Posts Tagged ‘Sandy Barrie’
DARK LOVE: Stories of the darkroom @ Maud Gallery
It seems that in the digital age many photographers still pine for the days past when the darkroom was familiar territory. While older photographers may have fond memories, today they share their darkroom love with new-comers, mainly younger and digitally native photographers. To honour the past and to celebrate the future of the darkroom we worked with the Director of Maud Creative Gallery Irena Prikryl recently to host a series of events and workshops to recognise analogue photography in contemporary photographic practice.
On November 8 a group of photographers responded to the call to attend an event at the gallery called DARK LOVE: Stories of the Darkroom. They were asked to come along with something special about the darkroom and tell a story associated with it. On arrival at the gallery their photographs were prepared and then hung on the wall. The presentations were timed at around 5 minutes and were quite fascinating.
Part of the Dark Love exhibition at Maud Gallery
What follows is a photo of the attendee, their print and a brief comment about their stories …
Alex Buckingham
Alex spoke about working with Liquid Light emulsions
Victoria Cooper
Victoria Cooper discussed the making of this pinhole biscuit tin photo and the challenges of printing the 6x18cm negative
Thomas Oliver
Thomas spoke about his current academic research in the multiple printing of a single negative.
Tammy Forward
Tammy discussed the making of a studio portrait.
Sandy Barrie
Sandy spoke of the dangers of shooting large format in busy Sydney traffic.
Robyn Hills
Robyn told the story of the making of this award winning print – from its origins from a point-n-shoot camera to darkroom high contrast printing ‘Tipp-ex” and a little bit of marker pen… A great animated performance….
Rob Crapnell
Rob discussed his interest in the darkroom and work with a 6×7 Pentax documenting how old heritage buildings in Brisbane are being cramped by the skyscraper…
Peter Pescell
Peter discussed his use of an ‘ancient’ bellows camera and reloaded 120 aerial film on spools to make this image… the old and the outdated still have currency in analogue…
Michael Stephenson
Michael discussed his modern printing of a series of lantern slides that represented a panorama of Brisbane made in the 1870s(?) by the photographer a Mr Wilson(?).
Louis Lim
Louis spoke of a camera obscura that he made in a children’s hospital as part of an artist in residence. He described the view of Vulture Street in Brisbane on the ceiling of the room and how children visiting the space were enthralled by the images on the ceiling and walls…
Jeff Ryan
Jeff discussed the taking of this photograph and its connection personal connection with he and his brother’s lives. The photo was made relatively recently at a place where Jeff and his brother played as kids 40 years earlier.
Irena Prikryl
Irena’s story related to buying her first serious camera – a Hasselblad and then taking some photos in Grand Central Station in New York. The camera was balanced on a railing and the shutter speed was long… The photo was recently printed in a Fine Art Print workshop at Maud with Doug+Vicky.
Chris Bowes
Chris Bowes was unable to attend but had come by earlier to install his personal investigation of self and sweat by placing un-exposed B&W photopaper against his body. The prints are then process yield a ‘Chemigram’. Chris will present a floortalk at the gallery. Check the Dark Love page for details…
David Symons
David discussed that the origins of his 1980s photographic series was a response to the work and photobooks of David Hamilton. Hamilton was well known for his ‘soft-porn’ photos of young girls. Symons spoke about how he appropriated Hamilton’s photos by double printing copy negatives through a cracked mud image. Texts from Hamilton’s book were adapted by Symons using a redactive process to reveal an alternative story….
Doug Spowart
I commented about how a recent re-connection with pinhole photography during the Pinhole workshop last weekend had helped to resolve a need for a new project that Vicky and I will be working on next year. I passed around an 8″x10″ film pinhole negative that had revived my interest and love of the darkroom. PHOTO: Victoria Cooper.
Edwin Wecker
Edwin discussed his experiences with film photography whilst on tour to India with his friend Russell Shakespeare.
Gail Hoger-Neuman
Gail showed some photographs from her early 1990s exhibition ‘Hollywood Stills’ that was shown at Imagery Gallery.
Sandy Barrie demonstrates ancient portable daylight enlargers – the oldest was made before 1859.
Conversations continued after the presentations
The DARK LOVE works were enjoyed and discussed
CHRIS BOWES FLOORTALK – 26 November – details to be confirmed
A FINE ART PRINTING WORKSHOP WILL TAKE PLACE ON – Postponed to 2017
A CYANOTYPE WORKSHOP – Details HERE
AND THE FRONT GALLERY WILL BE CONVERTED INTO A CAMERA OBSCURA on November 26 (to be confirmed)
Festival of the Darkroom logo
All portrait photographs and gallery documentations unless credited otherwise ©2016 Doug Spowart
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SANDY BARRIE – Re-united with his photo treasures
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Over 3 years ago photo historian and collector Sandy Barrie lost much of his extensive photo collection in the floods that inundated Ipswich and Brisbane. Within days of the catastrophe the photographic and professional conservation communities grouped together and attempted to save as much of the Sandy Barrie collection as possible. Several thousand negatives were removed to the photographic department of the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE in Toowoomba for conservation work to be carried out. Conservator Vicki Warden and myself, supervised a team of students and members of the Toowoomba Photographic Society to do recovery work on the negatives. We managed to recover around 1,200 glass plate and film negatives from significant Queensland photographers like Dorothy Coleman and Thomas Mathewson. After recovery the negatives were packaged and stored in an air-conditioned space within the college.
Today, 30 April 2014, Sandy collected his negatives … While checking the condition and the subject matter he located his favorite image – a glass plate negative portrait of photographer Thomas Mathewson. It was a great moment!
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Sandy Barrie – Re-united with the negative of Thomas Mathewson
Portrait of Thomas Mathewson from the Sandy Barrie Collection (pre-flood – printed c1992 by Doug Spowart)
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In December last year Victoria and I were able to give Sandy a replacement plaque created at an event that celebrated the 150th Anniversary of Professional Photography in Australia. On December 12, 1992, photographic identities from all areas of photography in Australia gathered at the precise location where George B Goodman opened his studio in Sydney 150 years earlier. The plaque has the signatures of attendees of the celebration including; Olive Cotton, Toni & Adele Hurley, Dick Smith, David Moore, The Governor of New South Wales – Peter Sinclair, Ian Hawthorne, Peter Eastway, Brian Rope, Peter Hunter, Rodney Pforr and Robert Billington. Sandy organised this significant event.
The plaque was replaced by a spare one which I’d found in my archive and had been mixed up with similar sized objects in a solander box. I had the ‘spare’ as I’d assisted Sandy with the event and had designed the plaque. All that I needed to do was locate and print a portrait of Sandy and Master portrait photographer Ian Hawthorne made on the day.
Sandy was chuffed to have a memento of the important celebration returned to his collection.
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Doug presenting Sandy with a replacement 150th Anniversary Plaque
150th Anniversary of Professional Photography Plaque
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The original Blog post about the flood from 2011
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26 December: Xmas Lunch with Ruby + Sandy
A Christmas ritual is lunch with our Mothers – Vicky’s Mum passed away this year so Ruby and Sandy Barrie were our main connection on Boxing Day.
Sandy and Ruby preparing late Xmas lunch
12 November: Sandy Barrie Presentation & Ruby’s 83rd Birthday
Earlier posts describe the plight of Ipswich flood survivor Sandy Barrie. Today we reinstated his AIPP Honorary Life Membership Certificate and Ribbon both of which were lost in the flood. The occasion was shared with Ruby Spowart who celebrated her 83rd Birthday party with family.
Sandy Barrie with Ruby Spowart
Sandy was appreciative of the efforts made to get the award reissued by Queensland Divisional President Jan Ramsay. The event was witnessed by a deputation consisting of three AIPP Honorary Fellows.
Ruby + Annie about to blow out the candles
Best wishes to both Ruby and Sandy.
Cheers Doug and Vicky
September 15, 2011 Visit to Sandy Barrie – Ipswich flood update
Sandy Barrie and a lost treasure
Today we dropped in to see Sandy and to deliver some furniture items that may be useful to him. It has been 9 months since the devastating floods that drowned Sandy’s collection. He is still awaiting the completion of the restoration of his house – the insurance company finally paid up and he did receive funds from the Premiers Flood Relief program to help. The problem is getting tradesmen as they are highly sought after fixing other flooded properties.
Despite loosing nearly everything including his extensive photographica collection, computers, printers, workshop equipment and car he is forging ahead with regaining a scaled back collection of photo items that interest and excite him. He talks enthusiastically about new eBay discoveries and the massive additions he has made to his research on early photographers both here in Australia and the United Kingdom.
He has the mementos of the past still around him as seen in the photo where he holds a decaying 1890s photo reference book, but somehow his vision is to the future. His observant eye is as sharp as ever enabling him to make connections between photographic stuff that others want to get rid of via eBay, auction and car boot sale, and the provenance that makes these things valuable objects of the past.
Our best wishes go to Sandy …
https://wotwedid.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/flood-image-salvage-sandy-barrie-collection/
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