www.julesfotos.com

A couple of projects worth supporting

2012-02-18T16:14:00.004+08:00

If you're anything like me then funding a project has often been the biggest stumbling block for my creative ventures. Earning enough coin to put beer in the fridge often takes up so much time that many of my projects are very slow burning, taking years to complete. It would be great to have the money to create the conditions to make the projects a reality. But, finding sponsors and writing successful grant applications is an art all in itself... and one that I am yet to master, so this idea of crowdfunding has some appeal.

Crowdfunding, if you're not familiar with the concept, raises cash through collective online donations. You outline your project online via one of the crowdfunding websites, set a funding goal within a specific time-frame and appeal to friends, family, associates and the general public to see the benefits of your project and donate. The range and scope of the projects being funded on these sites is broad and not just limited to photography, but here are a couple that I think are worth supporting.

Trading to Extinction - Patrick Brown

Bangkok based photojournalist, 'Paddy' Brown has been documenting the trade in the illegal wildlife trade for years. You can see some of the results of his work in "Black Market" at Mediastorm. Now he is raising funds via the Emphas.is site to fund "Trading to Extinction", a book documenting the illegal trade. A donation of as little as $60 will help him reach his $14900 goal AND secure you a copy of the book. To help Paddy get there, click here

Twelve months of separation is a more modest endeavor by four Perth photographers whom I had the pleasure of teaching whilst they were studying at Central. Natalie, Amanda, Alanna and Amber are using the FotoFreo 2012 Fringe festival (now re-badged as the "Open Exhibition Programme") to exhibit their work.

Their goal is a mere $1000 with minimum donations as low as a dollar helping them to reach that target. They're just over $200 short of their target so let's hope that enough people take a look and see the benefit in supporting our emerging talent. To support Nat, Amanda, Alanna and Amber, click here.

OK, so what else? Not much to report, had a great time working with the Timorese photographers in Dili last month. But as always seems to be the case, never enough time and as soon as we had finished I was back on the plane heading back to a Perth heatwave. Next trip will have to be a holiday where I can take some time out to explore the country methinks.

Australia's Top Emerging Photographers Awards 2012

2012-01-23T02:59:00.000+08:00

Like many photographers, I love taking photos, but I am really crap at selling myself. Makes it really hard to get work when all I want to say is, "Just leave me the fuck alone!"

But professional photography is not just about taking photographs, the business aspects are crucial in order to succeed... It's probably more important than having a talent for photography, after all let's face it, there are a lot of really average shooters who run very successful photography businesses. Developing your 'brand', finding clients and keeping them happy etc etc etc... that's what being a professional photographer is largely about. There's already been a shitload written about all this stuff and we've got very worthwhile associations like the AIPP and the ACMP to support and nurture professional and emerging professional photographers. So, I'll leave all that stuff for them and another time.

Like many photographers, when I graduated (and despite the best intentions of the lecturers at TAFE) I still had no idea about how to establish myself. And, if the truth be told, more than a decade later, I am still blundering my way through. One of the things that I have learnt though is the importance of reputation and branding as part of the whole business of self promotion. OK, so once again it's a case of not practicing what I preach... just look at the dogs breakfast that is my website, this blog and my facebook page... All over the place like a mad woman's shit... only thing that seems to be consistent is that I may well be insane, but trust me... developing a 'name' is important in this industry.

Awards and recognition for your work are definitely useful in developing that 'name' and extremely useful as part of the photographers marketing strategy. It's why some professional photographers cream their pants at the thought of doing well at the APPA's or the Walkley's and others get excited by significant competitions such as the Head On and Moran prizes. Professional and peer recognition can attract clients and create opportunities in all sorts of ways.

That's not to say you should enter every competition under the sun, it's important to understand who you are pitching at and where you want to go. And of course, there are too many competitions that are just a thinly veiled attempt by the organisers to obtain / develop an image library without having to pay for the images... and at the same time appear to be engaging in some sort of 'community' interaction. The key is to read the Terms & Conditions, particularly regarding copyright, the rights being licensed by entering and what they can or will do with your pix. The ACMP put out a really good set of competition guidelines which you should refer to when considering entering any competition.

Ok, so what's the point of all this ramble? Yaffa Publishing who put out Capture magazine, the only really worthwhile Australian photography magazine for professionals IMO, are taking entries for their Australia's Top Emerging Photographers Awards 2012.

Entry is free and entrants must be aged 35 years or less at January 1, 2012, and have less than four years experience working as a professional photographer. From their blurb "The awards aim to encourage and identify up and coming image-makers and promote them in the early stages of their photographic careers.

• ADVERTISING
• ARCHITECTURE
• EDITORIAL & FASHION
• LANDSCAPE
• DOCUMENTARY & PHOTOJOURNALISM
• PORTRAIT
• SPORT
• WEDDING

There are eight categories in the program. Entries will be assessed by staff of the photographic magazines at Yaffa Publishing, who will develop shortlists for judging. These will be judged by a panel of leading professional photographers who will select a winner in each category, plus an overall winner who will be named Australia's Top Emerging Photographer 2012."

Eligible and interested? Go to http://www.australianphotography.com/emerging for more information and to download the application form.

For an emerging photographer, it's definitely something worth entering.

Those bloody gnomes are back again! © Julian Tennant

And this blogs pic? Well it's got nothing to do with any of this stuff... but if I wasn't up here in Timor sweating my arse off... I'd be relaxing by the pool, beer in hand too. Cowabunga!

'Erotica' A must see exhibition - Two days only!

2012-01-19T09:11:00.002+08:00

Paul Ciccetti was one of my students this past year and his work was innovative, interesting and exceptionally well produced. I always looked forward to seeing what he was producing in the darkroom and it isn't often that student images generate discussion amongst the staff as to whether they should be presented to the class. He definitely pushed a few buttons with some of his pix, but the strength of his work could not be denied and Paul was awarded the 'Cert IV Photoimaging Student of the Year' by Central Institute of Technology for 2011...and deservedly so.

Paul is just about to have his first solo exhibition which opens this Friday, 20 January 2012 at 6pm at 464 Smart Space on William Street in Northbridge, Perth.

Erotica: B&W Portraits is definitely a show that you should check out. Unfortunately he will only be exhibiting this work for two days before he relocates to Melbourne. So, take this small window of opportunity to see some excellent work from a really talented emerging photographer.

Erotica: B&W Portraits by Paul Ciccetti

Opens: Friday 20 January 2012 at 6pm

Closes: Sunday 22 January 2012

464 Smart Space Gallery

464a William Street (the lime green building on the bend)

Northbridge WA

Burmese Daze

2012-01-12T09:52:00.000+08:00

Burmese Daze from julian tennant on Vimeo.

Here is a short piece that I made as I tried to interpret what was happening around me during the trip that photographer, Daniel Grant and I made to Myanmar / Burma in July 2011.

It was a little surreal …sitting in a Rangoon hotel room watching opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi deliver her secretly recorded and smuggled Reith Lectures on the BBC. Yet, downstairs in the lobby and on the streets things appeared much the same as they have for decades. Despite being South East Asia's most resource rich country you couldn't tell looking around... the profits from the massive investment that is occurring must be either going back to China or straight into the pockets of the generals... visually it's like stepping into a time-warp.

Myanmar’s generals may have swopped their uniforms for suits during the elections of 2010. But have they really changed their attitude? Things such as emails, the internet and cell phones are engineered and priced to make it very difficult for the ordinary Burmese to gain access to these technologies. Control of the media still enforced... and be careful who you talk to if you want to discuss politics. Is Burma still trapped in the land of George Orwell or is this a new beginning? Recent events may indicate that change is happening... time will tell.

Welcome to the… Burmese Daze

Out there

2012-01-03T07:10:00.008+08:00

Homemade #3 - 2007 - Archival Inkjet print © Julian Tennant

We all do it from time to time... google ourselves.

I just did an image search and amongst others this pic (part of a series that was selected for the Adultshop.com Erotic Art Prize in 2007 and exhibited at the Breadbox gallery) turned up on flickr. Quick search on flickr and I found a few more photos that include my images. Nothing too scary, just photos from exhibitions and the like... none that I'm going to jump up and down and rant about copyright abuse or whatever... but, in the internet age, we're out there whether we know it or not.

And if you're interested, here's the link to my entry that was selected for the inaugural 2005 Adultshop.com Erotica Art Prize. As somebody once noted, the difference between art and pornography is the lighting. Or something like that.

Christmas books for the photographer

2011-12-18T21:07:00.000+08:00

WTF? You say. Jules promoting crass Christmas consumerism? Nah... you know what I think... Nothing but a slick marketing ploy celebrating a fairy tale that makes us feel guilty unless we buy shit that won't be appreciated for people we may not even like.

But now that I have your attention...

There are a couple of books that I think no serious amateur or professional photographer in Australia should be without and if you're thinking of gift ideas for yourself or others consider these.

The Better Business Bible 2.0 is published by the Australian Commercial and Media Photographers (ACMP) which represents Australian professional photographers working in the commercial and editorial sectors. Less well known that the AIPP, who (in Western Australia anyway) appear to be more focused on the wedding and 'domestic' photography market sector, the ACMP is committed to developing and promoting best business practice for commercial photographers.

This second edition of the Better Business Bible was released in late 2010 and includes invaluable Australian focused content relating to copyright, quoting & negotiating with clients, licensing, model & property releases, digital guidelines, marketing for photographers and much more. If you're a professional or even a serious amateur who does the occasional photography job then you need this book! It may not look very glamorous and there's not a single photograph to be seen, but the $75 (or free for ACMP members and $55 for students or assistants) is a very worthwhile investment. The book is only available from the ACMP website www.acmp.com.au

Photographers: Copyright & Moral Rights (B120v01e) produced by the Australian Copyright Council and costing a mere Au$30. I've just checked the Copyright Council website and it looks like this is now only available as a downloadable e-book in pdf format, which is why it is now only $30 I guess, but trust me, this is an invaluable addition to your reference library.

There are a lot of myths and assumptions about image copyright both on the part of photographers and clients. Some of it is wishful thinking, some confusing foreign Intellectual Property laws with the legal situation here in Australia. This booklet clears up the confusion, it provides an overview of Australian copyright law, how it applies to photographs and photographers, legislated exceptions, how to protect yourself and deal with infringements, the Moral Rights suite of legislation, contracts etc. Thirty bucks that can save you a shitload of cash and potential heartache in the future. Use the link above or go to their website www.copyright.org.au

OK, so that's it for now... don't get too silly during the 'silly season' and until next time, I wish you a future of peace and good fucking!

Jules

Angkor Photography Festival Edition 7

2011-12-11T20:43:00.003+08:00

So, after a couple of crazy nights on the turps in Bangkok we finally made it to Siem Reap for the Angkor Photo Festival. This time round I was accompanied by by freelance photographers Chad Taylor and Theron Kirkman, The West Australian newspaper photographer, Simon Santi, Central Institute of Technology photo-media lecturer Mark England and ECU photo-media technician, Alistair Edwards.


Alistair Edwards carrying out some bizarre photographic ritual at the start of the day

Roger Ballen's Cut Loose, (2005) from the Boarding House series at the John McDermott Gallery

Now, in it's seventh incarnation, the festival has come a long way from when I first attended in 2007. Back then I found it difficult to find out what was happening on any given night and was generally 'underwhelmed' and to a degree, frustrated, by the whole experience. Not any more, like the town of Siem Reap which has changed dramatically over recent years... mainly to cope with the increasing numbers of tourists eager to scramble over the ruins of nearby Angkor, the festival has grown and become a lot more vibrant and user friendly for visitors. That may not be a good thing for the temples of Angkor, but it certainly is for the festival.

From the Animalies series at the John McDermott Gallery. Picture © Krzysztof Wladyka

Opening night at the FCC, that's me on the bottom right... and no, I'm not asleep.

Picture: Tenzing Dakpa - Phnom Penh Post.

This year saw the work of over 110 photographers featured in a series of exhibitions and projections. Chatting to program director, Francoise Callier at the opening of Crickets and Water is Life at the Hotel de la Paix, she reminded me that they really only have a core of four volunteers in situ... pretty bloody impressive result guys. But, to be truthful they are assisted by a small but dedicated team of consultants and co-ordinators, including Yumi Goto and Sohrab Hura... whom it was great to see again this year and I am extremely pleased to hear that he will be back in Perth again next year for FotoFreo 2012.

Sohrab is co-ordinator of the photo workshops for underprivileged kids, run through Anjali House which unfortunately I missed out on seeing this time round as it was one of the many highlights for me at the festival in 2010. There seems to be a real sense of community at the festival in Siem Reap and it was great walking into a venue and see familiar faces beaming in recognition through the crowd. Caught up with another Indian colleague, albeit all to briefly, Kapil Das aka lenskap of blindboys.org fame... and once you've looked at that link, check out this video of one of their 'blowups' in Bombay.

Blowup exhibition at last year's Angkor Photo Festival

I guess, the blowups in Angkor are the festival's equivalent of a fringe, with work coming from around the world and being pasted onto various walls around town. Maps are handed out during the projections at the FCC showing the locations of the images and it's a really cool way of seeing work by a range of photographers... and for many people, a way to acquire images as part of the concept is that passers by, can take the pictures they like.

Here's hoping that with the strong Indian presence at FotoFreo next year, Kapil and Lyle are able to do something similar here in Western Australia... You reading this Lyle????

Another Blowup exhibition

And what did we see and do? The usual... drink beer, talk shop, eat and of course check out the exhibitions... although much of the latter was done in the evening. For those of us who had not been to Cambodia before (Simon, Theron and Chad) the days were filled with photo trips to the temples and other sites around town.

Angkor Wat - Silver Gelatin Print, Edition of 10 © Julian Tennant

Al at the Bayon

And me? I spent a bit of time catching up with a mate from my days studying Industrial Design, who for the past few years has been the owner of Siem Reap's infamous late night pub, X-bar and devising a cunning plan to plunder some artifacts from the Siem Reap War Museum... but we'll leave that story for another time I think.

Chad, Al and Mark checking out Matthieu Paley's Forgotten on the Roof of the World: Life in Afghanistan's Remotest Mountains at the Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor Garden

Swat Valley Pakistan at 1961 Gallery Photo: © Edwin Koo

Stateless Rohingya: Running on Empty at 1961 Gallery Photo: © Suthep Kritsanavarin

So we wandered around town checking out the exhibitions and taking pix. Apart from the blowups, there are really only a handful of core shows and they're all close enough to walk to... although Al would probably disagree on the day we wandered from our 'basha' at the Mandalay Inn to check out the Asian street photography show, Suthep Kritsanavarin's series Running on Empty about the stateless Rohingya people who originate from Burma and Edwin Koo's images from the Swat Valley at the 1961 Gallery. Mind you, it's only a couple of bucks to get around town in a motodop taxi so maybe Al was right and the leisurely strolls were unnecessary under the tropical sun... but fun nonetheless, with some good photo ops along the way.

The start of the nightly projections at the FCC

A bemused Mark England wondering if I am serious about trying to steal the sleeping copper's AK-47

And in the evenings as the sun set we downed our Angkor beers and meandered along to the exhibition launch for that day, followed by more beers under the stars at the FCC (where I exhibited back in 2006) we'd check out the projections for that night. Then it'd would be a slow meander back down to one of the restaurants or cafes around Pub street where we'd dissect the shows and shoot the shit, before almost inevitably heading back to X Bar for several last drinks before bed.


None of the infamous Happy Herbs Pizza tonight, a post projections snack somewhere near Pub Street

And before I knew it, we were back in the bright lights and big smoke of Thailand for a few more crazy nights and days. Roll on Angkor 2012!

The road to Angkor

2011-11-20T13:58:00.000+08:00

The road to Siem Reap for the 7th Angkor Photography Festival can take some strange turns. Photographers, Alistair Edwards and Theron Kirkman had made it as far as Sukhumvit Road. So, Simon Santi, who had escaped from the clutches of the West Australian and I decided that we'd better join them for purely professional reasons... of course. We did have some time up our sleeve before the festival launch and RV with the others. Much beer and merriment before we fled Bangkok 24 hours later... but those pix will have to wait for another time.


Al and the Weapons Free Zone

Burma Daze

2011-09-17T09:58:00.002+08:00

In between work and all the detritus of life I'm slowly getting through the pics that I took in Burma in July. One of the outcomes will be a series in a similar vein to the one I did in Cuba where I used Graham Greene's novel, Our Man in Havana, as inspiration. This time round it will show how I imagine Burma was during the era of Kipling and George Orwell's book Burmese Days. Not too difficult as, much like Cuba, modern day Myanmar looks very much like it's caught in a time warp and it's easy to find subject matter reminiscent of life in the early twentieth century.

Rangoon - Magic Lantern slide, Photographer unknown.

I've also started to accumulate a small collection of old postcards, magic lantern slides such as the image of Rangoon, above, to serve as a reference point and be included in the final book of the project.

To give the 'feel' of the time I've been producing digital negatives from my photos and sandwiching these with various 'texture' negatives to give an aged, distressed look to the final darkroom/analog prints. Some of the early test prints can be seen on my flickr page, but here's a scan of one of the prints as it starts to near the final product. It's printed on my dwindling stock of Agfa Multicontrast Classic Fine Grained Matt, fibre-based paper, sepia toned then hand colored using the Marshall photo retouching oil paints.


Shan women at the morning market, Nyaungswhe, Burma. - Hand colored silver gelatin print

It's a slow process, tweaking digital files to get a decent analog negative, selecting the 'right' texture/distressed layer to give the look, printing, toning and hand coloring, but I'm slowly getting there. Stay tuned....

WA Professional Photographers Awards 2011

2011-09-03T23:08:00.000+08:00

For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled. - Hunter S Thompson

Congrats to all, but particularly the numerous TAFE students, past and present who were well represented in the winners circle of this year's Western Australian Professional Photographers Awards.

Keep up the good work guys

BIFB 2011... 36 hours in Ballarat

2011-08-27T13:22:00.005+08:00

In Melbourne for an extended weekend, I only had about 36 hours to check out the Ballarat International Foto Biennale, but festival director Jeff Moorfoot and his team have done an excellent job once again. The last time I visited the festival was in 2007 prior to the rebranding and when it was still based in Daylesford. It was great then, but I think the decision to relocate shortly thereafter was a good one. With limited time I was easily able to walk to most of the venues and check out the visual feast of photography. 21 core shows and 85 fringe exhibitions, that's a lot of photography.

Jan Saudek

The original draw-card for me was the 'Dolce Vita' by Jan and SarahSaudek from the Czech Republic. I was originally introduced to Jan's work whilst a student and loved the mix of rustic, sometimes unsettling, erotically charged content with his superb printing and hand coloring technique. Jan is an at times controversial photographer and controversy followed him to Ballarat where one of his images, 'Black Sheep & White Crow' (shown below) was removed after a complaint.

The photograph that caused the controversy, Black Sheep & White Crow (1995) - Jan Saudek

According to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, "...a woman went to the Office of the Child Safety Commissioner, Tourism Victoria and the local council to complain that the 1995 Saudek work, Black Sheep & White Crow, which she had seen in an ad promoting the exhibition in Art Almanac, depicted a mother prostituting her child..."
WTF??? She saw the photograph in an advertisement for the exhibition and is suddenly an expert on its circumstances and the photographer's intent??? Hmmm, shades of self righteous, uninformed idiotic bullshit that surfaced with the Bill Henson controversy all over again.

Unfortunately, but quite rightly IMO, Jeff made the decision to pull the pic so as not to threaten funding for future festivals. But, controversy not withstanding, the show featuring work by Jan and his wife, Sarah (a very talented photographer who has also appeared as model in many of his photographs) was excellent and this exhibition in itself would have made my trip worthwhile.

Trai Mat Railway Crossing - Les Horvat

Also showing at the Mining Exchange is "Momentum of The River's Flow: An Australian's View of Vietnam's Long Journey" by Les Horvat. As a former soldier with an interest in the conflict in Vietnam I enjoyed looking at Horvat's take on that country, particularly his images from the area in Phuoc Thuy province where the Australian Task Force was deployed during the war... Nui Dat, Long Tan, Binh Ba and Vung Tau. Manipulation, not the least through the use of HDR and colour saturation, is evident in his landscapes but as a regular visitor to Vietnam they resonated with me and captured the mood, both real and imagined.

Chlorofemina, Loup Garou - Louviere + Vanessa

A short two minute walk away, at the Art Gallery of Ballarat was another standout show for me. 'As If...' ('Creatures' and 'Chloroform') by New Orleans based photographers Jeff Louviere and Vanessa S. Brown incorporate all the nuances of photography, film and printmaking to present subjects that are beautiful but not pretty. Their large prints on Japanese Gampi paper and combine photos with blood and wax are simply stunning. Dark, surrealistic and moody... the kind of stuff I like. You really must check out their website too.

As usual with these festivals, the fringe component presented an eclectic range of exhibitions of varying quality and content. I know from my own involvement in the organising committee with the FotoFreo festival that the fringe can attract negative reactions re scope, content and quality. But I think that the 'experts' that level these criticisms miss the point of what a fringe festival is. Apart from providing an opportunity for photographers who for whatever reason do not fall under the umbrella for the core program, it opens the door to participation and 'ownership' of the festival by the community. That 'ownership' leads to an active involvement.

For a volunteer run festival that should not be forgotten and it was definitely at the back of my mind when along with my small team, I developed the model for FotoFreo's 2008 fringe festival. Many of the fringe exhibitors in the FotoFreo festivals of 2008 and 2010 also came aboard as volunteers to make the festival happen and without that unpaid volunteer base, you can have all the lofty ideas for curation and content in the world, but without a shitload of cash, not a hope in hell of making it happen. I think that the BIFB crew have got the mix just right, there is certainly a lot of interesting and very inspiring work in this fringe.

The only downside for me was one of my own making... I purposely stayed in Ballarat overnight to attend the opening, but somehow late on Saturday afternoon after catching up with an old friend things became a bit hazy. Much hilarity, fear and loathing... but there was no way I was in any state to go to the festival launch... but that is another story.

BIFB Fringe...Watch Your Step....

And then I started to feel a little strange...

BIBF runs from the 20th of August until the 18th of September. More details can be found at their website. http://www.ballaratfoto.org

A short walk through Northbridge and some great camera phone stop animation from Sumo Science

2011-08-05T17:53:00.013+08:00

Northbridge

More happy snaps from the iPod Touch. Being a tight-arse I try to avoid paying for parking whenever possible and I've got my 'secret' free spot staked out about fifteen minutes walk away from the TAFE college. I enjoy the stroll as Northbridge really is an interesting place with an eclectic mix of cultures and businesses operating in the area. I snapped these on my walk back to the car earlier this week.

OK, so maybe a bit too much post treatment color in these pix... but I'm quite enjoying playing with this device... maybe Dean, the tech at the college, was right and I should have bought an iPhone rather than get a Nokia N8. But that 12 MP camera just sucked me in, despite the fact that after getting it, I left it unopened in the box for about 2 months.

Hmmm... maybe it's time to put the iPod away and start playing with the Nokia... check this stop animation HD video created by Sumo Science at Aardman using the N8.

Burma Daze - Chasing George Orwell and Rudyard Kipling.

2011-07-26T20:45:00.003+08:00

After many years, I finally made it to Burma (Myanmar) a place that has long interested me thanks to the literature of George Orwell, Rudyard Kipling and the exploits of Orde Wingate's Chindits fighting the Japanese during World War 2.

It was an awesome trip and over the next few weeks I'll have to sort through the images and whittle them down to a reasonable edit. But, for now, here are some of the snapshots that I took with my iPod Touch which came as a throw in when I upgraded my Macbook pro recently. I took it with me to listen to some podcasts and stuff during the quiet times but ended up using the camera and its apps to grab some snapshots between beers and the more 'serious' photographic endeavours.

Hotel room views - dreaming of George Orwell and Rudyard Kiplinfg

Puppet, Rangoon

Sule Pagoda, Rangoon

Ananda Pahto temple, Bagan

Stupa Ruins, Indein

Buddha at Nga Hpe Kyaung

Betel nut seller, Mandalay

Rangoon

Preparing for the road to Mandalay

Shan market, Indein

Coffee and propaganda somewhere over the Irrawaddy

Fisherman, Inle lake

Nyaungshwe

Monks sharing a cigar...yes they're kids.

The Irrawaddy

Roadside book stall, Rangoon.

Departure lounge, Yangon

When the generals talk... (with apologies to Midnight Oil)

Flight

Now it's time to start editing and printing, so stay tuned for more photos and an in depth trip report.

Timor revisited

2011-07-04T19:04:00.000+08:00

I've just returned from my third trip to Timor-Leste after being invited by the United Nations Integrated Mission to Timor-Leste (UNMIT) to conduct a workshop for Timorese photographers as part of their 'capacity building' program. It was an honor to work with the Timorese shooters and I really enjoyed being with them.

It was pretty intense and I didn't really have much time to myself but here are some of the pix that shot whilst wondering to and from the UN compound at Obrigado Barracks. One thing that I know for sure though, I'll definitely be back to catch up with the crew again... and maybe do some site seeing... finally.

2[B] photography exhibition 25 June - 27 July 2011

2011-06-25T18:52:00.000+08:00

[2]B ...the best! Blending cutting edge digital photographic technology with traditional ‘wet’ darkroom processes [2]B is redefining the possibilities of the B&W photographic print. The [2]B collective are an eclectic group whose creative energies are as challenging as they are engaging.

I've been a bit quiet of late, trying to juggle my lecturing duties at the college with preparing a photo workshop in Timor-Leste, organising a trip to Myanmar and trying to complete a series I've been working on for a while.

Meanwhile, one of my darkroom classes at the college have been quietly preparing an exhibition of their work that they undertook this semester. Not something that they were required to do but they're an enthusiastic, passionate bunch who jumped at the opportunity when I mentioned that the gallery space may be free towards the end of the teaching semester.

There's been a few trials and tribulations along the way, not the least of which occurred a little over a fortnight from the opening when they lost their original venue because construction work next door undermined the foundations of part of the building housing the gallery space. Thankfully the college came to the rescue and provided an alternative space, but it was touch and go for a while. But they got there in the end. It looks great and they should be proud of what they achieved. Well done guys!

2[B] runs from Monday 27th June until Saturday 2nd July at the “New Central Institute of Technology Building”.
30 Aberdeen Street (cnr William & Aberdeen, Upstairs). Northbridge.

The exhibition will be open from 11am-6pm Mon-Fri and 12pm-4.30pm Saturday.

New (old) toys

2011-04-27T18:11:00.002+08:00

Over the years I've accumulated a small collection of old postcards and ethnographic images from the various places that I've visited. These include a number of the stereo photographs made by the Keystone View Company. Called Stereographs, these were a pair of near identical images that were taken at a slightly different angle to each other. When sat side by side and viewed through a special viewer the images merged and gave a 3D effect. .

Mounted on stiff card with an image caption, these Stereocards were immensely popular and from about 1860 until the 1920's this was the way many people saw the world beyond their shores... Until movie newsreels and then television finally relegated them to the attics, trunks and junk shops.

When I was studying photography at college, I majored in Scientific & Industrial Photography and we spent some time learning the formulas to determine exactly how far apart the lens needed to be placed for two images to ensure a three dimensional scene when observed through the viewing glasses. Something about lens separation equaling the depth point factor multiplied by the far point factor multiplied by the lens factor... or something like that. Was kinda fun getting the results, but f***d if I can remember all the formulas and calculations to get to a successful result now. But, it was something that I always thought that I'd like to have a crack at again.

Fast forward to 2011, fellow photographer 'Dan the man' Grant and I are planning a trip to Burma a little later this year. Doing some research and looking for some stuff on ebay I find this little beauty.

A 1950's era Kodak Stereo Camera!!! Uses 35mm film to produce a 24mm stereograph. Heavy bastard, made from bakelite and metal... and comes complete with it's own built in spirit level. Just downloaded the manual from the Orphan Cameras.com Camera Manual Library ... A bloody great resource that everybody should bookmark and support. If you've got an old or second hand camera and need the manual, it's the place to go. Now to load some film and give it a test run. May have to take it along on the trip and put my twist on some of those amazing old Keystone Stereocards. Stay tuned folks.

Classroom demo pic

2011-04-05T11:27:00.000+08:00


Buddha reclaimed - Silver Gelatin print, split toned

Thought I'd share the result of a toning demonstration that I did for my advanced darkroom printing class yesterday. The original image was shot using my Nikon D300s and after carrying out some photoshop adjustments to match my pre-visualised outcome, an inkjet transparency 'digital negative' was created from the photograph. This was used to produce a black and white contact print on a sheet of my dwindling supply of Agfa Multicontrast Fibre-based paper in the darkroom.

The resulting image was split toned using a combination of sepia and blue toners. Using the sepia toner first, I only gave the print a very slight and partial bleach keeping a close eye on the highlights as the bleach took effect. This resulted in only the highlight areas being toned sepia with the more dense areas of the print remaining relatively unaffected. After the sepia toning phase had been completed, the print was taken from the final wash and placed into the blue toner which altered the darker mid tones and shadows giving a much cooler feel to those areas of the image. The pic above is a scan of the print straight off the drying rack. I had considered doing some additional hand coloring as part of another demo, but I quite like the result and may leave it as is.

Pic to the week.

2011-03-25T05:48:00.000+08:00


Untitled - Silver Gelatin print, Hand Coloured

Been flat out with lesson prep for my TAFE classes this past fortnight. There seems to be quite a bit of interest from the students in my B&W darkroom classes about the 'traditional' methods of hand coloring prints. There are several ways to do ...and over do this, making the image look tacky and kitsch. When I was a student at the college (in the pre digital era) learning to use the Marshall's Oils and various other materials was a part of the syllabus. No more, but surprisingly it seems that the interest is still there from a number of the students in the darkroom classes. Something to do with the hand crafted nature of the process and resulting prints I guess. Anyway, found this print whilst doing my prep this week. It's one of a small series that I did when I was studying at the college. B&W print, sepia toned then colored using soft chalk pastel and Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils.

Siem Reap/Bangkok Diary and Shine

2011-03-13T18:17:00.002+08:00

Last year's graduating photography students from the Advanced Diploma in Photography course at the Central Institute of Technology were, in my opinion, the strongest group yet. Great students and really talented, I think that I was more inspired by what they did and learnt more from them than the other way round.

Alistair Edwards was one of the graduates with whom I found I shared interests in addition to photography. Even managed to convince him to accompany Safari Bob and I to the Angkor Photography Festival last year. Now back in Perth he is currently exhibiting his first solo exhibition at the Showcase Space gallery on the corner of Aberdeen and Beaufort streets.

How do we connect now? Photo © Alistair Edwards

The Showcase Space is the smaller gallery at Central and tomorrow, Monday 14th of March, Shine opens at the larger Central Gallery space, with the official launch on Wednesday evening. Shine is a showcase of some of the best graduates from the 'creative industries' portfolios of last year. Included in the exhibition are the photographs of Natalie Blom and Alanna Kusin

// Photo © Alanna Kusin

handcoloured inkjet prints on rag paper.

The Fall Photo © Natalie Blom

Siem Reap / Bangkok Diary is open until 19th of March whilst Shine runs until April 1st. For more information about both shows contact Thelma or Pedrag on (08) 9427 1318

My father the artist

2011-03-06T12:12:00.001+08:00

Glen aged 76, my father and artist

I'm in Melbourne for the weekend. Don't get here that much these days but made the trip for my brothers fortieth and to catch up mum and dad. It's been a good trip, spent Friday with dad at the Monash Gallery of Art which has one of the nation's most significant collections of photography and also the National Gallery of Victoria trying to absorb everything. Two days just aren't enough.

My interest in art and photography comes from my father. Dad is a keen artist, but at 76 his health is starting to fail. Surgery and all the usual ailments of getting old. Recently he was diagnosed as having Parkinsons disease and is concerned that his trembling hand is going to impact his ability to sketch, but he still seems to be doing alright to me. Part of his therapy for the Parkinsons is to maintain his practice, but like me he finds all sorts of distractions and reasons not to create.

And one of my plans has been to shoot a portrait of him, but portraiture not being my strong point ... and me always finding other things to do, when I am here, has meant that I have never got around to it. But today, as he was sketching, I saw this starting to take shape and quickly grabbed the point & shoot.

Not sure that it would make the shortlist for the Head On prize for portraiture (the deadline is March 13th btw) but it's a pic that resonates with me and one of the few portraits that I've done that I'm really happy with.

Welcome to the night train

2011-02-27T22:11:00.000+08:00

Simple Living: The Detritus of Life (I)

Welcome to the Night train. Buy the ticket, take the ride. A sneak peak at a new series that I am working on

The Secret Room (VIII)

2011-02-25T10:17:00.000+08:00

The Secret Room (VIII) - Cyanotype Print

Kinda got caught up with lesson prep for the start of semester, so whilst there's lots to rant about no time atm. Next week...

Killing time with Goya and Levinthal

2011-01-30T16:36:00.000+08:00

The Charge of the Light Brigade

I took this Polaroid earlier in the week. The end result of procrastination and my usual attempts to avoid doing any meaningful work. I should have been doing prep for my classes at TAFE, but as usual I became distracted. At least it wasn't porn this time. I was looking at some of Francisco Goya's Disasters of War and Otto Dix's Der Krieg prints. Disturbing stuff ... powerful images that convey to me, the same level of horror, pitiful waste and sadness as much of the hardcore war photography that came out of the latter half of the twentieth century.

And as I meandered through the net looking at pix and thinking about stuff I rediscovered David Levinthal, a photographer whose style has been defined through his use of elaborate miniature sets to explore concepts and ideas. Probably best known for his Hitler Moves East series, I found his Mein Kampf body of work to be quite powerful in how it caused me to respond to what are essentially pictures of toys. He uses models paying careful attention to light, composition and depth of field control to create scenes of drama, tension and narrative. In his photographs, the harmless children’s toys’ that society uses to socialise it’s young take on much darker connotations as he addresses issues in his personal life and the world around him.

Inspired by his work and with the prints of Goya and Dix fresh in my head, I dragged out my beloved Minolta Spectra Pro which still has one of my last remaining (and long expired) packs of Polaroid film sitting in it's belly. The figures are some models that I have from the Hong Kong based company King & Country, not quite relics of my childhood and... well, this is my feeble attempt anyway.

Diginegs... from phone pic to B&W darkroom print

2011-01-24T12:55:00.003+08:00

Screen-grab from my LR catalog showing a photo taken with my Nokia N95 mobile/cell phone. (Click on picture to see a larger version)

Those of you that know me, know how much I love being in the darkroom and printing traditional silver gelatin based prints. When I travel these days one of the big decisions that I have to make is to determine how much of my film based analog gear Vs my digital cameras I should take. There's just not enough room for all or both.

During my trip to Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam, with Perth photographer and party animal, Robert (Safaribob) McLellan, in late 2009 I opted just to take a couple of 35mm cameras (my beloved Hasselblad X-pan and my little Leica P&S) leaving all my digital kit back home. EXCEPT for my trusty old and much loved Nokia N95 cellphone. Ended up using the camera on the phone quite a lot, albeit mainly when Bob and I were staggering around in search of beer or food... which is what we seemed to be doing mostly

Quite liked some of the pix, so I decided to produce some inkjet based digital negatives and see how they printed in the darkroom. I've been making digital negatives for some time now, although mostly to use as contact negs when producing Canotypes, Van Dyke and other alternative processes. I'd also just bought a 'low end' Canon MG5250 printer and was curious to see how it would compare to my older Epson.

So, after doing some preliminary prepping of the phone pic in lightroom, I moved it over to photoshop and ran some tests, tweak ing the curves to match the silver gelatin process, with my printer and the inkjet material that I am using. Most practitioners of this technique, including one of the guru's, Dan Burkholder, recommend the Pictorico OHP sheets but as I am struggling to get these atm, I opted for Nobo OHP film available from Officeworks. The quality of the resulting negatives and Fibre Based prints (Kentmere Fineprint VC FB paper) are pretty bloody good considering the printer and Nobo OHP film don't even register on the 'radar' as being worthy of consideration for the majority of the practitioners of this technique.

Shop Window, Old Quarter, Hanoi - Silver Gelatin Artists proof print
(Click on picture to see a larger version)

Hawaii Kitsch

2011-01-18T08:21:00.002+08:00

Spent Christmas and New Year in Hawaii. Was mainly a family get together so didn't get a chance really shoot anything more than 'happy snaps' or leave O'ahu and explore the other islands. Tourism is big business and the public face is polished and full of tacky memorabilia, but in the shadows and through the cracks something else lurks. I'd really like to get back sometime and explore the darker side of life in paradise, but for now, here are some of my happy snaps.

2011: A new beginning?

2011-01-09T09:11:00.003+08:00

Old Glory

So we've survived the first decade of the 21st Century. A tumultuous time for sure and the world will be changed forever. Who knows what the next decade will bring? But, over the new year, I didn't contemplate this too much... I fled to Hawaii to drink beer and chill out. Here's one of my vacation 'happy snaps' taken whilst diving on the wreck of the Sea Tiger near O'ahu in Hawaii. Pic was taken using my Canon G10 with underwater housing at a depth of about 100 feet. Apart from the delay between pushing the button and capture, which resulted in some missed opportunities, it's not a bad little beast at all.

Tracy Mortimer's 'PRECIOUS METAL'

2010-10-10T15:44:00.003+08:00

Sariat, France

Palladium Print, Edition of 12

Western Australian photographic artist, Tracy Mortimer launches her 'PRECIOUS METAL' exhibition at Alliance Francaise de Perth on Monday night. Tracy's exquisite hand crafted Palladium prints combine digital capture with some of the earliest photographic production techniques. The stunning images transport the viewer back to the world of Eugene Atget and France in the early twentieth century. A perfect combination of content and production to produce a result that is just 'right'.

Tracy was one of the students in my Fine-Art photography class at Central TAFE where she experimented with a range of alternative processes before deciding to explore the Palladium printing technique in more depth for her major research project in her graduating year.

As the name suggests, Palladium Printing uses palladium (part of the platinum group of metals) to create the visible image. The process dates back to the mid 1800's and requires the negative to be in direct contact with the sensitized paper and exposed to a UV light source such as sunlight. Different developers give different results, potassium oxalate based developers will produce warmer images whilst the ammonium citrate developer produces a cooler, black toned image.

It's a slow, hand crafted process that is not cheap, palladium is a precious metal after all and it's popularity went into steep decline in the 1930's as prices of the metal rose and the production of the conventional silver gelatin based photographic papers ramped up. It started to regain popularity in the 1970s, but still remained largely the domain of 'fine-art' photographers and printers.

Like many of these 'alternative process' contact printing techniques, the digital era has created renewed interest and opened up new possibilities. The hand crafted nature of sensitizing the paper, exposing and producing the print is a welcome alternative to the mechanical pixel pushing with automatic undo of photoshop. But the digital age also allows for digital capture and adjustment to produce 'perfect' negatives that can really show the final printed image to best effect. 'PRECIOUS METAL' exemplifies this. Go see it!

'PRECIOUS METAL' is on show at Alliance Francaise de Perth until the 29th of October,

Alliance Francaise de Perth
75 Broadway, Nedlands
Mon 11th Oct - Fri 29th Oct 2010
Mon-Fri, 9am-730pm; Sat, 9am-1pm

Phone: 08 9386 7921

For more information about Tracy and her work, visit her website www.foco.com.au

"Great art is horseshit, buy tacos."

2010-09-10T22:19:00.002+08:00

The Secret Room (VI) - Cyanotype Print

"Great art is horseshit, buy tacos." - Charles Bukowski

The Secret Room (I)

2010-08-15T12:44:00.000+08:00

The Secret Room (I) - Cyanotype Print

Found some unexposed cyanotype paper that I had coated before my trip to Thailand in July. I expected that after almost two months that it would have 'fogged' to the point of being unusable but thought I'd give a sheet a quick test before throwing it out. Sixteen minute exposure in direct sunlight at around 2pm. Seems to be working OK. Time to crank out a few more prints from this series.

Bui Vien before breakfast

2010-06-19T15:02:00.004+08:00

(Click on the images to see a larger view.)

Bui Vien, 0645 am - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Bui Vien, 0700 am - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Bui Vien, 0715 am - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Bui Vien, Cyclo mistah? - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Bui Vien, Cyclos - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Bui Vien, Cylco driver - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Got up early(ish) one morning whilst staying at Madam Cuc 64 guesthouse on Bui Vien in Ho Chi Minh City to take some snaps with the xpan before breakfast.

The street (Bui Vien) is in the heart of the 'backpacker' precinct of Pham Ngu Lao, but apart from the travellers preparing to head off to their next location, most of the tourists seemed to be still sleeping off the party from the night before. But the roads were hardly deserted as breakfasts were being prepared, whilst the ubiquitous Xe Om (motorbike taxis) and cyclos started to ferry their human cargo around District 1.

Cambodia: Security Office 21

2010-06-11T10:25:00.002+08:00

(Click on the images to see a larger view.)

Storage room debris - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Interrogation room - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Victims of the genocide, Khmer Rouge photographer, Nhem En's 'portraits' - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

The Khmer Rouge Security Office 21 (S-21) was housed in the former Tuol Sleng Prey High school from April 1975 until the Vietnamese drove the Khmer Rouge out in 1979. Between 17000 and 20000 prisoners were held and interrogated there, although former guards claim up to 30000. After interrogation, those that were still alive were taken to the notorious killing fields for execution.

OF THE TOTAL NUMBER WHO ENTERED THE FACILITY ONLY 12 PRISONERS ARE KNOWN TO HAVE SURVIVED!

Meticulous in their documentation, the Khmer Rouge photographed inmates and some 6000 negatives have survived since 1979. Many of the prisoner photographs were taken by Khmer Rouge photographer Nhem En and can be seen at the S-21 photo archive website.

Tibet

2010-06-06T18:23:00.017+08:00

(Click on the images to see a larger view.)

Nomad, truck & Yurt - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Nomad truck, flags & Chorten - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Chorten near West gate, Deki Nub rd, Lhasa - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

The Potala palace, Lhasa - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Pilgrim - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Police post in the 'Tibetan Quarter' of Lhasa - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Burning Yak butter candles, The Jokhang - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

The Jokhang - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Pilgrims, Gyantse - Silver Gelatin print, edition of 10

Been spending the last few days scanning prints and negatives as I try to decide on final edits for my new website. Here are a handful of images taken using my Hasselblad X-pan II panorama camera when I visited Tibet a couple of years back.

Amerikan visions part 2

2010-05-30T19:14:00.004+08:00

Macy's Thanksgiving day Parade - New York

Silver Gelatin Print

The Khmer Legacy

2010-05-22T20:34:00.007+08:00

The Khmer Legacy - Polaroid Spectra instant prints
(click on image to see a larger view)

A small body of work that I shot in Cambodia with my Minolta Pro camera which uses the, now defunct, Polaroid Spectra film. I really like the imperfections and color casts that Polaroid Spectra produced. Generally I prefered using it for night shots but for some reason the film I was using when I was at Angkor (and then in Phnom Penh) had a bit of a green cast. Probably due to it being expired and then fried at several airport x-ray machines.

These images were all taken either at Angkor, home of the mighty Khmer empire , which at its peak stretched across Laos, Thailand, Burma, Southern Vietnam and Malaysia. Others were taken in the notorious Khmer Rouge interrogation centre housed in what was once Tuol Sleng Prey High School, but is better known as S-21. Of the between 17 000 to 20 000 suspects that went into S-21 between 1975 and 1979, only a dozen are known to have survived.

Amerikan visions part I

2010-05-15T22:26:00.000+08:00

"Pro-Life" rally - Washington DC

Silver Gelatin print

Pic of the week

2010-05-14T09:31:00.012+08:00

Wat Po, Bangkok - Polaroid triptych

This week, another polaroid triptych from the edit for my upcoming Polaroid book.

Pic of the week

2010-05-07T08:07:00.013+08:00

Angkor Wat, Cambodia - Polaroid triptych (click to see enlarged version)

OK, so it has been a while and many things have happened, photographically speaking, since my last post. Time to take this blog more seriously and be more active here, particularly whilst I rebuild my website. I'm using a Lightroom plug-in called the Turning Gate, which seemed like a good idea at the time. But after running into problems editing content in pages that are added to the provided template and getting no support or help from the creator/distributor despite having paid for their product, I wonder whether I made the right choice.

Pic of the week

2010-01-21T22:04:00.002+08:00

Mother & Child from the 'Long neck' Burmese Karen/Paduang ethnic minority group

Hand coloured B&W, silver gelatin print

Pic of the week

2010-01-13T06:22:00.016+08:00

Big Buddha - Little Buddha

Not been near my computer much this past week and so haven't had time to prepare anything for the blog. So here is my pic of the week, taken on Koh Samui, Thailand with my Hasselblad Xpan panorama camera and shot on Fuji Neopan 400 film. It's part of an ongoing series that I am doing on Buddhist art and architecture.

The exhibition countdown begins

2010-01-01T09:43:00.016+08:00

Havana Vintage #1

Rest stop on the way to Santiago de Cuba

Time for me to start editing pix for my exhibition Cerveza Tropical: Caught in Cuban Timewarp. The show will be at the Cracked Gallery during FotoFreo 2010 the Fremantle Festival of Photography in early April.

Some tough decisions to be made over the next few weeks... good thing I have vodka... stay tuned.

www.julesfotos.com

A couple of projects worth supporting

Australia's Top Emerging Photographers Awards 2012

'Erotica' A must see exhibition - Two days only!

Burmese Daze

Out there

Christmas books for the photographer

Angkor Photography Festival Edition 7

The road to Angkor

Burma Daze

WA Professional Photographers Awards 2011

BIFB 2011... 36 hours in Ballarat

A short walk through Northbridge and some great camera phone stop animation from Sumo Science

Burma Daze - Chasing George Orwell and Rudyard Kipling.

Timor revisited

2[B] photography exhibition 25 June - 27 July 2011

2[B] runs from Monday 27th June until Saturday 2nd July at the “New Central Institute of Technology Building”.30 Aberdeen Street (cnr William & Aberdeen, Upstairs). Northbridge.The exhibition will be open from 11am-6pm Mon-Fri and 12pm-4.30pm Saturday.

New (old) toys

Classroom demo pic

Pic to the week.

Siem Reap/Bangkok Diary and Shine

handcoloured inkjet prints on rag paper.

The Fall Photo © Natalie Blom

Siem Reap / Bangkok Diary is open until 19th of March whilst Shine runs until April 1st. For more information about both shows contact Thelma or Pedrag on (08) 9427 1318

My father the artist

Welcome to the night train

The Secret Room (VIII)

Killing time with Goya and Levinthal

Diginegs... from phone pic to B&W darkroom print

Hawaii Kitsch

2011: A new beginning?

Tracy Mortimer's 'PRECIOUS METAL'

"Great art is horseshit, buy tacos."

The Secret Room (I)

Bui Vien before breakfast

Cambodia: Security Office 21

Tibet

Amerikan visions part 2

The Khmer Legacy

Amerikan visions part I

Pic of the week

Pic of the week

Pic of the week

Pic of the week

The exhibition countdown begins

2[B] runs from Monday 27th June until Saturday 2nd July at the “New Central Institute of Technology Building”.
30 Aberdeen Street (cnr William & Aberdeen, Upstairs). Northbridge.

The exhibition will be open from 11am-6pm Mon-Fri and 12pm-4.30pm Saturday.