Archive for the ‘Speaking on Photography’ Category
NICHOLAS WALTON-HEALEY – SALT FRAMES
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A SELECTION OF IMAGES
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‘SPOOR’ Nicholas Walton-Healey from the exhibition SALT FRAMES
‘WHISPER’ by Nicholas Walton-Healey from the exhibition SALT FRAMES
‘SKIN’ Nicholas Walton-Healey from the exhibition SALT FRAMES
‘TOUNGE’ Nicholas Walton-Healey from the exhibition SALT FRAMES
‘CARESS’ Nicholas Walton-Healey from the exhibition SALT FRAMES
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A COMMENTARY ON THE BODY OF WORK by Victoria Cooper
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watch the water long enough and you’ll see a fish jump … *
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Salt Frames review
Nicholas is a poet…
Salt Frames is simultaneously a visual and textual poem. On the surface it is an exhibition of light and colour abstractions from time spent on the Nightcliff Foreshore, Darwin. But this work also has deeper layers and meaning that are evoked through the supporting words and symbols within the images, as Walton-Healey discloses: “Sea salt aids the healing of wounds (including those beneath the surface of the skin).”
Walton-Healey points out that more broadly Australians have an affinity to the coast. The sea and the coast become places of personal meditation and for some physical and psychological healing. His seascapes are not the usual pictorial or grand panorama – instead he shares visual metaphors; those moments of revelation and contemplation that can hold many different meanings to the viewer.
The text blocks with the images are, for me, not titles but words that operate as codes to other ways of being and thinking. If we cast our minds to memories of reverie by the sea, perhaps these words articulate our collective human experience of being at the coast.
On connecting with Walton-Healey’s opening speech, the meaning embedded in the words and the images of layered light, colour and stilled moments was underpinned by a deeply moving human story. Through the visual poetry of this exhibition the artist has humbly shared vulnerability, tenderness and deep thinking. In this openness of vision he also created space for the viewer to spend time to consider and connect with our own stories and memories.
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Dr Victoria Cooper
* A teaching by Larrakia Warrior Robert E. Lewis to Nicholas Walton-Healey
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THE OPENING SPEECH BY PAMELA KLEEMANN-PASSI
Pamela Kleeman-Passi speaks
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Acknowledgement to Country
We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land, the Boon Wurrung and Woiwurrung (Wurundjeri) peoples of the Kulin Nation. We extend gratitude to all Elders past and present and their enduring connection to land, sea and community.
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Welcome to the Salt Frames exhibition …
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My friendship with Nick grew out of a deeply personal connection of loss and renewal, and a mutual passion for experiencing life through the lens of creativity. And now we have Darwin in common! Our shared stories meandered and overlapped during my month there mid-last year for my own exhibition. I actually didn’t know that much about Darwin until that visit, and I returned to Melbourne with a deep fondness for the culture, the landscape and the communities. I thank Nick for facilitating a visit to the Tiwi Islands to spend a moment of precious, rejuvenating time at the Tarntipi Bush Camp on Bathurst Island.
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So what you see within these salt frames of the Nightcliff foreshore is Nick’s immersion in and introspection on the blessings and cruelties of life, and the healing power of the water and the land. The evocative single word titles express an array of feelings and experiences and the images are imbued with opposites:
Landscape / seascape Water / land Surface / depth
Smoothness / crusty, gritty textures Clarity / blurriness Light / dark
Shadows / highlights Colour / monochrome Reflection / absorption
Representation / abstraction Emotion / rationale
He’s combined the poetic and the photographic, with an Impressionist painterly quality to many of the works. Nightcliff is a very special place for Nick… but it also has a fascinating history and I quote from Tess Lea’s personal/historical book, Darwin: “Even the dumping grounds of Nightcliff, where unwanted machinery and detritus from WWII were tipped over a cliff, have merged into the rocks below, no longer distinguishable, just deformed lumps of rust and chalk.” The colour of rusted metal is very evident within some of the images – how over time, it’s merged with the landscape shaped by the power of the sea.
In this time of climate fragility and significant settler land and sea degradation, I feel compelled to refer to ecological grief and the healing power of the land and the water because the land and sea are absolutely fundamental to a community’s overall mental health. Nick’s images are testament to that healing power.
For Nick…
On the edge, at the edge… of love and loss and longing,
And remembering and wanting to forget
And letting go but holding on…
Wedged between land and water, pushing and pulling
Lapping across a surface that belies a depth so utterly profound and unfathomable
A photographic imprint, focused and blurred
Where light inscribes water, water inscribes land
And language and form mutate and merge, rippling and surging in a constant soundtrack
That violently crashes and gently caresses in waves and heartbeats
Eroding, erasing, healing and repairing
The run-off leaving traces that ebb and flow
As life and love and loss and longing ebb and flow…
And it’s sink or swim or scramble to a fragile stability on solid ground and remain upright
or undone
Or both…
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Pamela Kleemann-Passi © 2023
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ROBERT LEWIS TALKS ABOUT HIS CONNECTION WITH NICK
Robert Lewis, Larrakia Warrior, speaks at the opening of SALT FRAMES
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Nic from Vic
Hi my name is Robbie Lewis, I’m a Larrakia Man. Born and bred on Larrakia land in Darwin.
2013, The Eye See Workshop, working with young Indigenous people living on a local community, in the Darwin region, where I met a young man trying to make understanding of life, this is when I first met a young spirited man, Nicholas Walton-Healey!!
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A student photographer trying to find he’s way around the community. At first, I saw another white man taking photos of Indigenous people. But now, 10 years later, I see a great man showing the rest of the world through he’s eyes the beautiful things he sees through a camera.
To talk about
Communications – to talk, to say, to hear, to listen, to answer, to reply, also to understand and help.
Management – to be a leader, a teacher, to educate, to be in charge, to manage and help.
Worker – to do a job, to earn a wage, to keep things moving forward, to do work and to help where there is no other.
Just don’t forget why they go together.
The Student
This one person brings all these people together.
Now I see this man as a teacher!!
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Robert Lewis © 2023
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NICK’S RESPONSE
Nick addresses the audience at his exhibition
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Thank you everyone for making it out tonight. I don’t have the time to personally thank each one of you, here. But I’m really proud of, and humbled by, the diversity of the groups represented in this room. Friends. Family. Collaborators. Colleges. Mentors. And Muses. You’ve all contributed in some important way to the journey I’ve been on, with my photography.
Pam and Rob, I’m especially grateful for the friendship I share with each of you, and for your very kind and thoughtful words tonight.
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What you’re looking-at in the salt frames photographs, is The Timor Sea. And more people go missing each year in The Timor Sea, than they do in any other sea throughout the world.
I can certainly say that I’ve felt the pull. The allure of its rhythm, and hypnotic calamity.
It made perfect sense to me, when I read that statement in a book that Pam recently lent to me. Over the past twelve months, Pam has gifted me some important inspiration – we met at the ANAT Spectra Live event in Melbourne, and our paths crossed again in The Northern Territory last year. They converged at Tactile Arts in Darwin, during Sweet Dreams and Gut Reactions, the title of Pam’s exhibition, which got me thinking…
It’s probably an understatement, for those of you who know me, to say I’m inspired by the viscerality of art. I’ve always understood the role of the artist to entail a questioning of accepted definitions of the normal and possible. And that the moral and aesthetic responsibility of the photographer is to make the invisible, visible and the familiar, strange…
Photography is a highly intuitive process for me. I make the pictures first, and make-sense of them, second. So, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was doing, walking up and down the Nightcliff foreshore at all hours of day and night, last year.
I was actually stopped one evening by an elderly couple, who said ‘ahh, you’re a photographer!?’ I looked-at them, bemused, because I had a camera in my hand, and responded with, ‘yeah!’ But then the lady then came closer, and touched me on the arm. She looked into my eyes and said, ‘Well, that’s good, because we’ve seen you out here every night this week and thought you were homeless.’
The remark startled me because, while I was always on the lookout for crocs, I actually felt pretty safe in Darwin last year, which was when I made the majority of these photographs. Even if I was sleeping on a mattress on the floor of Rob’s kitchen.
I have a really special connection with Rob, who is like a big brother, to me; one of my mentors, teachers, guides and best mates, over the past ten years.
I first met Rob on an Indigenous community known and referred to in Darwin as Knuckey’s. This was back in 2013, when I first travelled-up to Darwin with one of my university lectures – Mark Galer – for The Eye See Workshop. Although our initial encounters were brief, I remember being struck by the enormity of Rob’s heart; the fact that he actually, genuinely cared for the people living on this, and the other communities we visited.
At the end of that workshop, I was invited back to Darwin by Rob’s boss-at-the-time. From this point, I entered into what became a five-year-plus partnership. This lead me back out onto those communities, and ultimately, to almost all of the so-called town camps in and around the Greater Darwin Region.
For all this time, I was like Rob’s little shadow. I followed him everywhere, and especially to the programs he ran with the men and family groups from these communities. Through these means, I built my own friendships and connections. But that’s another story, another project…
The Salt Frames are more overly focussed on my personal connection with Rob. Our friendship grew partly through the bond I developed with his late mother, Robyn, who I learnt to recognise and identify as an authentically Darwin person; Robyn’s mother (Rob’s maternal grandmother), was born at Lamaroo Beach, before being stolen as a child, and was eventually adopted by Juma Fejo.
The Fejos are one of the original eight family groups recognised as the Traditional Custodians of the Greater Darwin Region.
So Rob’s Larrakia, and the Larrakia are also known as The Salt Water People. The Salt Frames show Larrakia country, which includes Nightcliff, the place where Rob and I spent a lot our time when we weren’t working on the communities together.
Watch the water long enough and you’ll see a fish jump. That’s what Rob used to say to me. And I found it really frustrating at first, because I couldn’t see any fish. But over time, I realised that, rather than asking me to simply look-at the water, Rob was actually asking me to look into it. In this way, he transformed my ability to ‘see.’
But he wasn’t the only person I went to Nightcliff beach with. Before and after re-locating from Melbourne to Darwin, Nightcliff was the place that my late fiancé most liked to visit. She loved watching the sunsets. And unwinding and connecting on the beach. Over the years, we made a lot of love along this coastline. Beside the Timor Sea. And sure enough, it was not too far up from one of these spots that we returned on the afternoon she received her cancer diagnosis.
Shit happens. We deal with it. And then we move-on. That’s also one of Rob’s sayings; but it was the teaching I found most difficult to comprehend. Dealing with it, was what I really trying to do in the five and half months I spent in The Territory last year, walking around the beach like a homeless person.
Making these photographs was one way I felt I could make-good on my promise to do something with my photography, while at the same-time maintaining the connection that my finance and I shared with the families and communities we worked with. In August last year, Rob accompanied my mother and I over to the Tiwi Islands, for her Pukamani ceremony. The overwhelming majority of the photographs in this collection were made in the weeks that followed this event.
So whichever way you look at them, the Salt Frames show profound and enduring connection. But they also acknowledge the inescapably transient nature of being. You don’t get to beauty without pain, and love is very hard to name, without seeing the full-face of loss. The process of curating and assembling this show, and gathering you all in this room tonight, is part of an attempt to move forward.
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Thank you all … Nicholas Walton-Healey
Nicholas Walton-Healey © 2023
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Nicholas with Pam Kleemann-Passi and Robert Lewis
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© Photographs by Nicholas Walton-Healey Photographs of the opening ©2023 Doug Spowart
RE–BRAND: The NEW ‘MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY’ – Formerly the MGA
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MAPh Composite
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For more than 30 years the ‘Monash Gallery of Art’ has successfully advocated for the arts and Australian photography. Now the Gallery name will be rebranded as the MAPh – Museum of Australian Photography – abbreviated into MAPh. We were excited to be able to attend the event and witness moment of change in the history of the Gallery.
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Director Anouska Phizacklea
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A launch party on to celebrate the transformation took place on Sunday, 19 March 2023. After a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony by a Wurundjeri Elder, MAPh Gallery Director Anouska Phizacklea addressed the assembled guests. She spoke of the long history of the MGA and how the name change presented the opportunity for the growth of the gallery and its continuing service to photography in, and of, Australia.
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MAPh – 100 FACES Exhibition entry
MAPh Developments
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Director Anouska Phizacklea leads a Q+A session
In the afternoon the MAPh was further celebrated with a stellar line-up of Australian artist/photographers including Ray Cook, Hoda Afshar, @Jane Burton, Ross Coulter, Anouska Phizacklea, Van Sowerwine, @Sonia Payes, @Paula Mahoney and David Rosetzky. Director Anouska Phizacklea led a Q+A session where the panellists were invited to speak about their life works, what inspires them and what new projects they’re working on.
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Congratulations to the Director and team at the new MAPh and we look forward to your new identity and the emergence of a new exciting era in Australian photography exhibiting, collecting and commentary.
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(some texts edited from the MAPh Releases and SM posts)
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All photos ©2023 Doug Spowart
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ARTISTS BOOK BRISBANE: Print Culture Fiesta – Our Presence
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ABBE panorama PHOTO Helen Cole
The Artists Book Brisbane Event, known as ABBE held their 4th event, a Print Culture Fiesta, on November 26 at the Queensland College of Art’s Web Centre. We were there not so much in our physical form, but rather as a table presenting our latest artists book and photobook publications.
ABBE events were initiated at the Griffith Centre for Creative Arts Research in 2015. This year’s ABBE was expanded to embrace all aspects of print culture. Via a selection process around 30 small publishers, artists and designers attended the event to share their creative works to an audience of peers, collectors and those who just love to see and handle art in the print form.
Helen Cole in her library
While we were unable to attend, well-known artists book identity Helen Cole presented our books at the fair. Fellow artists book maker David Symons also was successful in his application for a table and shared the exhibition space next to us.
Other participants included: Alethea Richter, Ana Estrada, Annique Goldenberg, Bad Teeth Comics, Bronwyn Rees, cobalt editions, Cooper+Spowart, David Symons, Ebony Willmott, Geoff Burns, Glenda Chaplyn, Grey Hand Press, Helen Sanderson, IMPRESS, Ivy Minniecon, Jennifer Long, Kanako Enokid, Louis Lim, Maikki Toivanen, Mat Adams Comics, Matt Newkirk, Michael Phillips, Noshyacking Press, Peter Breen, Rachel Dun, Samantha-Jane Windred, silverwattle bookfoundry, Sue Poggioli, Swing Moon and the NightLadder collective.
Contacts and friends who participated in, or attended ABBE commented that it was a great opportunity to see all the artists works, meet up with friends and network with peers. We were also thrilled to be able to show our work as most of these books were only recently made this year.
abbe2022 Logo
SOME IMAGES OF THE EVENT courtesy of Helen Cole and David Symons
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OUR WORKS PRESENTED @ ABBE
Our presentation consisted mainly of 5 recently resolved and made by us. The main books are two from a continuing series relating to concepts surrounding ‘desire paths’ and follow on from an artists book made by Victoria for the Melbourne Art Book Fair in 2019. To see more information about this book CLICK HERE
The two new books Desire Paths: Navigating the path and Desire Paths: Stepping off the concrete take on an autobiographical response to our lives over recent years.
To see more information about Desire Paths: Navigating the path CLICK HERE
To see more information about Desire Paths: Stepping off the concrete CLICK HERE
As a result of relocation to Benalla in north east Victoria last year we have been inspired by our new location to create two books – one, a field report by Victoria, dealing with the natural environment and the other by Doug about walking and the suburban architectural space.
To see more information about Victoria’s Visual Field Notes book CLICK HERE
To see more information about Doug’s Walking Urban Ground book CLICK HERE
The 5th book is another in the continuing Artist Survey series for the Centre for Regional Arts Practice. This latest book relates to concerns and preparations for the regional artist to sell their home. At ABBE a selection of the final copies of the earlier 22 editions of these C.R.A.P. books. To see more information about this book CLICK HERE
COOPER+SPOWART ABBE Catalogue cover
DOWNLOAD OUR ABBE CATALOGUE HERE
We would like to acknowledge and thank Helen Cole and David Symons for their support in presenting our work at ABBE and also to the QCA team that made this opportunity happen …
Looking forward to the next ABBE … We’ll be there …
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ABBE 2022 PARTICIPANTS …
ABBE-Participants list
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FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ABBE …
https://www.instagram.com/abbe_artistsbooks/
https://linktr.ee/abbe_artistsbooks
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WORLD CYANOTYPE DAY 2022: ANZ – Online Exhibition
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EACH YEAR FOR THE LAST 4 YEARS WE HAVE COORDINATED AN EXHIBITION OF ARTWORKS BY AUSTRALIAN CYANOTYPE PRINTMAKERS TO CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL EVENTS LINKED TO WORLD CYANOTYPE DAY.
Unlike most years where the exhibition is in a physical gallery this year the exhibition is an online catalogue. Another aspect of World Cyanotype Day (WCD) events is the connection that works made should respond to a theme which this year was – ENLIGHTEN. This year WCD falls on Saturday September 24th.
Our preparations for the exhibition began back in May with a call for expressions of interest from members of the Facebook Group The Cyanotype in Australia and New Zealand – A group we founded in 2019 to facilitate the first WCD exhibition at the Monash Gallery of Art.
Respondents were presented with the concept of “presenting your cyanotype in a way that shows something about you – It could be positioned in your studio, home setting, in the garden or somewhere in your locality”.
Twenty-five cyanotype makers sent in their submissions. These artworks were collated and prepared for the design stage of the project by us. Here are their cyanotypes and a link to download the catalogue. ALSO at the end of the post is the story and links to the previous year”s catalogues.
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Here the submissions:
“CLICK” on the thumbnail to enlarge the image and see the author’s name and title
THE ONLINE CATALOGUE IS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD –
Here is the file: CYANOTYPE CATALOGUE 2022v3
Here is the backstory the 5 Cyanotype in Australia and New Zealand WORLD CYANOTYPE DAY exhibitions & catalogues
Download: WCD_CinA-Catalogue-2018
Event 1 – 2018
In September 2018 The Cyanotype in Australia Facebook group was founded and held its first collective exhibition and illustrated catalogue as part as the global event World Cyanotype Day (WCD). Entitled In Anna’s Garden the exhibition referenced Anna Atkins’ pioneering role in the development of the cyanotype.
The exhibition was held in the Atrium Space at Monash Gallery of Art, Wheeler’s Hill, Melbourne and was opened by Gael E Phillips. Gallery staff members Stephanie Richter and Gillian Jones joined with Victoria Cooper and Doug Spowart to prepare and hang the diverse representation of Australian contemporary cyanotype work. The Gallery Director Anouska Phizacklea attended the event along with many of the exhibitors.
Download: WCD_CinA-catalogue-2019
Event 2 – 2019
A world-wide call out from the A. Smith Gallery in Texas, USA, invited artists to participate in an exhibition by sending a cyanotype made on a 30cm square of fabric – referred to as ‘Flags’. The work was a personal response to the WCD theme for that year, Land / Sea / Sky.
The Cyanotype in Australia (CinA) co-ordinators decided to organize a collaborative show of cyanotype flags connecting with the WCD. Coordinated at the Maud Street Photo Gallery in Brisbane, the exhibition was called Under the Southern Sun. Again, the coordinators were supported by Gail Neumann, David Symons and Keiko Goto in the unpacking and hanging the flags in the gallery. However this was only the first part of a long and exciting journey for these cyanotype prints.
After the show came down, the working party packed up the show and the Flags were sent off to Texas where they were shown with all the other works from across the world at the A. Smith Gallery. Subsequently the exhibition was also shown at PhotoNOLA in New Orleans.
Download: ____WCD 2020 CATALOGUE-FINALv3
Event 3 – 2020
Due to the pandemic 2020 was a difficult year to show work in a physical gallery space so the CinA co-ordinators created an online presence and an illustrated catalogue referencing the WCD theme of Interconnected. After a call out to all members of our Facebook group, artists from across Australia and around the world responded by contributing to the collection of a creative work that showcased the diverse practice of the cyanotype in Australia and elsewhere.
Download: WCD 2021 Exhibition-SCREEN_Res-Sept27
Event 4 – 2021
Despite the challenges of Covid, 2021 saw the return of a physical exhibition. Gail Neumann curated the show at KEPK Gallery in Brisbane, supported by other members of the CinA team. The WCD theme this year was REJUVENATION. Local art identity and cyanotyper LeAnne Vincent opened the exhibition and an illustrated catalogue was made available to participants.
Event 5 – 2022
For many surviving Covid, floods and fire and rebuilding their arts practice has been challenging over the last 2-3 years, so the return to an online format seemed a good option. Also at this time, the organisers felt that it was important to recognize our friends and colleagues from across “the ditch” in New Zealand, so our group name was changed to The Cyanotype in Australia and New Zealand.
The call for expressions of interest was made in May and those who responded were asked to submit work on the WCD theme – ENLIGHTEN. They were also requested to consider making an in-situ representation of their cyanotype image in their studio space or where they live, to add a personal and physical dimension to the virtual online space. The 2022 catalogue includes the artists who responded to the in-situ request, and also those who only sent through a photograph of their cyanotype.
Once again, the catalogue presents a survey of the practice of cyanotype within our region. We wish to thank the contributors for making work available for this catalogue as well as providing commentaries about their work.
ENJOY and be ENLIGHTENED about the work by the members of the Cyanotype in Australia and New Zealand.
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ABOUT THE CYANOTYPE IN AUSTRALIA + NEW ZEALAND
The Cyanotype in Australia + New Zealand Facebook group has actively supported a vibrant community of practice of not only local, but also international cyanotypers for 5 yearsFF.
The Facebook page is a closed group though we welcome ‘Requests to join’ from cyanotype practitioners of this region.
The Cyanotype in Australia+New Zealand Team are Doug Spowart, Gail Neumann, David Symons and Victoria Cooper.
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.MGA POSTCARDS EXHIBITION – Our images
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WE RECENTLY RESPONDED TO A ‘CALL OUT’ FROM THE MONASH GALLERY OF ART to make and send in a POSTCARD representing ‘Our back yard’.
It is an interesting Mail Art Project so we selected images and sent them in. Recently we are in Melbourne and managed to go out to MCA to see their exhibitions and the post card show in the Atrium Gallery.
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If you are interested in participating – The details and link are at the end of this post.
VICTORIA’s CARD: Image from the book VISUAL FIELD NOTES
Victoria Cooper MGA POSTCARD
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ABOUT VICKY’S POST CARD IMAGE: DAY DREAMING
We arrived in Benalla during one of the long Covid 19 lockdowns of Victoria. We found ourselves under a state wide travel restriction of only 5kms from our home. So walking became my way of exploring my new locality.
On these walks, and later on longer journeys,
I was captivated by the remnants of natural environment at the edge of the suburban spaces, roadsides and bushland. Here in the North East the trees tower like epic monuments to a pre-colonial history …
DOUG’s CARD:
An image from the book WALKING URBAN GROUND
Doug Spowart’s MGA POSTCARD SHOW
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ABOUT DOUG’S POST CARD IMAGE:
This photo is about walking in the place where I live. While my walks with Vicky are for exercise, they are also an exploration of the streets, homes and spaces of my suburb.
During these walks I witness the seasons, varied architectural forms, garden features and the idiosyncratic things that homeowners create in their suburban environments.
In this work, from the book “Walking Urban Ground”, I explore through visual play, the creation of a joyful representation of the place where I live.
year I wandered as a free-ranging spirit on a bright sunny day through my local botanic garden. Spontaneously I responded to the subjects that emerged into my line of sight…
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A POSTCARD FROM GLEN O’MALLEY is also in the show…
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HERE’S THE SUBMISSION DETAILS
Postcards from our big backyard
“CLICK” URL HERE
3 August 2022 to 2 October 2022
MGA Atrium Gallery
Tuesday – Sunday
Postcards from our big backyard | Submissions now open
Viva Gibb took this photograph of the landscape she grew up on during a trip back to the area in the 1980s. The work is on display as part of MGA’s exhibition Return to nature, which journeys through the Australian landscape in photographs from the 1870s to today.
To coincide with this exhibition, we want you to send us a postcard of your big backyard!
Wherever you are in Australia, we want to see your landscape. So take a photograph of your corner of this great continent, print it at postcard size, write your name on the back, along with the title, date and a short note if you wish, then affix a stamp and send it by mail addressed to:
Monash Gallery of Art
860 Ferntree Gully Road
WHEELERS HILL
VIC 3150
We will then display your postcard in a growing exhibition in MGA’s Atrium gallery from 3 August to 2 October.
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.EULOGY: GRAHAM BURSTOW – A personal view
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Graham Burstow – Self Portrait – Viewer & the Viewed show at QCP 2006
Recently I have been working through my extensive archive, and Graham Burstow‘s name kept surfacing. I found a piece of correspondence from nearly 20 years ago when I was asked by the Australian Honours Secretariat to support a nomination for Graham for an Australia Day Honour. At the time I was the chair of the AIPP Education Sub-committee and had previously provided letters of support for photography related nominations.
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Even though 20 years has elapsed since being written, the words still hold true. We should recognise that Graham continued and expanded his connection with the great love of his life – photography.
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I am honoured to be able to present this commentary on our friend – Graham Burstow OAM
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LETTER DATED: August 3, 2003
Australian Honours Secretariat,
Government House,
Canberra ACT 2600
Subject: Graham Burstow
Dear Secretariat,
I have known Graham Burstow since the late 1960’s. He has been a significant inspiration due to his dedication to the art of image-making, but also his support of many structures that shape photography in this country. While I make mention of this man’s influence on my life, his works and work have touched and inspired thousands of Australian and international photographers for nearly 50 years.
Graham Burstow’s main sphere of interest is in the camera club movement. He has held numerous positions within the Australian Photographic Society including national President, Chairman of the Print Division, keynote speaker and mentor. Since 1959 he has held positions within the Toowoomba Photographic Society (one of the oldest such groups in Australia). Burstow has been Chairman of no fewer than 6 national and international exhibitions of salon photography.
In his hometown of Toowoomba he has each year coordinated several national art photography awards including the McGregor Prize for Photography at the University of Southern Queensland, and the Heritage Photographic Award at the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery since 1977. In my opinion Graham Burstow has a hand in, and a hand to offer, for anything photographic from presenting lectures or judging awards for students at the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE where I work, or assisting community groups including senior citizens groups and Lifeline.
Burstow’s work appears regularly in magazines and publications including his self-published book “Touch Me”. In 1984 I curated a substantial survey of his work at Imagery Gallery in Brisbane. His work has been shown in salon exhibitions world-wide and in major institutions like the Queensland Art Gallery.
Graham Burstow has received significant honours for his photographic work and his service to photography including the following: Associateship and EFIAP(service) of the International Federation of Photographic Art, Associateship of the Royal Photographic Society, Associateship of the Photographic Society of America and a Fellow and Honorary Fellow of the Australian Photographic Society.
In a review of his book “Touch Me” I commented that:
Burstow’s work is about sharing his vision with the world. It represents a lifetime of photographic exploration of the art. Burstow’s work is not just about camera club pictorialism but also aspects of the human condition and the humour of everyday situations. This book is not intended as a catalogue for purchase, it is rather a communique, the photographer reaching out with the world in his photographs inviting the viewer to touch the experience portrayed.
Diversity of style and subject is apparent in Burstow’s journey in photography. It seems as if he had walked alongside Max Dupain at the beach, been with Wolfgang Sievers at the building site, shared an impromptu moment with Henri Cartier-Bresson, a portrait session with Arnold Newman, some personal introspective moments with Nan Goldin, and an adventure with Frank Hurley.
Australian photography would be greatly diminished if it were not for the contribution of this generous and modest man – I have great pleasure in supporting his nomination for the Order of Australia.
Yours faithfully,
Doug Spowart M.Photog, FAIPP, Hon.FAIPP Chair of the AIPP Education Sub-committee
A SELECTED COLLAGE OF IMAGES FROM GRAHAM’S LIFE
Click on the image to enlarge the view and see the full caption
SOME WORDS FROM GRAHAM …
ACL presentation media at Cobb & Co Museum Toowoomba 2021 PHOTO Doug Spowart
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For an insight into how he felt about his life in photography, an event in 2021 at the Cobb & Co Museum recorded by the Chronicle Newspaper (paywall) might provide an answer. Graham was being awarded a Life Membership of the Australian Cultural Library (ACL) by the director Steve Towson. In a video interview he was to comment that he had been photographing for 73 years. He also added:
When you look at the things you can do to keep your mind occupied and increase the length of your life, photography is nearly always near the top of the list.
It keeps your mind busy and even when you are not photographing you are probably thinking about something you want to photograph.
I think it’s worked in my case … I enjoy it, met a lot of wonderful people, it’s been great to get to go to a lot of interesting places… *
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ONE FINAL STORY FROM GRAHAM …
In my collection I have a Graham Burstow photograph entitled No 2 The Day Ahead. For me, at this time it is a poignant image …
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FIND OUT MORE ABOUT GRAHAM BURSTOW …
http://www.grahamburstow.com.au/
*Tribute for Toowoomba photographer icon Graham Burstow Stephen Burstow John Elliott | The Chronicle (Paywall story)
Thanks to Bev Lacey for the ACL quote and photograph and Zigi for the gift of the Noosa 10×8 photograph
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2022 WORLDWIDE PINHOLE DAY – Our images
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ON THE LAST SUNDAY IN APRIL pinhole photographers across the world gather together as individuals or groups to celebrate pinhole photography in all its forms.
This year for the first time in many years we find ourselves in a place that we call home. On this warm sunny April morning we connected with fellow Benalla artist, Maggie Hollins, and found joy in pinhole play on Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day.
We met in the Benalla Botanic Gardens renown for its rose garden, cricket field, the lake and the Benalla Art Gallery. The Gardens and surrounds are a popular place for locals to picnic, exercise, canoe or just hang out.
Benalla Pinholers – Maggie with Vicky+Doug
This is the 16th year we have supported the WPPD project!
SEE LINKS to our other submissions at the end of this Post.
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WHAT IS WORLDWIDE PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY DAY ALL ABOUT?
From the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day website introduction:
All the photographs in this extraordinary collection share two common characteristics: (1) they are lensless photographs (2) they were all made on April 24, 2022.
They also share an additional and less formal characteristic: the sincere enthusiasm of their creators who, by participating in this collective event, shared individual visions and techniques. Hence the amazing diversity of subjects, cameras, techniques and photographic materials combined in this exhibit!
The process is that photographs are made on April 24 > they are processed / optimised by the photographer > uploaded and captioned on the WPPD website. The 2022 Gallery of images can be searched to see what photographers from around the world did on that day…
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VICTORIA’s PINHOLE IMAGE: DAY DREAMING
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ABOUT VICKY’S PINHOLE IMAGE: DAY DREAMING
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A beautiful Autumn day beside the Benalla Art Gallery and lake.
OTHER IMAGES BY VICKY:
VICKY’s DIGI-PINHOLE CAMERA
Vicky’s Pinhole Olympus Pen
Camera Olympus Pen: 1/90 @2500 ISO the pinhole is made with a camera body cap and a handmade pinhole in pie tin foil.
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DOUG’s PINHOLE IMAGE: WALKING THE DOGS
ABOUT DOUG’S PINHOLE IMAGE:
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This year I wandered as a free-ranging spirit on a bright sunny day through my local botanic garden. Spontaneously I responded to the subjects that emerged into my line of sight…
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SOME OF DOUG’s OTHER IMAGES
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DOUG’s DIGI-PINHOLE CAMERA
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My pinhole was a readymade found in our pinhole workshop toolbox – capture device a digital Canon 6D operated around ISO 6000 with a S/S of 60th part of a second.
Visit the WWPD Site for details of other submissions: http://pinholeday.org/
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VIEW 16 YEARS OF PAST WPPD iMAGES:
2021 Doug+Vicky https://wordpress.com/post/wotwedid.com/12227
2020 Doug+Vicky https://wotwedid.com/2020/05/13/2020-worldwide-pinhole-day-26-april-our-images/
2019 Doug+Vicky https://wotwedid.com/2019/04/29/2019-worldwide-pinhole-day-28-april-our-images/
2018 Doug+Vicky https://wotwedid.com/2018/04/29/2018-worldwide-pinhole-day-29-april-our-images/
2016 Doug: http://www.pinholeday.org/index.php?id=1235
2016 Vicky: http://www.pinholeday.org/index.php?id=1540
2015 https://wotwedid.com/2015/05/04/april-26-worldwide-pinhole-day-our-contributions-for-2015/
2014 Vicky’s http://pinholeday.org/gallery/2014/index.php?id=1810&City=Toowoomba
2014 Doug’s http://pinholeday.org/gallery/2014/index.php?id=1811&City=Toowoomba
2013 https://wotwedid.com/2013/04/29/world-pinhole-photography-day-our-contribution/
2012 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2012/index.php?id=1937&searchStr=spowart
2011 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2011/index.php?id=924
HERE IS THE LINK to the 2011 pinhole video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk4vnbzTqOU
2010 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2010/index.php?id=2464&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
2006 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2006/index.php?id=1636&Country=Australia&searchStr=cooper
2004 Vicky http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2004/index.php?id=1553&Country=Australia&searchStr=cooper
2004 Doug http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2004/index.php?id=1552&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
2003 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2003/index.php?id=615&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
2002 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2002/index.php?id=826&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
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2021 WORLDWIDE PINHOLE DAY – Our images
WWPD 2021 LOGO
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Around the [w]hole world on Sunday April 25, 20201pinholers were out having fun – Making their images for the 2021 Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day.
This year – still in Toowoomba we’ve been working on projects and supporting family. Once again, far away from the darkroom, we’ve fitted a piece of aluminium with a light admitting pin-prick to the body cap of our Olympus Pen camera and braved the parkland at the end of our street. Recently we uploaded our images with a detailed caption to the WPPD website to add to the contributions from Australian pinholers and many more from around the world.
This is the 17th year we have supported the WPPD project!
SEE LINKS to our other submissions at the end of this Post.
WHAT IS WORLDWIDE PINHOLE PHOTOGRAPHY DAY ALL ABOUT?
From the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day website introduction
All the photographs in this extraordinary collection share two common characteristics: (1) they are lensless photographs (2) they were all made on April 25, 2021.
They also share an additional and less formal characteristic: the sincere enthusiasm of their creators who, by participating in this collective event, shared individual visions and techniques. Hence the amazing diversity of subjects, cameras, techniques and photographic materials combined in this exhibit!
The process is that photographs are made on April 25 > they are processed / optimised by the photographer > uploaded and captioned on the WPPD website. The 2021 Gallery of images can be searched to see what photographers from around the world did on that day…
Here’s the website page of the Australian pinhole photographer’s works:
WPPD 2021 Australian submissions @ May 11, 2021
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VICTORIA’s PINHOLE IMAGE: AFTERNOON WALK
Victoria Cooper’s Evening walk pinhole photo
ABOUT VICKY’S PINHOLE IMAGE:
We pass by these trees everyday… I decided to take pinhole photos of our walk as I enjoy the way they transform these everyday places into a kind of poem, not distinct nor descriptive just evocative.
DOUG’s PINHOLE IMAGE: TREE HOUSE
Tree House a pinhole image by Doug Spowart
ABOUT DOUG’S PINHOLE IMAGE:
I chose the late afternoon to go out and make images as the low light angle and the deep shadows add drama and mystery to pinholes made at this time.
Over recent years I have continued to choose a digital camera and aluminium pie dish with a pin prick in it. Wet darkrooms and film, although it suited the zone plates of landscape that I made are beyond my current means – perhaps next year…
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OUR Digi-PINHOLE CAMERA
The Cooper+Spowart digi OLYMPUS PEN with pinhole …
This is a converted digital Olympus Pen, shared with my partner Doug Spowart. The pinhole is a pin pierced hole in aluminium which is inserted into a hole drilled into a body cap. It is a hand held exposure of 1/25th second at ISO 2000.
Visit the WWPD Site for details of other submissions: http://pinholeday.org/
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Our Past WPPD images:
2020 Doug+Vicky https://wotwedid.com/2020/05/13/2020-worldwide-pinhole-day-26-april-our-images/
2019 Doug+Vicky https://wotwedid.com/2019/04/29/2019-worldwide-pinhole-day-28-april-our-images/
2018 Doug+Vicky https://wotwedid.com/2018/04/29/2018-worldwide-pinhole-day-29-april-our-images/
2016 Doug: http://www.pinholeday.org/index.php?id=1235
2016 Vicky: http://www.pinholeday.org/index.php?id=1540
2015 https://wotwedid.com/2015/05/04/april-26-worldwide-pinhole-day-our-contributions-for-2015/
2014 Vicky’s http://pinholeday.org/gallery/2014/index.php?id=1810&City=Toowoomba
2014 Doug’s http://pinholeday.org/gallery/2014/index.php?id=1811&City=Toowoomba
2013 https://wotwedid.com/2013/04/29/world-pinhole-photography-day-our-contribution/
2012 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2012/index.php?id=1937&searchStr=spowart
2011 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2011/index.php?id=924
HERE IS THE LINK to the 2011 pinhole video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk4vnbzTqOU
2010 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2010/index.php?id=2464&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
2006 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2006/index.php?id=1636&Country=Australia&searchStr=cooper
2004 Vicky http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2004/index.php?id=1553&Country=Australia&searchStr=cooper
2004 Doug http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2004/index.php?id=1552&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
2003 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2003/index.php?id=615&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
2002 http://www.pinholeday.org/gallery/2002/index.php?id=826&Country=Australia&searchStr=spowart
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.ARTISTS FACING STUDIO CLOSURE: QCA vs Griffith University
Over the last month there have been reports coming out of the Queensland College of Art about proposed changes being instigated by the hosting institution Griffith University. The University’s intentions are outlined in the University’s ‘Proposal for Workplace Change Roadmap to Sustainability *’.
*If link is broken Download a copy of the Proposal for Workplace Change Roadmap to Sustainability ‘ GU-QCA-Proposal-for-Workplace-Change-Roadmap-to-Sustainability_students
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Outcry from a cross-section of the Arts community has been forthcoming. This has included Arts academics, current and past students, staff and colleagues, Arts organisations like Occuli, NAVA, Brisbane Visual Arts Advocacy Group, Artisan and The Print Council of Australia, Arts Agencies and other supporting groups.
Save our Studios Poster by Isobelle Dwyer
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.AS ALUMNI WE WANT TO SUPPORT THE QCA
So we composed the following letter to the Griffith University’s Vice Chancellor:
Dear Griffith University Vice Chancellor Professor Carolyn Evans,
By now you will have received a significant number of responses relating to the proposed changes to the Queensland College of Art.
I have read many of the responses to these changes posted online and I concur with the concerns raised by many of the respondents. The Queensland College of Art has history, a solid reputation for the quality of its graduates and the possibility to contribute significantly to the ongoing record of the life of human and non-human habitation on this planet.
Imagine for a moment if you can your world without the framed artwork on the wall – what it’s like to witness the vibe of the well attended gallery, the encounter of a sculpture in a public space, and the wonder of the fleeting image on Instagram. All of these are created by artists – the very people who will be affected by the changes you are intending to implement.
I understand the contemporary funding pressures created by the Pandemic and government indifference to the need to financially support academic study and research into the broader aspects of human existence.
However there is a necessity to be careful that rapid submission to comply, with what may be short-term influences, will have implications. Not just within the fine arts discipline but also, as the artist tells the stories of their times, fewer qualified practitioners will culminate in a gap in the creative record of human existence.
I urge Griffith University to reconsider what has been proposed and find a space to allow art and artists to be nurtured within the Griffith University academic programs.
I also wish you to consider that while many other universities may be considering a similar course of action in cutting Fine arts programs Griffith University has an opportunity to stand firm and continue the Queensland College of Art and realise the benefits identified in the vision and dreams that the supporters of the SAVE our STUDIOS have.
The studio is the crucible that provides the catalyst and engine room for the creative thought…
Sincerely,
Dr Doug Spowart M.Photog, FAIPP, HonFAIPP Dr Victoria Cooper M.Photog, HonFAIPP
Graduate: College of Art Brisbane 1972 Graduate: Queensland College of Art Brisbane 1993
A RESPONSE TO THE EMAIL WAS RECEIVED LATER IN THE DAY …
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STUDENT PROTESTS AND MEDIA REPORTS HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN GENERATING COMMUNITY AWARENESS
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Photos courtesy of Cheryl Bronson
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An ABC TV REPORT HERE
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An ABC RADIO INTERVIEW HERE
(interview begins at around 1:42:45 and runs for 15 mins)
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A PETITION
At the time of posting the SAVE OUR STUDIOS Petition had received 10.6K signatures
– You can add your support by signing the petition here: http://chng.it/Zv22YbfP6y
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FB Page
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE QCA SOS PROTEST VISIT:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/teamqcasos
Save our Studios QCA by Summer Hiskens-Ravest
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AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY and the School of Art and Design
It’s interesting to note that at this time the Australian National University is doing the same for their Art programs with their demand being “…the long-standing structural deficit of the School cannot continue and must be addressed. The School must position itself tobe able to deliver its programs and research with continued excellence but in a financially viable and sustainable manner.”
READ MORE HERE: https://www.anu.edu.au/files/guidance/Managing%20Change%20Proposal_CASS_Tranche%202_November%202020_.pdf?
If link is broken Download a copy HERE ANU-Managing Change Proposal_CASS_Tranche 2_November 2020_
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wotwedid 