Archive for the ‘Meeting People’ Category
WORLD PHOTOBOOK DAY: Toowoomba Oct 14, 2013
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WORLD PHOTOBOOK DAY – CELEBRATED IN AUSTRALIA
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The city of Toowoomba in Queensland Australia celebrated World Photobook Day with a group of around thirty attending a Photo Book Club meeting. The event was held at TheGRID: Hybrid Arts Collective. The participants were from a wide range of photographically interested people: some from the local TAFE college, The Toowoomba Photographic Society, professional photographers, artists and academics. Each brought with them a favourite photobook to share and talk over with others. There were some precious books, some funky contemporary publications, and some of the more traditional coffee table tomes.
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Toowoomba Celebrates World Photobook Day
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Event coordinator Doug Spowart welcomed the group and gave some background on the history of the photobook and the amazing place that Anna Atkins has within that history. On hand was the Badger and Parr The Photobook: A History Vol1 opened to the page of the Atkins Algae of the British Isles. Doug announced that an acquaintance of he and Victoria Cooper’s – Gael Phillips, was a distant relative of Anna Atkins and that whilst be unable to attend she has provided a commentary on the times, life and family. Gaels words are as follows…
… I thought I might give you a few details of the family of Anna Atkins, nee Children, which may help to explain the setting in which she produced the world’s first photographic book. My cousins, Elizabeth Parkes and Jean Doggett, with input from other family members, have published an account of our family which includes chapters on the Children family. At their family home, “Ferox Hall”, in Tonbridge, Kent, John George Children, Anna’s father and George Children, her grandfather, had built the largest electric battery the world has ever seen at their private laboratory. They were collaborating with Sir Humphry Davy on electrical experiments. It was because of her family’s experience with battery technology and electrochemistry, and almost certainly with the help of her father, that Anna would have had access to sufficient ferric ammonium citrate to produce cyanotypes. Her publication of “Photographs of British Algae” first appeared in October 1843 – British Algae – Cyanotype Impressions. Fox Talbot, a friend of the family, and from whom Anna had obtained her first camera, published “Pencil of Nature” between 1844 and 1846, in several parts. In 1979 Professor Larry Schaaf brought the attention of the world to the fact that the author of the world’s first photo book, AA, was Anna Atkins.
Anna Atkins, nee Children, was born in 1799. Her mother, Hester Anna Children, nee Holwell, was the grand-daughter of Governor Hollwell, one of the survivors of the Black Hole of Calcutta in 1756. Hester never recovered from the birth of Anna and died in 1800.
Anna also wrote a biography of her father, partly concealing her authorship under the initials, “AA”, as she did with her “Photographs of British Algae”.
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Anna Atkins 1861 [Source Wikipedia}
Anna and her husband, John Pelly Atkins, had no children of their own. Anna died in 1871 and her husband a year later. Their home, “Halstead Place”‘ has since been demolished.
A photogram of Algae, made by Anna Atkins as part of her 1843 book, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions. Courtesy of The New York Public Library http://www.nypl.org.
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Naturally my favourite photo book (or books, because the Cyanotypes of British Algae by AA run to three volumes) – “Photographs of British Algae – Cyanotype Impressions” by Anna Atkins, my distant cousin. In 1992 I had the great privilege to view copies of the volumes at the Library of the Royal Society in London. The edition ran from between 10 to 12 copies and a few of the plates from one of the copies are held in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
I wish you all well for this celebration of the world’s first photo book by Anna Atkins.
Doug thanked Gael for her insight into the lady whose premier photographic pursuit we celebrate today.
Guests were then invited to continue their looking and talking about books, photography and other worthy matters. It was a remarkable event and one which will no doubt repeated in the future –– but it will be sooner than the next time we gather, once again, to celebrate WORLD PHOTOBOOK DAY.
..A PHOTOBOOK CLUB EVENT
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HERE SOME IMAGES OF ATTENDEES AND BOOKS … A detailed list of books presented for viewing and other contributions submitted online will be added to this post in the near future.
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Report and photographs: ©2013 Doug Spowart. Anna Atkins’ story © Gael Phillips. Images of Anna Atkins sourced from Wikipedia and acknowledged appropriately.
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FACING FACES: Judging the photographic portrait
OCA Catalogue Cover
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Olive Cotton Award Floortalk, Tweed River Art Gallery
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On September 15 about 30 people attended a floortalk in the exhibition space of the 2013 Olive Cotton Photography Award (OCA). In my preparation I reflected on the demands of a floortalk. Over the years I have given quite a few floortalks about my own as well as the work of others, including one at a previous Olive Cotton Award. I have also attended presentations by others. In this years OCA award I wanted to create an inclusive space for the audience. Rather than taking centre stage, I wanted to empower the attendees in a kind of role reversal–to bring to the discussion their approaches to looking at, and responding to, the photographic portrait.
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Olive Cotton Award installation at Tweed River Art Gallery
I introduced a concept for viewing and interpreting photographs that I call ‘positioning’. It relates to the interaction that takes place when looking at a photograph – particularly a portrait. It is what reaches into our emotions lived experience and solicits our response. The premise of this floortalk format draws upon the notion that everyone is a judge and is also informed by Roland Barthes’ concept of the ‘death of the author’. I am interested in how the viewer’s interpretation relates to their own life’s experience rather than a direct connection with the author’s intent for the communication. After all, I as the floortalk presenter, can only offer an opinion based on my personal experience and knowledge.
What follows is a conversational précis of the floortalk and the concepts covered relating to portrait photography and the OCA. After a formal introduction by Tweed River Art Gallery’s Public Programs Curator and Coordinator of the Award Anouk Beck, I addressed the group.
Doug Spowart presenting the floortalk
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We stand this morning in a gallery exhibition dedicated to the most photographed subject of all – the human face! The floor talk today will explore the idea of the photographic portrait and how we reflect on the success of this visual communication.
There is an old saying that you can tell a great portrait because the eyes follow you around the room – Well any portrait, even a painting, where the subject is represented looking toward the photographer’s/artist’s viewpoint will capture the subject in a way that will enable this ‘phenomenon’ to be observed. So this method for assessing a portrait will not successfully operate here.
Another way of knowing what great portraits look like is to ask an expert, whomever they may be, to make a decision. Awards such as the Olive Cotton Award use this principle and over the years an impressive list of pre-eminent photographers and/or critics and commentators on photography have been commissioned for the task. I must acknowledge the judge for this year’s award – Helen Ennis. I cannot think of anyone who would be as knowledgeable of the ideas, thoughts and working methods of Olive Cotton than Helen Ennis. In her connection with Olive Cotton, Ennis has written several books and catalogues, selected works and curated exhibitions and is in the process of writing Cotton’s biography. Ennis has provided for us all a greater understanding of Cotton’s work and prominent position within the history of Australian photography.
Now, let us think about portraiture and the act, as we find ourselves today, looking at and evaluating portraits. It is interesting to note that although the portrait is at the top of the list of photographic subjects, we can see in this award there is no standard approach. As we look around this gallery space today no two portraits look the same – I’m not referring to the diversity of subject’s portrayed, but rather the way the photographer has created and presented the subject to us. The photographs range from snapshots of unplanned spontaneous moments to documentary reportage and illustrative magazine styled images, and then to the overtly staged theatrical tableaux. Some images are derivative – that is that the approach to the image replicates time honoured, and sometimes perhaps over used or common, techniques, styles or treatments. Other images may represent subject and styles in ways that are vibrant and fresh.
When a portrait is made the photographer makes personal decisions relating to equipment selected, technique, style, lighting, posing, gesture and subject expression. They make a portrait that satisfies their personal urge to tell a story. This story is usually firmly related to the subject; although it can be a theme the photographer is investigating or be based on something from the photographer’s own life experience. The photographer may want or even demand that viewers take from the work a particular and specific meaning. The artist’s statement accompanying exhibited works can support and signpost and influence the readings that a photographer may want to pass on.
However, I would suggest to you, that once the image leaves the photographer and is presented publically a new paradigm exists. Writer and commentator on photography Roland Barthes wrote ‘… the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author.’ (Barthes 1977:148). In this instance I propose that the photographer is the author – the reader is the viewer. When looking at photographs the viewer connects their life experience to what the work presents, and the narrative or meaning that emerges can no longer be the photographers alone – it is a hybrid born by the activation of the viewer.
We are all judges in a way and each of us has a unique experience of the world that directs and supports our response to images that we view. We will no doubt encounter portraits here today that are universally powerful and profound yet there will be other images that may reach individuals amongst us in the most direct and personal ways. What this means is that each of us is a kind of judge, and that our individual responses may be just as profound as those experienced by Helen Ennis five or so weeks ago.
Today then, I invite you all to be the judge and what we will be doing is engaging with selected works from the exhibition to discuss and review – and I will be asking you to contribute to the conversation. To assist you with this I’d like to pass on the concept that may help us with this process – it’s essentially about what I will call ‘positioning’. Your response to a portrait photograph, or perhaps in another context any photograph or work of art, is informed by your personal background as we have already discussed. Your ‘position’ can be informed by the synergies of your life experiences that may include; physical, ideological, religious, gender, specific demographic, life experience of birth, death, love, illness, war or personal achievement or tragedy. So when we talk about a portrait please consider your position…
[What followed in the floortalk was a conversation by the participants moderated through my involvement. The audience contributed some interesting responses and ideas about portraits that included; Tamara Dean’s ‘Brothers’ 2013, Russell Shakespeare’s ‘Bob Katter’ MP 2011, Tina Fiveash’s ‘Twin Spirits’ 2013, Imogen Hall’s ‘Barry Jones and the ancestor’ 2012. At times there were powerful and emotional connections made by particular participants which were then shared through this floortalk conversational strategy.
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Tamara Dean’s Brothers
Participants discussing their position and response to a portrait
Russell Shakespeare’s Bob Katter MP
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I was asked to give my position on the winning photograph – Trent Parke’s ‘Candid portrait of a woman on a street corner’ 2013. Many attendees did not –or– could not find a ‘position’, that would enable them to understand the reason behind its selection. I spoke from my position informed by my background in the art and professional practice of photography and many years dedicated to the education and critique of this medium – I knew from comments made by the judge on announcing the award that she found Parke’s image something that she at first didn’t standout as so many images do – but she kept coming back to it. My position on the image was as follows…]
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Trent Parke’s Candid portrait of a woman on a street corner
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On first encountering Parke’s image it does not give us much – it initially appears as a field of greatly magnified monochrome film grain, which hides the delicate structure of a female face. A closer view reveals less, and interestingly, the further away you move the ‘sharper’ the image. Parke’s portrait demands more of the viewer to find meaning – it challenges, it questions, it’s not a specific person, unlike every other portrait in this award, but more the generic form. For me it also comments about the romance of film and ‘humanness’ in the digital age. At the beginning of this floortalk I suggested that much of portraiture can be derivative – but this image has no provenance in contemporary portraiture – it stands alone, perhaps signalling that there is room for new and exciting representations of the human visage yet to come…
[The floortalk concluded and attendees continued viewing other portraits in the show from their newfound critical ‘position’. The outcomes and exchanges resulting from my floortalk strategy was, for me, personally enlightening and rewarding. A number of participants came up after the talk to say how much they had enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity to discuss work and have their ideas, opinions and experiences shared in that way.
From their participation and responses today one could perhaps say that the author is dead – and many readers have been born …]
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Dr Doug Spowart 3 October 2013
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A PDF catalogue of the Olive Cotton Award is available here 2013 OCA catalogue for web_screen
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Barthes, R. (1977). Image Music Text. London, Fontana Press.
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Photographs of the floortalk © 2013 Victoria Cooper. All other images are the copyright of the photographer.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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NOCTURNE GRAFTON PROJECT: Fieldwork Concludes
Promotional Card
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We have just finished our artists-in-residence at the Grafton Regional Gallery. It was an amazing month and a wonderful opportunity to engage with the community and create art!
Artists in Residency programmes are an important opportunity to break out of the home/studio/teaching role routine to exchange or explore new ideas in a totally different environment. We consider our time in these residencies as essential to our practice; it transforms how we work and brings fresh ideas into our work. Integral to our projects is the immersion in each place and connecting with community and local narratives of place. Our time in Grafton was a remarkable: the community, its everyday stories and the imposing presence of the Clarence River all contributed inspiration for our creative work.
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Doug photographing under the Pound Street viaduct
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Our project was to create images of local places that to us visually evoked a narrative. The places were selected from our exploration of the town, researching local knowledge, and conversations with people we met. We sought places that were best illuminated by nocturnal light (late afternoon and early evening light). This light only lasts around 30 to 60 minutes, but its transformation of everyday places can be powerfully evocative. Our work in this time is intense and our awareness of the visual qualities of different spaces is deepened. The history and lived experience embedded in each place seems to ‘speak’ and we ‘listen’.
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A comparison – Nocturne and daylight of the same subject
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Facebook page
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After each shoot we return to our residence to reflect, select and optimize our visual reconnaissance of nocturnal Grafton to then upload and ‘share’ online through Facebook and a blog. Through this sharing of our work we connected with a community and their stories in each place. Personal and historical accounts of these places brought our images to life. For us, this is where the art that exists – between our initial inspiration and local lived experiences.
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The LINK Shoppingworld gallery
A nocturne shoot-out with the Grafton Camera Club
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To extend the exchange that was integral to our project we also were involved in artists’ talks for schools, and other visitors to the Grafton Regional Gallery. We set up and attended two small displays of our ongoing work: one in the gallery and another in a vacant shop at the LINK arcade in the main shopping precinct. Doug and I had a very dear friend, Charlie Snook, who was a strong supporter and participant of the local camera club. So it was important for us to be able to connect with this enthusiastic group of photographers. We gave an evening talk, shared two of our nocturne shoots as photographic outings and judged their current assignment work. It was privilege to be invited to their 50th anniversary dinner held on the last weekend of our residency and a great way to finish our time in Grafton.
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The C.R.A.P.y artist book team
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We organized an activity to involve local and regional artists as well as a Brisbane arts professional in a collaborative artists’ book project. Under the auspices of the Centre for Regional Arts Practice, an organization created and coodinated by us, we held an activity over the weekend of September 21and 22. This collaborative event produced 60 copies of the C.R.A.P. Artist’s Survey Number 15, the theme of this survey was ‘the regional arts worker as a nomad’. Copies were shared amongst the participants while some were then set aside for donation to major collections including: The Grafton Regional Gallery and the State Library of Queensland.
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The Daily Examiner newspaper coverage
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We were excited by the considerable support of and interest in our project from Grafton’s newspaper, The Daily Examiner, publishing separate stories, a front-page photograph and a weekend feature. Support also came from Senator Ursula Stephens shared the page and added ‘Grafton is the great Jacaranda city on the NSW north coast and the Nocturne Project is a wonderful example of celebrating local landmarks and building community identity. Love it!’ – was also an unexpected acknowledgement of our project. We visited the Grafton Historical Society and found a treasure of knowledge and information together with a willingness to assist in our research.
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The Roundabout Clocktower from Weiley’s Hotel balcony
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Some information on the Facebook component of the project: www.facebook.com/nocturnegrafton
During the month of September the project had 410 page ‘Likes’ and achieved a total viral reach of around 65,000 people. 65% of the Nocturne Grafton fan base were women (the Facebook average is 46%). The main engaged age group were women 25-34 years @ 17% of the total (the FB Average is 12%). The most popular post was the Clocktower roundabout from Weiley’s Balcony, which attracted 4,500 views and 274 likes, 37 comments and 44 shares (some of the reach was boosted). Interpretation of Facebook analytics is an interesting task and one that we will be reviewing over the next few weeks. We will maintain the Facebook page as a place for continued conversation.
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Jude McBean, Vicky, Cher Breeze & Doug
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At all times during our residency an energetic and professional team, Jude McBean GRG Director, Cher Breeze, Avron Thompson and many dedicated volunteers at the Grafton Art Gallery provided valuable assistance, advice and stories. With the vision and support of the Gallery the residency was for us a transforming experience and our time at Grafton Art Gallery was highly productive.
And a BIG thank you to all our Facebook Friends who supported the project by their ‘Likes’, ‘Comments’ and ‘Shares’.
The final visual outcome for the project will be in the form of the continued online presence, artists/photo books and exhibition of image work. These artworks will reflect on the collaboration between our photographs, the social media project and the Grafton community.
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Going home on the last night of the residency…
Some comments from our Facebook friends at the conclusion of the project:
Peter Hunter OAM, ARPS, AFIAP: Victoria and Doug. I am really impressed with your photographs of Grafton at dusk. Your very impressive skill at taking a very ordinary subject and creating a great photo from it by using super composition, creative evening light and long exposure has resulted in a wonderful collection. I hope that they will be archived for posterity.
Marlene Szepsy: I have really enjoyed your way of sharing and bringing art to the community. A great artists in residence project. Thank you.
Louise Kirby: You have been wonderful AIR’s and I am so glad you came and shared your beautiful photography, your skills and your enthusiasm …
Adam Hourigan: pleasure meeting you guys. The photos make Facebook a much brighter place
Vanessa Collins: thanks for the way you have shown our beautiful town, can’t wait for the exhibition and the book
Stephanie Haines: Thank you for the beautiful photos… they made us all look at our town in a new way.
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© 2013 Victoria Cooper and Doug Spowart for The Nocturne Grafton Project
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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WORLD PHOTOBOOK DAY EVENT: October 14, Toowoomba – INVITE
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THIS IS THE INVITATION TO THE EVENT — TO SEE THE REPORT – Click
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World PhotoBook Day – PhotoBook Club Madrid
Inspired by the PhotoBook Club of Madrid’s proclamation of October 14th being World PhotoBook Day, Vicky and I are organising and event in Toowoomba. We wish to revere the history and celebrate this, most enduring and important aspect of photography – the PhotoBook.
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To participate:
- Bring: Your favourite Photobook
- Be prepared: To look at books and talk about Photobooks
- Bring: Your white gloves – save you fingerpint DNA for your own library
- Bring $5 to assist with the room hire
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The event will take place on Monday, October 14, between 5.30-7.00pm at the MARS Gallery – The Grid: Hybrid Arts Collective, 488 Ruthven Street Toowoomba.
PLEASE RSVP – A Facebook Event Page will be posted shortly.
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If you are unable to attend but are interested in contributing, email us <greatdivide@a1.com.au> a photo or scan of your favourite photobook’s cover with 40 words about your book – we will post these after the event.
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FOR MORE DETAILS or ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS: Respond to this Blog/Facebook/Email/Phone us…
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MORE INFO ON WORLD PHOTOBOOK DAY is available World PhotoBook Day | World Photobook Day
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NOW AN INTERNATIONAL PHOTO BOOK CLUB EVENT
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ARTISTS BOOK FLASH MOB create collaborative Artists Survey Book
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Artist Book Flash Mob and the Artists Survey Book @ Grafton Regional Gallery
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Artists Survey #15
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During our Artist in Residence at the Grafton Regional Gallery we chose to conduct a Centre for Regional Arts Practice event that would culminate in a collaborative Artist Survey chapbook. The 15th edition of the Artists Survey comments on the idea that regional artists engaging travel as a necessary part of their arts practice. The book is entitled NOMAD: Journeying for art.
Whether it is for residencies, such as we are currently undertaking, or to attend conferences, seminars and workshops – or – just to encounter something new to inform one’s life or feelings for place, all artists travel. This theme was to be embraced by each of the participating artists. Three of the ‘Artists Book Flash Mob’ came from Brisbane, Lismore and Alstonville and were joined by 5 local Grafton artists for the two-day event. The contributing artists were: Julie Barratt, Cher Breeze, Darren Bryant, Helen Cole, Victoria Cooper, Jo Kambourian, Louise Kirby, Evey Miller, Cass Samms, Hayley Skeggs and Doug Spowart.
Each artist brought objects and materials that were then transformed by their approach to the theme through of their chosen medium. Art making techniques included stamping, collage, digital montage, altered pages, painting, photomontage, photocopy art, images of glass etching, stitching, sewing and paper sculpture. Many ideas were resolved through collaboration with fellow artists during the event.
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Artists Survey #15 NOMAD:Journeying for Art
Two pages from inside the book – Artists Survey #15 NOMAD: Journeying for Art
Two pages from inside the book – Artists Survey #15 NOMAD: Journeying for Art
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The workspace – must be lunchtime @ the cafe!
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Frenetic times of activity were interspersed with conversation, a sunset soiree, Thai dinner and coffee and cakes from the gallery’s café. At noon on the second day so much still needed to be completed. Each artist concentrated on their own multiple artworks – requiring 60 individual pieces. By mid afternoon, as each artist’s work was near completion, attention could be turned toward the collaborative outcome: cutting, printing and folding covers, collating of the pages, and beginning the process of sewing the finishing 3 hole pamphlet stitch.
At end of the weekend all that was left to do was the binding of the books and each artist has taken their five copies to finish in personal time. We all departed with a renewed energy enriched by the experience and enjoyment of artmaking along with the exchange of ideas and knowledge that was shared in the intimate space of the studio. Further copies of the NOMAD: Journeying for art will be passed on to significant artists book collections around the country.
We thank the participating artists for their participation and contribution to another C.R.A.P. (Centre for Regional Arts Practice) event.
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The artist book flash mob
Helen at work
Hayley at work
Louise at work
Jo at work
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© 2013 Victoria Cooper and Doug Spowart. The copyright in individual artworks resides with the artists.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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NOCTURNE GRAFTON: A new Cooper+Spowart Residency begins
The iconic Clarence Bridge
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The mini gallery in the LINK Arcade – Moving in to GRG – And on ABC Radio with Jo Shoebridge
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TELLING STORIES ABOUT PLACES
The Nocturne Grafton Project by COOPER+SPOWART: an Artist in Residence @ Grafton Regional Gallery throughout September 2013.
If a picture is worth a thousand words – how do you gather the 1,000 words from a community by showing them pictures of their town? Artists Victoria Cooper and Doug Spowart are exploring this question as they work as Artists in Residence at the Grafton Regional Gallery. Their residency project is entitled Nocturne Grafton and will consist initially of photographs of buildings and locations within the Grafton region.
The artists have made nocturne photographs in towns all over New South Wales and Victoria and the work has been featured in their Blogs and Facebook sites. In June and July this year they photographed and Facebooked the town of Muswellbrook and last year a large body of image work was created in the seaside community of Wooli.
Cooper and Spowart make their photographs at dusk using the afterglow of sunset and streetlights to create an unusual image of the locations. This ‘nocturne’ light often requires long shutter speeds allowing the blurred movement of people and vehicles to be recorded. They enjoy photographing the visual effect of colours in different light conditions: ambient daylight, artificial lighting, car head and tail light trails. As artist Victoria comments, ‘in nocturne light there a sense of drama or a setting for a movie scene – a place where stories are told or evoked’.
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Making the photographs is only the beginning of the project’s activity; the next part involves the collecting of stories. As Doug Spowart explains, ‘the photographs will be posted on social media sites including Facebook for members of the Grafton community to tell us their stories or experiences that connect with the places photographed’. Victoria Cooper adds, ‘we’ve extended the saying that everyone has a story in them to every place has a story’.
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They are now calling upon the Grafton community and others with similar experiences of ‘place’ to share their stories of each place photographed including their everyday and meaningful experiences by connecting with the project’s Facebook and Blog sites. As part of the residency they will be displaying photographs in the studio space at the Grafton Regional Gallery, and there will be opportunities for interested Grafton people to call by and talk with them about the project and assist in the uploading of stories.
Cooper and Spowart will also be presenting a talk about their work at the Grafton District Camera Club on September 11th and also at the Gallery at a later date. The artists will be creating a limited edition book and the Nocturne Grafton Project will continue to be accessible online.
The Cooper and Spowart Residency began on September 1 and will extend through to September 30. The social media sites are ‘Nocturne Grafton’ on Facebook and www.nocturnegrafton.org. At the beginning of the project these sites will contain only preliminary information.
To see examples of work from earlier ‘Nocturne’ projects visit:
Nocturne: Muswellbrook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nocturne-Muswellbrook-Project/462047657214253
Nocturne: Wooli – http://wp.me/p1tT11-q1
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TO SUPPORT THE PROJECT:
Log on to FACEBOOK – ‘LIKE’ the page and ‘Click’ to receive Notifications and to show in your News Feed.
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© 2013 Victoria Cooper and Doug Spowart for The Nocturne Grafton Project
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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INVITATION: OLIVE COTTON AWARD–Public Programs
We are presenting two special presentation to compliment the 2013 Olive cotton Awards @ the Tween River Art Gallery, Murwillumbah.
A floortalk and discussion on contemporary Australian photographic portraiture based on the photographs is the award – AND – A look at the artist and social media, for making connections and making art.
SEE THE INVITATION BELOW:
Olive Cotton Awards Public Programs
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For any extra details call the gallery on (02) 66702790.
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JOHN CATO Exhibition & Book Launch: Ballarat Int’l Foto Biennale
Attendees @ the John Cato exhibition opening and book launch
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As photographers we all have special memories of those who inspired and nurtured our early interest in the medium. For some, teachers made a difference, and are forever remembered–even revered as heroes. None, or maybe only a few, have the reputation of John Cato. Working in the hallowed institution the Prahran College of Advanced Education in halcyon era of the 1970s and 80s Cato taught/mentored some of Australia’s most significant contemporary photographers. Names like Bill Henson, Nino Martinetti, Steven Lojewski, Polly Borland, Kim Corbel, James McArdle, Christopher Koller, Andrew Chapman and Julie Milowick were all Cato’s students.
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Andrew Chapman addresses the attendees
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James McArdle, who studied at Prahran with Chapman, Henson and Milowick in 1974-76, had this to say about Cato:
… in my memory John was a teacher determined to seek out the aptitudes and endowments of each student who came before him; his teaching and mentorship involved a deep empathy with each student’s approach. He was almost clairvoyant in being able to very quickly identify one’s strengths and it was on those he would concentrate, unafraid to express criticism; but only in terms of how a certain fault might detract from a strength. Such was his positive and affirming approach to teaching, and consequently we have each been left a different and very personal perception of what he valued in photography.
At the 2013 Ballarat International Foto Biennale an exhibition and the launch of a book on Cato’s work pay respect and homage to the man. In the afternoon of the opening day of the BIFB a gathering of past students and friends participated in the formalities of the event. Key presenters included Paul Cox, Andrew Chapman and Julie Milowick who told of their experiences of Cato and eulogised the influence that he has had on their photography. Well-known Melbourne ArtBlart blogger and commentator on photography Dr Marcus Bunyan presented an opening address and lamented the lack of recognition for Cato’s work and philosophical approach to photography and teaching. These sentiments seemed to be shared by the gathered audience. Bunyan’s address is available HERE.
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The book, John Cato Retrospective, is a significant record of the scope of Cato’s work and includes essays from a number of photographic commentators. At $20 the book is modestly priced considering the weight and value of its contents. Edited by Paul Cox and Bryan Gracey – Copies of the book can be purchased from the BIFB office or online through the publishers HERE.
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Two of the John Cato exhibition rooms @ BIFB
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The exhibition filled a number of bays in the Ballarat Mining Exchange and included a video entitled Between Sunshine and Shadow – John Cato was produced by David Callow and Andrew Chapman and can be viewed below …
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Examples of John Cato’s photographs can be viewed on the dedicated website http://www.johncato.com.au
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The event concluded with book signings and conversations between the guests – no doubt excited about the respect paid to this significant Australian photographer and teacher of photography and life …
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Doug Spowart
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OTHER REPORTS AND NEWS ARTICLES ABOUT JOHN CATO
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From Paul Isbel
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Alison Stieven Taylor from: The Australian August 10, 2013
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/natures-gentle-man/story-e6frg8h6-1226692887191
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Terry Lane from The Age August 22, 2013
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/cameras/john-cato-true-photographic-talent-20130821-2s9wo.html
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Photos © 2013 Doug Spowart,
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The photos are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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2013 BALLARAT INT’L FOTO BIENNALE: LAUNCH – August 17, 2013
BIFB Lauch attendees
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Around 400 guests attend a gala Festival Launch on Saturday August 17, 2013. Master of Ceremonies Dominic Brine introduced Cr Samantha McIntosh and Festival Director Jeff Moorfoot who both commented on this year’s event. The opening speech was presented by former Director of the Australian Centre of Photography, international curator and commentator on photography – Alasdair Foster.
The main hall of the Ballarat Mining Exchange was filled by the convivial sounds of conversation and the clink of glasses. The open space above crowd was filled by, what will become the signature feature of this year’s BIFB, Erika Diettes’ giant hanging ‘Sudarios (Shrouds).’
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The launch crowd with Erika Diettes shroud images
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BIFB Festival Director and Icon Jeff Moorfoot speaks at the launch
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Alasdair Foster delivers his opening address
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OPENING SPEECH BY ALASDAIR FOSTER – BALLARAT BIENNALE 2013
Good evening everyone.
It is a great pleasure and honour to be opening the 2013 Ballarat International Foto Biennale.
Look around you. Look where you are standing. For tonight you stand at a global nexus. A meeting point of many cultures and conversations.
Today, photography is our most international and effective mode of expression and communication. An art form supreme in its breadth of engagement and influence in the world. A medium of creativity and of the people, which crosses cultural and linguistic borders and has the potential to bring us closer together.
The exhibitions and events presented at the festival draw lines of human connection from across Australia and out through Colombia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. It is a program that recognises the importance of the relationship between personal experience locally and the things we share in the larger global community. Our common humanity. For, as Joan Miro noted:
“Art can only be truly universal when it is fundamentally local”
Photography is the art form of the people because it ultimately belongs to the people and not to one class or coterie. It is an egalitarian form in which there is a place for everyone.
But Ballarat Biennale is more than just this event. It is a highly proactive builder of networks. It now has two free online magazines: one focusing on images, the other on writing about images – subscription is free, just go onto the website and sign up to receive each issue.
Ballarat Biennale is the only Australian member of a network of photo festivals that spreads across Europe and the Americas, linking activity here with that undertaken in many other communities (large and small) on the other side of the globe.
Inspired by that model, Jeff Moorfoot initiated a new network in our greater region: The Asia-Pacific PhotoForum or APP. It has grown over a few short years until now, when it meets in China this September, the membership spans Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Colombia, China, Guatemala, Korea, New Zealand and Thailand. The Asia-Pacific is the region of the future, as markets and global focus shifts from the Atlantic to our own back yard. It is a region of significant diversity, and initiatives such as the PhotoForum are important ways, not just to further the interest of those who love photography, but to build an atmosphere of cultural sharing, empathy and mutual respect for difference.
All this from one small organisation with a big vision and an even bigger heart.
And you, who make and appreciate photography, are the beneficiaries.
At the risk of this sounding like a sermon, let me recount a parable…
In 1598, if you cast your minds back, Dutch sailors landed on the Island of Mauritius and found to their delight a large flightless bird that was easy to catch and delicious to eat. From then on a visit to Mauritius meant a slap-up meal for free. Fifty years later the sailors were scratching their heads, why were there so few birds these days. Where had they all gone? By 1662 the bird was extinct.
The bird was, of course, the dodo.
There was nothing wrong with the dodo. Quite the reverse. It was a marvel of adaptation to its surroundings; part of a thriving ecology. The problem arose when people came along who only took and did not give back. The result was irrevocable.
There is no such thing as a free lunch. And, if Ballarat Biennale is to flourish, it needs your support.
The festival draws together a wonderful, egalitarian, local–global community. Its survival is a matter of solidarity.
There is much you can do. Something to match every circumstance.
Membership of the festival is a mere $40 per biennial cycle. $20 per year. Everyone can manage that. So I urge you to join up and tell your friends. It is, quite literally, the least you can do.
The Biennale offers you the best deal around to acquire the status of a Patron of the Arts. For less than the cost of one soya latte a week you can become a Sapphire patron. Rising through Emerald to the status of Platinum for no more than the cost of a couple of boozy lunches with friends.
And you can lobby. It is your democratic right and your cultural duty. It’s election time. Write to the candidates standing in your area. Make it clear to them that Ballarat International Foto Biennale is, for you, an election issue. Write to the State. Send letters of thanks to the Mayor for the continuing support of the City of Ballarat. Suggest an increase.
We can all do our bit to ensure that the event that brings so much joy and inspiration; that celebrates the local enriched by the global; that reminds us that our culture is something in which we all have a share, continues to flourish.
So, in declaring the festival open, I would propose a toast. It is a toast of appreciation to the photographers, the funders and sponsors, the volunteers and to Jeff Moorfoot and his tireless team. And it is a toast to you, its supporters. The success of the festival is in your hands.
Ladies and gentleman the toast is “Solidarity!”
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Alasdair Foster ©2013
Thank you Alasdair for passing on your text to be published in this blog post.
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The launch crowd with Erika Diettes images
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Photos © 2013 Doug Spowart, Opening address text © 2013 Alasdair Foster
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The photos are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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Damien Kamholtz: ‘My Icarus’ @ TRAG the VIDEO
My Icarus invitation
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FROM THE ART GALLERY WEBSITE:
‘My Icarus’ is a culmination of one painting, one sculpture and one film. These three interrelated works delve into poetry and mythology and showcase the Gallery’s recent acquisition of Mr Kamholtz’s painting, ‘The Spit that Joins the Magic Together’.
The exhibition title refers to the artist’s fascination with Greek mythological figures, Icarus and Daedalus, and the works of 19th Century French poet Arthur Rimbaud.
Additional creative ‘spittle’ for the performance was delivered in verse by guest speaker and former USQ lecturer in literature Dr Brian Musgrove with a simultaneous performance by Toowoomba movement artist Kirsty Lee.
The exhibition works include the recently acquired painting, an assemblage and a collaborative film produced by Mr Kamholtz, Jason Nash, Kirsty Lee and Craig Allen.
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Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery attendees witnessing the event
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Kirsty Lee in performance
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Photos and Video © 2013 Doug Spowart
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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