Rust

Summer is my favourite season — I love its hot, earthy colours, especially the parched brittleness of the dry landscape. There’s something primal about the way heat stores in the ground, then moves up through you, like something alive, as you walk over it.

I took these pictures in nearby Boorowa last year using my Olympus Pen EE-2 half-frame camera. With a population of just 2,450, the town may be small, but it holds a glut of photographic inspiration — the first shot is from the local cemetery, while the second is from the balcony of The Boorowa Hotel (where the counter meals are exceptionally cheap!).

Opening Night

From the top: Tony Stewart, David Bruce and myself (photos courtesy Bob Burne)

I have a theory that I believe applies to any event, ranging from weddings to conferences — all people really remember is the quality of the food and beverages and that's how, in hindsight, they will rate the quality of their experience.

For this reason, I bought great beer and wine, and spent all day yesterday making canapes and cupcakes with my sister, Kirralee, for the opening of my exhibition, Dumb-founded.

Was the effort justified?

Well, I hope so — everything seemed to vaporise within five minutes, even though we over-catered, and people lingered in the gallery for a long time. Those are surely good signs.

Above are some pictures of the speeches: first, Tony Stewart, chair person of the Photoaccess board, who opened the show); second, David Bruce, who is exhibiting in the gallery next to mine, with First Impressions (we shared an opening); and, finally, moi, looking surprising calm.

Thanks to everyone who came along, plus those who emailed me with best wishes or checked out the online version of my show.

Hang Ups

I've spent the last two days at Photoaccess hanging my Dumb-founded exhibition, with assistance from my sister, Kirralee, who is visiting from Scotland (she's a wonderful slave and also the author of the above portrait!).

Barbie Robinson, the Gallery Program Coordinator at Photoaccess, sees a strong resemblance between myself and the manneqin in my image, "Tea Time".

What do you think — is it a case of art mimicing real life?

Magnetised

I spent yesterday afternoon cutting out the above circles, punching some 50 buttons on a badge machine hired from ACT Playgroups, and super-gluing magnets on the backs. The results are amazingly slick and glossy, not to mention cheap — they're going to make perfect gifts to promote this blog at my exhibition opening on Thursday. The idea is for guests to take one as they leave, just like bonbonerie at a wedding.

Printing in Braidwood

Stephen Best in his Braidwood studio

Who wouldn’t jump at the chance of a couple of days in a pretty country town, known for its art galleries and sumptuous bakery? When I decided Stephen Best of Macquarie Editions was the person to print Dumb-founded, my upcoming show, Justin and I packed the car in under five minutes and scooted the 100-kilometres to visit him in Braidwood.

Stephen has a gorgeous white-washed studio and an Epson Stylus Pro 7900, a large-format printer that prints up to 24-inches (on the shortest edge) and weighs more than me.

The experience was divine! Stephen’s approach blends excellent technical skills with close attention to what artists want. We printed on Canson Infinity Rag Photographique paper — a lovely fine art paper with the same quality as hot-pressed printing paper — using the latest UltraChrome HDR inks. The result is a series of prints that I can’t wait to hang on Tuesday.

To top off the experience, we had a pub dinner at the Royal Mail Hotel. I must confess that the barman-come-bouncer was rather menacing and the beer seemed a little watered down, but the meals were scrumptuous — at just $16, Justin’s t-bone steak was the size of an epic novel!

As you can see on the above invite, my show opens this Thursday at Photoaccess in Canberra, with drinks, canapés and cupcakes from 6pm. It runs until Sunday 10 May, concluding with an artist talk at 2pm. If you're in the area, please drop in; otherwise, stay tuned because I'll be creating an online gallery soon.

Reflections

"Orange Blossom Bride"

"Blinded by the Light"

Okay, so photographers aren’t meant to like reflections — we’re supposed to pop polarising filters on our cameras and obliterate all signs of glare from the sun or glass. But sometimes breaking the rules is fun (or necessary, especially when you’ve left your filter kit at home!).

These girls were in glass display cabinets, and I intentionally framed reflections of windows and fluorescent lights to distort their faces. I’m drawn to looking at the distortions, but, at the same time, am forced to take in the detail of the clothes.

A comment on femininity? Perhaps so. The top outfit is obviously a wedding dress (orange blossoms in the hair were a Victorian custom) and the bottom outfit looks like a mourning dress, with the curious addition of hot pink gloves.

Arm By Her Side

It has been a frantic week of posting as I finish the final images for my solo exhibition, Dumb-founded. The task should be shrinking, but it’s growing daily — the more images I complete, the more I find to include.

I shot this one using my much sought after Konica Waiwai, which is just so much fun to use, although, at 17mm, the lens is so wide that you can never get close enough to your subject to fill the frame. Of course, you can also get too close, which means an overly fuzzy shot — that’s why I keep a close-up filter on hand.

Okay, time for a couple of plugs. First, I sell Waiwais at cameraFanplastic (and am quickly running out of these discontinued babies). And, second, my show is now listed on the Photoaccess website — my opening is less than three weeks away (eek!).

Hand Out

This image seems appropriate the night before the High Court of Australia decides whether the latest cash hand-out to single-income families in our federal government’s stimulus package is constitutional.

Of the country’s 21 million people, Bryan Pape, a senior lecturer at the University of New England, appears to be the only person who finds the government’s plan to give tax payers a few dollars distasteful enough to create a serious stir. He has taken the issue to the utmost court in Australia, even though, according to news reports, the government will find an alternative way to distribute the payments if the action is successful — they will simply take a little longer than anticipated to reach our pockets.

I’m curious — is Mr Pape trying to prove a point, looking for a little notoriety or just plain annoyed that he earns too much money to receive what he refers to as a “gift”?

Whatever his reason, I’m guessing Mr Pape is currently the most unpopular person in Australia … along with everyone else who is eligible, I’m looking forward to my payment!