In other news I was browsing a local “Opportunity Shop” the other day and spied an Olympus XA camera with flash in it’s original box for a modest amount.

Olympus XA

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he last few weeks have been extremely hot and dry with high winds, culminating in the worst bushfires Australia has seen in recorded history on Saturday the 7th (now being called “Black Saturday”) where the temperature reached over 46º C and many fires broke out, involving vast swathes of the State and in some cases totally obliterating some townships. Nearly 2000 homes have been destroyed and over 180 people so far have lost their lives (the final numbers are not confirmed yet, but I suspect it will go higher) My family have been fortunate, despite living in area surrounded by many forests, national parks and wooded catchment areas and the like, danger has so far passed us by, but we remain on alert and have important paperwork, photos (and for me, cameras) packed and ready to go should we need to abandon our home in the face of a dangerous threat. Of course our children and our lives are the main priority, so we must be prepared to lose those material things, if need be. So far the weather has settled and we are just waiting for some rain, but early last night as we were preparing to get the kids to bed and relax when we received a few phonecalls in quick succession from concerned friends and relatives, as a fire had broken out just ‘down the hill’ from us. Thankfully it was contained with alacrity by our brave Country Fire Authority volunteers and other emergency service workers who have been tireless in their dedication to protect the community.
I suppose this leads me to ponder on the transience of ‘things’ and the importance of photography in our personal lives and the construction of our reality through our memories. Often the first material things people try to preserve in the face of disasters like fire are their photo albums. I know that looking through my photographs of my wife and children brings me great joy and sparks recollection of happy times that often get buried below the surface of consciousness by the ongoing events and concern of everyday life.

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n a lighter note, the French publisher Editions Allia has kindly sent me 5 complimentary copies of the booklet of Andalusian Poetry featuring my Polaroid abstract on the cover. This is my first Book Cover!!

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ic Nichols of Four Corners Dark has an interesting interview with hideki ohmori of powershovel you know Powershovel, the cool people behind the blackbird,fly camera – this is part one, so I am looking forward to reading the next installment – update: pert two is here: interview with hideki ohmori of powershovel part two. Thanks Nic! Speaking of the BBF, the latest issue of Lightleaks magazine (Issue 22) has a review of this fine camera by C. Gary Moyer (as well as many other tasty lo-fidelity photographic content)

1. Can you please explain the type of camera’s you use for your work. How do they make the work different/easier/harder?

The cameras I use are usually manufactured from poor quality materials, usually plastic with little or no quality control. They have simple plastic lenses with questionable optical quality. The degree of control over shutter speed and aperture is usually pretty limited, if it exists at all. The very factors that most photographers would consider drawbacks in these cameras are what work towards making the images produced by them unique and often quite artistic in nature. The poor quality of manufacture leads to edge vignetting and blurriness, light leaks and so on. You can’’t ever be really sure what you will get when the film is developed. Sometimes this leads to disappointment, but more often than not you can be pleasantly surprised. When I collect my developed film from the lab, I often feel like a kid on Christmas day, waiting to unwrap the presents. It’s a continual buzz of anticipation of a “magic” shot that keeps me coming back. I guess you would say I’m addicted.

2. Do you develop the film at home?

No, I mainly shoot colour and the process is a bit more exacting and unforgiving than Black and White processing. Also having a septic system is incompatible with some of the chemical by-products of home development.

3. What made you decide to start using outdated cameras for your work?

I was getting a little bit jaded by all the digital photos crowding my hard drive. I mean they were ok, but sort of predictable and I felt my photography was getting stale. Then I won an online raffle hosted by another toy camera aficionado, Susan Burnstine, from the U.S.A. on her website. She sent me a “toy” medium format camera called an Empire Junior. I shot a roll through, developed it and when I saw the quirky results I was hooked. Soon afterwards I began collecting second hand toy cameras and using them almost everyday.

4. How did you first get into photography and what is it about the medium that you like?

My first memory of photography was having a camera thrust into my hands by my father when we were in the city during the Queen’s visit in early 1970’s – I snapped a photo of the royal personage as she passed by. It was at a bit of an angle but not bad for a first effort. I still have that photo. Photography as a medium is amazingly versatile, it can convey a story, an artistic statement, capture a memory, convey emotions and sometimes help change the course of history. Think of how photography helped change peoples’ perceptions of the Vietnam War, or help save the Franklin River in Tasmania, for example.

5. Are you a professional photographer or is it a hobby? If a hobby what do you do for a living?

It is a hobby, but one that consumes much of my free time, I’m very passionate about it (my wife would say obsessed, thankfully she is very supportive!) I am a Registered Nurse, working in the Emergency Department of my local hospital.

6. What are your favourite subjects to photograph?

I have a fondness for the many varied examples of public art that we are blessed with in Melbourne. I also love people and although initially quite shy, I am gradually becoming more confident asking if I can take people’s portraits. There is a wealth of stories in every individuals face.

7. Explain the main themes behind your work?

My work is very eclectic, but I try to capture points of view of scenes in a different perspective to how we would usually look at them in the normal course of our daily life. In the rush of modern living I believe we sometimes forget to “see” what is really around us, the inherent beauty in everything and everybody.

8. What is it about photography that you think makes it stand out from other mediums?

The ability to capture a unique and definitive moment and mood, never to be repeated in exactly the same way again, makes photography something special.

9. Is this your first exhibition? If not what have been some of the others?

I’ve been in one other joint toy camera and pinhole photography exhibition, called “Lightleaks” at the Kerala Gallery in High St, Northcote, earlier this year.

10. How old are you, any children?

I am 46 and have two children aged 9 and 6 who continually inspire me and help keep my vison young!