blogspot.com.au/

Another Day

I'm sure my children are rolling their eyes again behind my back as I turn towards yet another unmistakably bland, cracked and uninteresting wall. I can't help it and neither I guess can they.

 

Four Seasons in Two Days

Yes I visited the Four Seasons Motel in Soldiers Point. Climbed the turrets and looked into the abyss. Actually this morning we saw a couple of dolphins in the abyss (or Port Stephens to its friends) I circumnavigated the motel, military style, a covert operation. Disguised as a tourist with a camera. Made my way up to the fourth floor viewing platform, and viewed. Not being sure if I am allowed to be there or not is most of the thrill. Besides the thing about high places with low railings.

I'm here for 10 days, two weeks, maybe a bit longer, I walk the streets, the beach, the lane ways and bush tracks. I see and enjoy seeing. Thanks to Henry and Narelle for the opportunity to have a roof over my head during my time in Port Stephens.

Back to Basics

For me composition is the most important element of my image making. Whether the subject is animate or inanimate, and mostly for me it has been inanimate. It's easy to get a wall to smile.






















As I have said before my method of working is instinctive. I don't shoot a lot, but I do shoot often, most days. I try not to shoot anything when I know that it isn't right. It either feels right looking through the lens or it doesn't, and if it doesn't I move on. I watched a film recently, a documentary about William Eggleston. It changed my mind about the man, but not about his work. He was being followed around by a film crew as he roamed the streets shooting with a collection of different cameras his son carried for him. He shot everything, or rather he found something to shoot everywhere he looked. William prints everything he shoots or so he said. William was totally absorbed in his practice. He would see the shot and lock onto it, never allowing any distance until he made the exposure after which he moved on to the next.

I've started walking in the mornings again (this week anyway) The camera is always there. It gives me an excuse to stop sometimes, and sometimes I can't let go of something I've seen and I have to stop. Image making gives me focus and allows me to let go of the now. I am absorbed and alert in the most positive way. It's a meditation, as is the walking part.

Gracie had a little spell in hospital recently. I sat with her for a couple of days. For anyone who knows, it's not a good place to be, whether for visitor or captive. The hospital policy kindly allowed me to bunk down beside her bed overnight. It was good to be there. On the second day, I slipped off for a few moments while Grace slept and made these images. They feel like peace to me. They are as relaxed as I could be in such a place and at such a time. They helped me through so that I could help Grace through. She is on the mend now.

Here she sleeps...

Unsung Heroes

These are the Unsung Heroes of the recent Portrait series. The stand ins, the unpaid extras, the crew, the props, the place holders. They who reflect the light while we get the exposure right.

These are the people who helped me set up the shots before the 'talent' arrived. They stood and took the light on the chin without a grumble or a thought for their own safety or what they were getting out of this. They mugged for the camera without wondering... why? They turned to the left and they turned to the right. They didn't ask to be paid nor did they ask for an 8 x 10 glossy at the end of the day. They did it for the love of photography and image making. For the history of portrait photography into which they could not reasonably expect to enter. Yet here they are. Making a little history baby.

Thanks girls, you make my life.