Think Different, SEE different, shoot different!

Now, regarding: there’s nothing good to take pictures of!

If you feel this way, you may need to develop a way of ‘seeing’ your world differently. Our brains interpret and filter the information our senses send to it in ways that make it easier for us to interact with and navigate through our ‘reality’ but sometimes the way we interpret the world is constrained by preconditioned responses and experiential neurological ‘shortcuts’ that have very little to do with what it is we are actually SEEING (in the case of our visual senses)
This is a common problem in the world of visual art where someone first learning to draw is, for example placed in front of a cup and asked to draw it. Often the beginner will sketch a likeness of a cup that correlates with the IDEA of a cup they have in their head, missing the finer nuances, patterns, shape or whatever of the cup that is actually in front of them.

If you critically examine your way of seeing the world and discard preconceived ideas you might have like ‘how could a piece of garbage on the ground possibly make an interesting photo’ or ‘ho-hum the overpass I walk under every day – boring’ and so on, you may open your eyes and mind (not to mention heart) to the infinite photographic possibilities that are around you EVERYWHERE!

The mood you are in helps too, think positively and the possibilities you perceive around you will open up. If you are not having fun doing what you do, (in this case photography) then what is the point of doing it?

Walk around with your eyes & mind open. If something catches your eye, even for a moment, don’t just walk on; STOP and look closer, walk around and see whatever it was from different angles, crouch down or look at the scene from a higher perspective. Wait for the sun to come out from behind the cloud and..oh, wait! There it is! That flash of brilliant red that jumped out at you before, or that shape that is so interesting against the background, or that combination of elements that make for a great shot.

Or you could park yourself somewhere comfortable, choose a good vantage point overlooking some interesting background, be it a graffitied wall, a hillside covered with flowers or a busy intersection and WAIT…something might happen! The group colourfly dressed up in fancy dress going to a party against a dull city wall, or the goths so sombre and monochrome against the colourful floral clock in the botanical gardens or the truck with the huge lips advertising something lipsticky or whatever painted on the side passing a group of nuns. ANYTHING can happen!
Sometimes a good photograph happens from a serendipitous ‘just shoot’ occasion, sometimes through patience, planning and knowing how to use the tools given you and the right moment and lighting. More often than not, a great photo will come from patience, planning, experience AND that serendipitous moment.

The festival will once again present a diverse and eclectic mix of the very best of photography and photographic art from all corners of Australia and around the world.

The tradition of high quality Core Program shows and a smorgasbord of open-entry Fringe Program exhibitions will once again be backed up with a stimulating program of workshops, seminars, audio visual projections and events for special interest and affiliated photographic groups.

Also on offer will be a range of community and public access events which will invite our audience to engage and participate regardless of levels of photographic expertise.

So mark your diaries and bookmark this site, and check back regularly over the coming months so you can keep abreast of all of the exciting events we have planned for BIFB’11

*time-lapse captured on my iPhone
*music by Orb Gettarr – Orb Gettar at OPSOUND

Let me explain; in the ‘RESPECT’ EXHIBITION (talked about in my last entry in February) I was a contributing photographer. Every contributing photographer donated money and a print to the exhibition, with the money going to Jeff (the wonderful chap whom the exhibition was a benefit for) and each contributing photographer got to choose another artists print in a random selection process (explained later). It was sort of like a giant print swap/charity event for a good cause. Anyhow, for the purpose of the print swap we all had a list of our preferences of prints and at a pre-opening function where all the contributers had gathered and the names of the participants were randomly pulled out of a hat. Once a name was picked out the photographer then got to choose their preferred print, a red dot popped beside it to say it was taken and so on.
Those whose names had not been picked out of the hat yet then had to cross those print(s) off their lists as they were claimed. It was an interesting (and slightly painful process) but all done in the good spirits of the sentiment behind the event.
Well, names kept getting called out and my listed choices were being scratched one by one, except for this one which I did have somewhere in my top twenty as I really liked the colours and compositions in the image, it was one I kept glancing across at, checking to see if it had been ‘claimed’ yet.
When my name finally got pulled out & I got to choose, and despite the majority (over 75%) of the prints being claimed, it was this print on my list of ‘possibles’ that was available and that I chose. As I mentioned, I had admired from a couple of meters away (& thus popped on my list), but not taken a really close look at until I chose it.

Carmel Riordan & Print

Perhaps to many people, it would be a very nice photo but maybe not much more; it is an image of these weathered old blue and red wooden seats at a sporting ground curving off into the distance (and mounted on really nice watercolour paper too I might add) – but when I went up to the print and read the title underneath, my breath literally caught in my throat and I had one of those ‘shiver down your spine’ moments.

The print was titled: “The Old Seats, Whitten Oval, Footscray” and it was by Photographer Carmel Riordan who lives and works in the Western Suburbs.

When I was a young lad, we used to visit my Grandmother and Grandfather (when he was alive) in their little house in Picket St, Footscray. We did this religiously every Saturday up until the time Nan Stephen died. Dad grew up in Footscray and my Grandfather had even played for the Bulldogs in the reserves for a while way back when. Needless to say, we were all big Bulldog supporters.

Dad would usually take us to the footy (at the Whitten Oval) at 3/4 time to watch the last quarter (and also because you got in for free at 3/4 time!) I have many fond memories of it, that was when the footy was only played on Saturday and the teams were all part of the VFL, not the AFL.
In summer Dad used to take me to watch the cricket there (but not a soften as the footy) and one day I got knocked out by a cricket ball that whacked me in the back of the head from some kids who were playing their own match in the area behind the seats.

So those were my memories of the Whitten Oval, but there’s one final poignant kicker. My grandfather LIVED for the Bulldogs and for the Footscray RSL. If he wasn’t at the RSL, he was at the footy watching his beloved Dogs play.
Anyway, one fine day when Pop was in his late 80′s he and an old mate were at the footy (once again, at the Whitten Oval) when the Dogs kicked a winning goal (not sure if this is entirely true but I like to think so) according to his friend, Pop was up on his feet cheering one minute and the next, his pal turned around and Pop was there flat on the ground, dead from a massive, quick, final stroke/heart attack/whatever. I think if Pop had to choose a certain way to leave this mortal coil, he may have chosen this way…(in  other words, what a way to go – a good way, I think, for him)

I usually didn’t think about any of that all that much in my teen & later years, but sometime in my 30′s when I got around to watching the documentary Year of the Dogs I found myself suddenly weeping inexplicably halfway through it….go figure.

So I reckon I was meant to get that print, but it does make me wonder at how the universe works in mysterious ways at times.
I sincerely hope I didn’t bore any of you with my story, but I had to share…

One hundred photographers show their appreciation for the hard work done by the Ballarat International Foto Biennale Director, donating some of their finest work to be sold on his behalf. A once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase works by these artists at a very modest price.

Works are on view at the Gallery from tomorrow and opening drinks are on Thursday Feb 11th from 6 – 8pm

Artists involved:
ABBOTT Colin, ADAMS Peter, AVELLINO Mark, BACHMAN Bill, BODIN John, BOWES Peter, BOWYER Julie, BROOK Fiona, BROWELL Anthony, BROWNBILL Sally, BUCKLEY Carolyn, BURDER Tim, BUTCHER Noel, CALLOW David, CHAPMAN Andrew, CIANTAR Alan, CLARK Alan, COYNE Michael, Da COSTA Nuno, DIAZ Maggie, DIEMER Kristin, DINAS Heather, Di PAOLO Lucy, DOVE Melanie Faith, DUCKWORTH Neale, ELMS Greg, EVANS Joyce, EVERTON Samantha, FARRELL Leo, FEIL Joseph, FLETCHER Gillian, FORD John, FRANKLIN Chris, GARWOOD Roger, GAULD Robin, GERHARD Andre, GILKES Brian, GLATTAUER Silvi, GODMAN Lloyd, GORDON-BROWN Susan, GRIFFITH Tim, HAMMOND Shireen, HARRINGTON Elda, HAWKES Ponch, HIRANO Masaki, HERZOG Naomi, HOUGH Julie, HOWLETT Fran, IMHOFF Robert, IOANNOU Ellii, JOHNS David, JOYCE Deb, KUMNICK Richar d, KURAVITA Philip, LANDT-ISLEY Karen, LARCOM Donna, LARCOMBE Randy, LASLETT Susan,LUKEY Brent, LUSZPINSKI Jarek, McFARLANE Jim, McKENZIE Ian, MEGALOUDIS Mercury, MIFSUD George, MILLOWICK Julie, MONROE Mark, NAOROJI Nadish, NEWITT Neil, NICHOLLS Lynden, O’SHEA Meredith, PAGE Colin, PECKHAM Senga, RIORDAN Carmel, ROESSLER Thomas, ROSS Carol, ROWE Tracey, QUILLIAM Wayne, SAAD Lisa, SALVATI Maurizio, SAWDON Elizabeth, SEIGERMAN Krystal, SHAIN Christopher, SILVER Michael, SIMMONDS Dave, SLEETH Matthew, SPOWART Doug, STEPHEN Cameron, STOREY Abby, STREET John, SUBLET Charlie, SYNDIKAS Alex, TAM Howard, TITZ Tobias, WATKINS Skip, WISEMAN Colin,WOLF Anna, WOLF Andrew

Photographer Alex Syndikas at BIFB09 - taken with expired 600 integral film on a Polaroid 680 SLR SE

Invented by Becky Ramotowski, who took the idea from World Pinhole Photography Day, World Toy Camera Day spawned a world wide annual event using toy cameras and shooting endless rolls of 120 and Polaroid film and even some crappy 35mm cameras too…and has been in circulation for nine years now. So on October 17, 2009 (this coming Saturday, remember) get your favourite plastic camera and take as many lo-fi exposures as you can! (and have FUN – that’s important!)