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100 AUSTRALIAN WOMEN PHOTOGRAPHERS: Loud+Luminous-2020

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LOUD & LUMINOUS – 100 Australian Women Photographers 

The backstory from the L&L Founders, Hilary Wardhaugh & Melissa Anderson

The Loud & Luminous mission is to recognise and celebrate the contribution of contemporary women in the photographic arts in Australia. We believe this project is unique and important in recognising the extensive cultural contribution women photographic artists and photographers have made in this country.

This project is designed to empower the girls and women of today and tomorrow to chase in their dreams. This will always be a timely project and one that hopes will help educate and inspire many women of all ages.

​The 2020 theme of ‘EQUALITY’ echoes the United Nations sustainable development goals of ‘gender equality’, and we very much look forward to seeing work that reflects that goal and our theme.

 

Late in 2019 a call went out to female photographers of any age throughout Australia to submit an image for consideration to be selected for the 3rd LOUD & LUMINOUS exhibition at Sydney’s CONTACT SHEET GALLERY and book. The photographers whose images were successful were:

L&L Selected photographers 2020

Loud & Luminous selected photographers 2020

 

Due to COVID-19 the exhibition at Contact Sheet Gallery has been postponed. However over the next 3 months they will post works on the gallery’s online blog. ‘CLICK’ HERE!

 

Once again we were excited that images by both Victoria and Ruby were successful…

 

 

VICTORIA COOPER

Victoria Cooper: Portrait…..PHOTO:Doug Spowart

Victoria’s Artist’s Statement: All things have significance

All things have significance … sentient or not … organic or inorganic… a rich environment of diversity, differentiation and divergence.

The inspiration, like a ray of light through dark clouds, to create this image arises from the women that have, at great personal cost through leadership in research, writing and sheer passion, fought discrimination, voicelessness and political power structures to make a difference in the ongoing quest to create a sustainable and healthy planet. Among these women are: American Rachel Carson, Australian Mary E. White and Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg.

 

All things have significance ….. PHOTO: Victoria Cooper

 

 

 

RUBY SPOWART

Ruby Spowart …. Photographer unkown

Ruby’s Artist’s Statement …. EQUALITY: Beauty in Aging

Some may say that only in youth there is beauty – as I witness in the unfolding of a fresh new orchid flower. But as I watched the flower each day, its beautiful strong colourful presence began to loose its vigour and the colours began to slowly fade. In the last stages of its life it turned a deep reddish tan almost gold.

Its youthful form no longer evident but now wrinkled and withered it has a different kind of elegance – an equality of beauty…

 

Ruby’s EQUALITY: Beauty in Aging

 

 

 

Hilary Wardhaugh & Melissa Anderson wish to acknowledge.

Hilary Wardhaugh + Mel Anderson

Hilary Wardhough + Melissa Anderson

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In 2018 our wonderfully supportive sponsors included: Fujifilm Australia, Kayell Australia, Momento Pro, Victorian Women’s Trust, Creative Women’s Circle and Damian Caniglia Photography and Video. In 2019 we again secured Fujifilm Australia, Kayell Australia, Momento Pro, and Damian Caniglia Photography/Video. We also added Print2Metal and Amanda Summons (book designer) as sponsors.

In 2020 we added PPIB Photographers Insurance as a new sponsor. We were also very fortunate to have Paul McDonald at CONTACT SHEET Gallery as our Exhibition partner, too.

The 2019 and 2020 we held International Women’s Day Symposia in Canberra that were both sold out and received extremely well. We are also proud to say that the 2018 and 2019 Loud & Luminous books have been accepted into the National Library of Australia’s collection.

In 2020 we also saw the results of the stipend raised by the IWD 2019 ticket sales in a group exhibition with Suellen Cook, Tamara Whyte, Helga Salwe, Tricia King and Elise Searson at Photoaccess in Canberra.

 

 

The 2020 L&L book

BUY A COPY OF THE 2020 L&L book HERE

(Order before 30 June 2020)

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Both Victoria and Ruby have been selected in earlier LOUD & LUMINOUS exhibitions

Victoria Cooper (left) ………………………………………………………………………………Ruby Spowart (right)

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IN 2019  – ‘Click’ link to see the post

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Victoria Cooper  L&L entry 2018

In 2018  – ‘Click’ link to see the post

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to the next LOUD & LUMINOUS exhibition in 2021 …

 

 

Written by Cooper+Spowart

May 16, 2020 at 3:21 pm

Posted in Exhibitions, Speaking on Photography, Victoria Cooper

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CAMERA OBSCURA + Pinhole Event @ Foto Frenzy: A Report

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Unidentified Flying Hubcap - Barkly Tablelands

Since the year 2000 we have been making large-scale room camera obscuras. These have been made as part of visual research for our Place Projects. Usually we document the process and the images form a narrative for inclusion in photobooks and exhibitions. In 2009 we launched WINDOW/s, a limited edition photobook of 9 copies, along with an exhibition of the 9 camera obscura images @ the Queensland Centre for Photography.  

SEE the book as an Adobe Flash Pageflip HERE

In our Place Project work we have found that the camera obscura connects us directly with the place or site that we are working in. We have found that anyone witnessing the place-specific camera obscura responds enthusiastically this natural phenomenon. Time spent inside the camera obscura evokes a sharing of different perceptions: of the visual, of memory and of experiences in the lives of each visitor. So we decided that we should create a camera obscura as part of our Foto Frenzy artist in residence.

As a result of a conversation with a past QCA student of Doug’s from the 1980s, photographer John Pryke, through some great research on the internet, found that not far down the road was the site of an historical camera obscura on Whites Hill.

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The Whites Hill Camera Obscura c1924 from the 'Lost Brisbane' Project site

The Whites Hill Camera Obscura c1924 from the ‘Lost Brisbane’ Project site

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The view from the front entry of Foto Frenzy was selected as its outlook is of the defining feature of this place – the major intersection of Bennetts and Old Cleveland Roads Coorparoo. A plan was created, the room blacked out with thick black agricultural plastic, a light admitting hole of around 12 mm was made and fitted in the door of the building, and screens arranged inside onto which the image could be projected.

FF-Camera Obscura-Plan-new

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Saturday the 20th of April was a bright sunny day with occasional clouds and the 40 or so visitors witnessed the wonders of this simple device. Many brought cameras with them to make images, some brought family members including children – all, as we hoped, were taken by the visual experience of being ‘IN’ a camera, one which did not even require a lens.

As artists in residence working with the  Foto Frenzy / Brisbane Camera Hire Team, we were around some amazing technology and people with special knowledge. Director Darren Jew produced his Canon EOS 1D and a high speed 12mm lens for the cover image of this post. If you’ve not been in a ‘lensless’ camera obscura you will not be aware of how dark the images is – usually it takes several minutes for your eyes to adjust to see what is going on, it is that dark. There are perhaps only a few movies of camera obscura images that have ever been made as it requires specialized cameras and equipment. Darren Jew offered to wind up the ISO of his latest camera and at 40,000 ISO we were able to create a movie of the impromptu performance of our antics outside the building as – ‘Vicky and Doug do a Selfie’.

SEE the movie here ….

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What fascinated us was the excitement and enthusiasm for the project, much of which was posted on Facebook soon after the event. With the permission of the respondents we have posted some of their images and words in the screen grabs that follow …

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Megan Rizzo and family visit and photograph the camera obscura

Megan Rizzo and family visit and photograph the camera obscura

Sara Pearcy comments on her experience with Nicholas in the camera obscura

Sara Pearcy comments on her experience with son Nicholas in the camera obscura

Steven Underhayes' terriffic camera obscura image

Steven Underhayes’ terrific camera obscura image

John Pryke does a 'Selfie' in the camera obscura

John Pryke does a ‘Selfie’ in the camera obscura

SEE more of John’s photographs on his blog: <http://johnprykephoto.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/camera-obscura.html>..

.Additionally the event included a presentation of some of our pinhole cameras, pinhole making techniques, and discussions about how to make pinhole images with SLR and DSLR cameras. Most importantly we encouraged participants to make and enter photos made on April 28 in the 2013 World Pinhole Photography Day event.

WPD-logo

Thank you to the participants, the Foto Frenzy / Brisbane Camera Hire team, in particular Darren Jew and Jacob Schneider, for helping to make this a successful event

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All  photographs and texts © of the authors 2013.

Creative Commons-by-nc-nd.eu

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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