I'm heading off to Ballarat next Tuesday to visit these venues. Some of my students have images on exhibition with the ABC Open Camera Club. Other friends have works on exhibit with the Melbourne Silver Mine that I will be visiting as well. I will keep you posted if you like. ~:)
@noo That would be great, Denise :) Ballarat is a little far for me to do as a day trip. I'm hoping something cool like this makes its way up here to Brizzy soon.
@brizmako Well I spent the day up in Ballarat and I have to say 'Oh my god'!. I actually could not see as many exhibitions as I would have liked, so I am planning another trip before it all closes down. For me it was image overload by the time I had been to two venues! The venues house more than one artist.
Stop number one was the Ballarat FIne Art Gallery. The exhibit there is nothing short of fantastic. My favorite exhibitor was 'Duffy'. A man who shot the swinging 60's in London for Vogue and various advertising shoots. Beautiful technically perfect images of now famous models and some musicians like David Bowie and Jean Shrimpton. Loved it. Some strange and surreal imagery was also on display by Louviere + Vanessa. Really large images of some strange subject matter, using strange materials (like wax and blood?!) made me take notice but I am still not sure if I liked it or not. The 'Now and When' Installation is pretty cool too. The other exhibitors were Ok but for me they did not capture my attention.
Venue number two for me was the Mining Exchange. It was full of amazing photographs. In particular the Jan + Sarah Saudek images (some of which were banned)- they were racy to be sure but I did not find them offensive. They were more cheeky and theatrical than anything, again technically perfect with some touches of coloured touch up paint for added fun and vintage interest. Colin Page's "Gossamer" series is hauntingly beautiful. Les Horvat "Momentum of the Rivers Flow" was particularly enjoyable, with beautiful and detailed images of street scenes, textures and landscapes in Vietnam. Maggie Diaz "One Way Ticket" was great fun and a slice of life in Australia and the US from the 1950's onward.
The Melbourne SIlver mine Exhibition was a good one as well. With the faithful and masterful use of traditional "Film" and 'Polaroid', using 35mm, medium and large format cameras alongside Holgas and the occasional Polaroid.
I am going on a bit so I will stop there just to say It was well worth the visit and I believe the follow up visit will be well worth it too.
Hope this all makes sense to you ~:) Cheers. D.
WOW! That's a great review, Denise. I would love to see the Brian Duffy shots in person - I reckon he was largely responsible for establishing the celebrity as fashionista. Good to see you also got to the 'controversial' Saudek images. It's funny that what we're told to despise in the media is often less sensational than we're led to believe. I'm sure they got their fair share of lookie-loos in, though :)
@brizmako I agree with your thoughts on Brian Duffy. They were astonishing images, their use of composition and the contrast and exposure was just so spot on. I think my favorite was Jean Shrimpton in a car with a spotty scarf on.
I think the Saudek images were great. Some of them were more 'confronting' than others but of course they warn you well in advance of its potential ability to offend, and it is in a different room with a corridor leading up to it, with 'Warning adult content' signs along the walls. I like the choice of 'opting in' rather than just straight out banning.
I just discovered that Saturday when I planned to go back has a second hand camera swap/sell meet happening. Oh dear, that could be bad for my wallet. ~:)
@marshy15 You really should try and find the time to go. Well worth it.
@noo Oh I do love old cameras! Apparently I nearly got an old box brownie for Father's Day (but it was sold before Sam could get back to buy it himself). Thanks again :)
@marshy15 Oh fantastic! I was there yesterday too. I saw the stuff in St.Patricks hall, the railway shed and the Melbourne Silver Mine "dont call it street" exhibition. So glad you got to see it, definitely great stuff when so many fantastic photographers are on display. Hope your studies have not been interrupted too much... but a break is sometimes a good thing when exams are so close. ~:)
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Stop number one was the Ballarat FIne Art Gallery. The exhibit there is nothing short of fantastic. My favorite exhibitor was 'Duffy'. A man who shot the swinging 60's in London for Vogue and various advertising shoots. Beautiful technically perfect images of now famous models and some musicians like David Bowie and Jean Shrimpton. Loved it. Some strange and surreal imagery was also on display by Louviere + Vanessa. Really large images of some strange subject matter, using strange materials (like wax and blood?!) made me take notice but I am still not sure if I liked it or not. The 'Now and When' Installation is pretty cool too. The other exhibitors were Ok but for me they did not capture my attention.
Venue number two for me was the Mining Exchange. It was full of amazing photographs. In particular the Jan + Sarah Saudek images (some of which were banned)- they were racy to be sure but I did not find them offensive. They were more cheeky and theatrical than anything, again technically perfect with some touches of coloured touch up paint for added fun and vintage interest. Colin Page's "Gossamer" series is hauntingly beautiful. Les Horvat "Momentum of the Rivers Flow" was particularly enjoyable, with beautiful and detailed images of street scenes, textures and landscapes in Vietnam. Maggie Diaz "One Way Ticket" was great fun and a slice of life in Australia and the US from the 1950's onward.
The Melbourne SIlver mine Exhibition was a good one as well. With the faithful and masterful use of traditional "Film" and 'Polaroid', using 35mm, medium and large format cameras alongside Holgas and the occasional Polaroid.
I am going on a bit so I will stop there just to say It was well worth the visit and I believe the follow up visit will be well worth it too.
Hope this all makes sense to you ~:) Cheers. D.
Thanks again, Denise :-D
I think the Saudek images were great. Some of them were more 'confronting' than others but of course they warn you well in advance of its potential ability to offend, and it is in a different room with a corridor leading up to it, with 'Warning adult content' signs along the walls. I like the choice of 'opting in' rather than just straight out banning.
I just discovered that Saturday when I planned to go back has a second hand camera swap/sell meet happening. Oh dear, that could be bad for my wallet. ~:)
@marshy15 You really should try and find the time to go. Well worth it.