Monthly Archives: March 2011
American Dreams
A collection from the archive of George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film opens at The Bendigo Art Gallery in Mid April. Featuring the pioneering names such as Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, Lewis Hine (work above) and Paul Strand, the show promises to give an audience a magnificent perspective over a generation of photographers whose work continues to inspire today. Click on the image above for a piece by the exhibitions curator, Tansy Curtain in The Australian last week to whet the appetite…
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Regarding The Pain of Others – Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag is well known for her writings on photography. While her book On Photography (1977) was, to me, beyond esoteric, Regarding The Pain of Others (2003) is far more readable not only to photographers and journalists but to all – all that is who have an interest in news and the way in which it is disseminated and in particular how images are used in the process. Not surprisingly, it’s littered with snippets of quotable gold. This was one of many underlined paragraphs in my copy:
“The whole point of television is that one can switch channels, that it is normal to switch channels, to become restless, bored. Consumers droop. They need to be stimulated, jump-started, again and again. Content is no more than one of these stimulants. A more reflective engagement with content would require a certain intensity of awareness – just what is weakened by the expectation brought to images disseminated by the media, whose leaching out of content contributes most to the deadening of feeling”.
I couldn’t put this book down and I’ll always keep it within close reach. It’s also a book that intrigues me as to how Sontag saw the context of the work of her famous lover, Annie Leibovitz…
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Printing underway for exhibition
Less than two months to go until my Mexicans show and all is seemingly running to plan. Clockwise from top left: 5 rolls of Hahnemuhle 308 for the show; Peter Lang from Foto Riesel’s Pro Imaging Centre, Sydney – hard at it; test prints; test print.
‘Mexicans’ Book & Exhibition sneak peak
Just a little teaser from my upcoming solo exhibition and first book – Mexicans. The work is from a road trip I made through 22 states of Mexico over four months just over a year ago. Above is one spread from a draft of the book which is being designed by Lee and Kate from www.stopedit.com.au Below is some of our work in progress…
The exhibition and book launch is to be held on Tuesday 17 May at Maunsell Wicks Gallery www.maunsellwickes.com 19 Glenmore Road, Paddington, Sydney from 6pm.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011