January Skies?

I have been taking advantage of the unusual weather patterns here in Melbourne at the moment. Usually summer means bright blue skies, not a cloud to be seen and heat. This was how it had been until a few days ago.  Combine this with a recent discussion I had with Gary in South Australia had me visiting some locations I don't often frequent, well enough anyway. Mainly because they don't fit into my ongoing project on Sunshine. Today of course was an exception as the clouds and skies were much more interesting than usual. I have spent quite a lot of time outside making pictures these last few days. Mostly digital though.

Gary and I discussed the Kororoit creek while I was staying with him. The creek itself runs though Sunshine and has various paths and tracks along it. The creek eventually goes out to Port Phillip Bay at a place called Altona. Altona has several refineries and a lot of low lying ground. This makes for challenging pictures, even on public land. Today’s skies were a bonus though. Melbourne’s only road that has a ford is here too. This floods periodically and was indeed flooded today. This didn't stop several people mainly in 4 Wheel Drive vehicles from crossing the creek. Altona abuts another suburb with a rich history, Williamstown. I spent the day criss-crossing the boundaries of the two.

2020-01-23 11:08:33 Racecourse Road, Williamstown facing north west near the ford created by Kororoit Creek

2020-01-23 11:15:21 Racecourse Road, Williamstwon facing south east, the ford in the middle ground

2020-01-23 11:09:44 Werribee train line, with refinery infrastructure in the background

2020-01-23 11:12:01 Dead trees, and Werribee train line, with refinery infrastructure in the background

2020-01-23 11:41:34 Soccer field in front of refinery at Altona.

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Focus is overrated!

I was out having lunch with friends, recently. The weather was not conducive to one’s health. The smoke from the bushfires raging in NSW had drifted south. A blanket of smoke covered Melbourne. We had hoped to have a drink in a little rooftop bar in Carlton. It was closed due to weather! But I did mange to fire off a couple of pictures. Sadly I was too quick for the camera’s focussing function to activate, so, the pictures are all out of focus. Still perhaps it amplifies the mood!

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Empty Spaces

2019-10-29 13:38:06

Northland Shopping Centre. The rear delivery area looking dishevelled and empty. Possibly a rare moment of stillness?

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This week on flickr...

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Drive-by Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 2019-09-22 16:24:32

This area is changing rapidly in ways I've not noticed before.
we were driving home after lunch at the famous Rockpool Bar & Grill. To celebrate my wife's birthday. It is always a great experience.
We are leaving the casino complex's car park and heading down Kingsway.

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Spring is on its way

2019-09-03 17:29:44

Driving though the CBD on Tuesday night the light was resplendent.

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This morning on flickr...

Sunshine Station,Sunshine, Melbourne, Victoria,Australia 2014-05-14 13.01.33

Part of a larger project over on tumblr as well.


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Meanwhile on Flickr...

Footscray, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 2014-01-06 18:58:34

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Why I photograph the urban landscape?

Winter light prompted me to get my 5x4 inch monorail camera out.

The subject a pile of rocks in my backyard

I take and make photographs for a variety of reasons, some pleasurable, some emotional, and some intellectual. I also am the kind of person who enjoys working on tactile objects and the way using my hands can be closely aligned with using my mind.

I have been interested in making pictures in the Urban Landscape since 1988. I began my photography studies in 1987. After 2 years I realised I was mostly interested in photographing the landscape and in the context of art. I spent the next 3 years undertaking a fine art degree. This allowed me to think about the what the why and how of art making and could I try and make art this way?

In the beginning my career I was influenced by Ansel Adams, and the idea of a sublime landscape. Images made in his style of similar subject matter were the kind I initially sought to make. As an urban dweller most of my life trips to the ‘wild’ were infrequent and determined by my free time or the weather. But mainly time.

What this meant was it was difficult to really capture imagery that was truly ’sublime'. Free time to travel was also a hindrance to making the kinds of pictures I aspired to. This was is in part due to light. Light in Australia is at its best in the shoulder periods leading up to autumn and spring. Winter light when it shines is also wonderful. Of course light is often best in the magic hour an time of the year. Magic hour in the suburbs is easy to chase, in the outback, not so easily. Most ‘wild or sublime’ locations in Melbourne are at a minimum one hours drive away. So getting to this kind of location is time consuming and can be difficult, even with a car. The urban landscape is all around me. I can catch public transport there if I need and even on occasion walk.

While at University I was introduced to Joe Deal’s work. In particular the San Andreas Fault series [see image from sofomoma.org below]. The idea that images of a constructed or altered landscape could be valuable and interesting helped me look in other directions and think about my own story. Other Photographers and Artists I was introduced to in this period included, Robert Adams, Frank Gohkle, Hille and Bernd Becher, Lewis Baltz, Henry Wessel Jr., No urban landscape photographer worth their salt can neglect to mention the pivotal 1976 exhibition at George Eastman House, “New Topographics, pictures of a man altered landscape” either.

Joe Deal, Brea, California,

from the portfolio The Fault Zone, 1979, printed 1981

I go to a place internally in my mind. A place that is hard to describe but very beneficial. It engages my brain in a way where I focus on the moment like no other activity I engage in. Time disappears. Time becomes just a series of small decisions. Left? Right? Up? Down? More exposure less exposure, wait; lots of waiting. Looking without thinking and at the same time only looking and thinking?

Projects? Everyone has a project. Pictures however are only ever pictures. We attach meaning and substance to them as a consequence. one day early in July the light was magnificent, as it often is in Melbourne mid winter. I went outside and made some pictures with both colour and black and white film, in 120mm and large format. Because the light struck me as well as the mood , and because it felt right. Is this a project? Does it not being a project make it invalid work? How do I take years worth of these images and make then into a valid narrative?

People are talking about surveillance capitalism a lot these days. The places I like to go are often bereft of security cameras, but can also be bristling with them. I’ve been asked rightfully and wrongfully to leave several areas in and around Melbourne over the years. If there are no cameras around I am truly alone in a large city. Something that means more to me s I get older.

Making pictures using  camera, especially a film camera gives a level of purpose that very little else in life gives me. The entire process is somewhat meditative. From exposure in camera to final prints.

In the end I make images of the urban for several  reasons. 

For the geography.
As Autobiography.
As Metaphor

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Wandering around...

2019-07-20 15:03:12 [37°41'35.621" S 145°0'22.692" E]

I was drawn to the incongruous nature of this image in a commercial plant nursery in front of barb wire.

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TYAT 2009-05-22

2009-05-22 08:26:10

Ten years ago today I made this picture with my then state of the art Sony Ericsson C902 Phone camera. I am guessing the location based on my local knowledge of Sunshine. Which in itself has turned into my lifelong 'project' both digital and analogue.

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TYAT

Sunshine, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 2009-05-19

This space has changed markedly in the last 19 years. A business case for the Tullamarine airport rail link is being developed. What this means is, this space and the now vacant land to the left out of shot is most likely going to be redeveloped in some way. Over the years I photographed here often. Now I have an archive of work that examines its changes in use and appearance. For example, it used to be way to access the station along that path bottom left of the frame. After the Regional Rail Construction and completion of the new train station, access was blocked to the station.

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Renderings

Moonee Ponds Creek 2019-05-01 11:50:23

It's hard to know when to bring big analogue cameras to these locations. The light this day was perfect; almost.

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Weekday Walking [Winter Light Reprise]

Moonee Ponds Creek 2019-05-01 11:37:15

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Old Locations: New Light

Moonee Ponds Creek, 2019-05-01 11:44:15

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Winter?

Outside Sunshine Art Spaces 2019-05-10 12:56:03

I stepped out of the gallery today and made a quick picture.

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Pop Culture

I recently caught up with my brother. He is a writer and newspaper sub-editor. We were sharing a few beers and a yarn as you do, and the conversation got around to TISM. TISM, or This Is Serious Mum were a band who performed around Melbourne and Australia from about 1982 to 2011. Sadly I only ever got to see them once at the Corner Hotel in Richmond. They have an extensive footprint on youtube. As a consequence once home later that night I loaded up a bunch of videos on YouTube, and also grabbed the book they had published. I grabbed it as I dashed out the door to sit the gallery this afternoon again. Reading the introduction was a great laugh. Last night my brother and I wondered. Who is writing and playing such rebellious and irreverent music these days? Neither of us could answer. As an example of their ethos attitude and barbs here’s a song of theirs that resonates. It’s called  ‘The Back Upon Which Jezza Jumped”.  It’s more about the ‘Average Joe' than footy, which is why I like it.

The 1970 Grand Final. One the greatest marks ever in the
History of VFL football is taken by Mr. Alex Jesaulenko.
And this is a song about the man he took it over,
Mr. Graeme 'Jerker' Jenkins."

The back upon which Jezza jumped and rode into the ground,
The humiliated vertebrae that mighty mark crushed down,
The pathetic platform from which Jezza leapt into the sky,
That ladder to immortality is finally laid to down to die.
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
Yes, Graham "Jerker" Jenkins, the man that stood his ground,
That took the pain that gave others fame is six foot underground.
Giant jolly Jerker Jenkins, Jesaulenko's dupe.
All he got out of that magic mark was a tendency to stoop.
Did he hear the thundering footsteps on that fateful day,
As he looked up at that Sherrin, did he know he'd have no say,
As Jezza jumped to fame and glory with one almighty leap
And he was left to be forgotten in a crumpled heap.
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
And so all you men with small ability and mediocre skill,
All those of you who in the race of life are left standing still,
All those who must always know others who are unquestionably better,
The second class, the also-ran, the unsucessful go-getter
The minor-leaguers, the average markers, the consistent second-raters,
The stay-at-homers, the timid loners, the habitual masturbators,
The ugly girls, the amputees, the screaming mongoloids,
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
The senile old, the deformed young, the bladders that unwillingly void, the cancer ridden,
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
The Aids victim, the plastic surgery disaster, the fake bowel,
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
The anguished howl as the psychopath shafts ya, the violated, the child rapist,
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
The jerkoff artists, The intensely hated, the disaster fated, the involuntary farters.
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
All of you huge race of men, with mind or body dismembered,
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
Never forget the name of the man who will never be remembered
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
And beware all of you with hopes of happiness you pathetically nurture,
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
Lest you forget the back upon which Jezza jumped
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
The giant Graeme 'Jerker'.
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
Is Jerker... is Jerker, Jerker dead?
Is Jerker...

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Winter is coming!

Melbourne's CBD from the Dynon road bridge looking south east. The light got really harsh not long after.

2019-05-01 12:00:27

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Ten Years Ago Today? [TBT]

2009-05-02 15:06:42

Ten years ago today, I mdae this picture. At the time I was using a Sony Ericsson C902 phone camera. I had a 5 megapixel sensor and full internet connectivity. These were the reasons I bought it, even though my telco had offered me an iPhone 3 at the time.
In those early days I was fond of pushing the limits of a digital photograph being made using the humblest of devices with minimal control. I feel I had some interesting outcomes.
Now ten years later I have a much more sophisticated device. One that is capable of capturing in several file formats and allowing some exposure and focus controls. In some ways I miss that early experimental aesthetic. It feels like it's harder to achieve when I can shoot in RAW, and the process the file in Lightroom. I use a third party app for this on my iPhone XS. It is called ProCamera, I wrote a couple of articles about it back on my Wordpress blog.
Having the ability to make a "serious" picture that may end up on a gallery wall on in a book is too tempting to not make sure at least some of the pictures that I see, I can best reproduce using any device at hand. The opposite idea really applied in this early days. How far could I subvert the image using this simple tool? Yet hold onto that vestige of indexicallity that so many critics claim is Photography's Achilles heel?

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Solo Show Talk

I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of this land. And pay my respect to its elders past and present.

Thank you everyone for coming today. I would like to thank Brimbank council and their arts staff Lisa & Micheal. All their excellent support and help throughout the entire process makes these things a breeze. I would also like to thank all the Students who keep me fresh and on my toes and as always my accomplice in crime my wife.

Putting together this show I discovered a strange fact. This is the first solo exhibition I have had of silver gelatine prints since 1996. Even I balked at that date! I began exhibiting over 30 years ago and still feel as nervous speaking about my work even after all this time.

I would like, if I may then, begin then by quoting one of main inspirations; Robert Adams.

“Nothing diminishes the affirmation of the sun.”

Most of my work attempts to have this philosophy underpinning it. I am a fortunate as a creative to have never had a client so all my work is driven by my own impulses and desires. This has afforded me the privilege of making pictures of what I please when I please. We never operate in a vacuum however. My sources inspirations and motivations are as wide as they are deep. Ezra Pounds’ classic poem Wastelands often runs though my mind when researching locations. How fortuitous that this show opens at the end of April, the cruellest month according to Pound in his poem. In my early days my subject matter was also inspired by the Beats. Their celebration of modern cities and street life. Ideas of the dark alleys and neglected corners of all cities and suburbs that we may avoid. Passing them engrossed in our own thoughts. Unable or unwilling to pay attention to our surroundings. Other inspirations are Robert Adams’ photographs as well his prose. Richard Misrach's politicised Desert Cantos series, is beautiful and yet heart breaking.

One of the aims of my work is to invite the viewer to see beyond the ugliness in the subject matter as presented. I use subtle compositions and careful printing of the images to address this. I love a long tonal scale and complex compositions. These weave together with line and form. Leading the viewer to attempt to look beyond subject matter of the prints themselves.

All the prints are made using hardware and software that accentuates tonal scale. I spend an inordinate amount of time in camera to making the pictures.  Depending on lighting and weather conditions minutes of hours. A print itself can take between a day and a month to resolve. The work is then pinned up in my studio darkroom as I build upon it. I take my time rearranging the work and even add subtract or reprint as I see fit. For this exhibition this process began in October last year. The final edit began in March. The prints spread out in my studio as I contemplated their final sequence.

I make my own film and paper developers and use these tools to make the best possible print I can. Currently I make far more negatives than I have time to print. This has resulted in an archive. When I first started making photographic art I never intended to create such a thing. This archive now underpins and on occasion drives forward a part of what I do. The western and northern suburbs are changing dramatically.  The act of capturing this has attained a sense of urgency now.

As I was schooled in the modernist idea of the fine print. I decided on a film and film developer combination many years ago.  And have continued to use this combination to this day. I chose the two for fine grain and long tonal scales. Occasionally, I draw on other paper developers. These  can be an intuitive or technical choice.  I generally use a technique called split filter printing. This technique uses two variable contrast filters to determine exposures. This technique allows for very subtle manipulation of the prints. And I hope beg the viewer to look a little harder and longer at the image in front of them. 

Living here since 2000 has made my image making process more time efficient. My archive continues to grow as a consequence. Having only to often throw a camera or two in my car then drive off for 15 minutes or so an begin making pictures. I feel like I have truly found my place.

Currently this body of work is an open ended project. It began by me walking in places, for their strangeness. Not to mention uniqueness, and  incongruity. 

Let me finish by quoting another idea. From, William Carlos Williams.

“It is difficult to get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack of what is found there,”

I hope you find some poetry or some news in my work; or whatever it is you’re looking for.

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