Testing with Johnny in the studio, with funky garments by Barney Cools. I love their simple designs (I am particularly in love with one jumper that I wish they made in a girl’s size!) Thanks Johnny for coming down to the studio to test!
Johnny is represented by GTR Global.
Garments by Barney Cools.
Everyone, I have an announcement! I’m proud to say that my hard work and rigorous study schedule have finally paid off, and I am now working through my placement as a Cardiac Electrophysiology Technician.
Although I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make the switch to medicine, I really do love helping people, and I think the challenges that this job will bring will make every week exciting and refreshing. Although I still really like photography, I think this is the right career move for me. Actually, my photographic background really proved helpful in the practical part of my assessment, as the role of a technician also involves medical photography (using different machines than your standard DSLR, of course.) So it hasn’t all been for nothing.
This is the team that I’ll be working the long shifts with…
Wait a minute….
What’s that Declan is holding….
Lenses….??
Hold up….
Haha fooled you all! I was actually working in a hospital alongside James Braund, shooting some scenarios and portraits. But I still got to kit out in scrubs (which are really comfy by the way!) I think the green hat suits me.
Had such a fun day with a great team. I can’t disclose details yet, but keep your eyes peeled for some fresh new photography at Homesglen. Final portrait is with James, sporting the latest in back support fashion. Will miss you when I’m in JP.
Something that often raises its head in my mind is the topic of personal insecurity. Not in the financial or physical sense, but more in the way of a mindset or mentality. Being a photographer, my work is a visual medium, and therefore every job has infinite possible resolutions and outcomes (rather than one ‘correct’ answer). That makes it highly subjective, and very open to interpretation. I think that many artists are a little insecure about their work deep down, and I am not a stranger to doubting my own abilities or artistic vision. So when someone approaches me with praise for my style, I get very very excited (if not a little “aww shucks” esque.)
One such kind soul was Alex Nixon, a student studying makeup. Alex had seen my work online and asked me to document one of her projects, which involved body painting. She sent me some references, and noted that she wanted to create a piece that was inspired by Chinese and Japanese traditional paintings. This was, of course, right up my alley, so I agreed straight away. We organised a date and time, as well as a gorgeous model – Chervil Tan from Vivien’s.
On shoot day, Alex pre-painted Chervil’s back before arriving at the studio. The references she sent me had been quite well-lit, with a pale grey background, so that is what I started off with. I wanted to ensure that I documented Alex’s work clearly, so that you could see the brushstrokes and fine details.
But after that, I wanted to have some fun of my own.
I thought that the concept and subject would really suit some darker, more moody lighting. So once we had the lighter shots captured, I changed the lighting to something more directional, to really accentuate texture and form. I love the way that the light falls on the body (in the image above), as the physical 3D nature of the back and shoulders blends with the painted landscape. I was also careful to keep the face in shadow, so that the emphasis was still on the painting, and the image had a sense of anonymity about it.
Of course, I took some portraits as well, and some shots to show the makeup on Chervil’s face (not just her back!) How gorgeous is the kimono? Alex whipped it up herself the night before. So much skill! The colours were also really gorgeous, especially against the hues of the cheeks.
I wanted to capture a quiet, almost still mood for these images, and I think they came out well. Alex was absolutely stoked with the shots, which I was really pleased about. All the best with the folio Alex!
The feeling of picking up your developed film is so exciting, and has a certain air of nostalgia to it as well. I was really excited to pick up two rolls that I had shot in Tokyo last year, because I couldn’t remember what was on them.
These frames are all from test shoots with models from Folio Management in Tokyo’s Minato ward. They were taken on 35mm film that I rolled myself back in highschool, but had not yet shot. Hence the little imperfections like dust, scratches, and leaks. I actually love these features and think they give extra character to the frames. Because the film was so old, I had no idea if it had been exposed, or if it would even look any good. These shots were digitally scanned, but no retouching or adjustments have been made. Not even exposure or contrast adjustments. They are completely raw.
I find that there is something really ‘real’ about film photos. I tend to look at them for longer, rather than skim over them quickly as I might with digital photos. There seems to be a part of the subject’s soul in these frames, as if they are really looking at me. This might sound weird, but that’s how I feel. I think film also has a timeless sort of look to it.
When I was in Hokkaido earlier this year, I went one step further and purchased a disposable camera from the convenience store there. I’ve been shooting single frames on it, but still haven’t finished it. So I’m really interested in what is on that camera. The suspense is all part of the excitement. I also like the way that having such an “ammeter” camera removes a certain barrier when shooting. Nobody seems to notice or care if I put the $10 disposable to my eye, whereas they may change their behaviour or shy away if I raise my DSLR. Observing the difference in psychology is interesting.
Something a bit different today. Avid followers will know that I was born in Tasmania, and a lot of my family still lives there. I moved over to Melbourne when I was 4 or so, so I consider myself more of a Melbournian (“what do you mean this coffee isn’t small batch?!”) but I still try to make it back to the island every Christmas.
I’m lucky in that I still have three grandparents, and they are all fit and healthy. Especially in recent years, I have become more and more appreciative of the fact that they are still around, but also more aware that this won’t be the case forever. It’s not a nice thing to think about, and most of the time I don’t contemplate it, but sometimes it is important to remember that not everything is permanent.
But let’s not go there.
Last year I found a whole heap of black and white Ilford that I had rolled in high-school, so I decided to start shooting a few frames here and there every so often. I use a small Canon film camera, and I love it because it’s so tiny, but it also fits all of the lenses from my usual kit. I prefer, however, to use it with the cheapest plastic lens I have- a 50mm. This lens weighs next to nothing, and looks cheap and nasty, but there is something about it that I love- the shallow depth of field, the way it vignettes really badly… it’s the stuff dreams are made of haha.
So I took this camera with me to Tasmania over Christmas last year, as I had shot some film in Tokyo and wanted to finish off the roll. I also wanted to take some portraits of my grandparents, because everything just looks great on film, and I thought they might be good for the ‘ol family albums.
Above are my paternal grandparents. These are straight out of camera, but I got the negatives scanned and put on a CD. No adjustments at all. I love the way that film looks so real. So much depth and tone, even with no processing. To me, it’s like looking at a small part of each person.
My grandma is known for her world-famous potatoes, and has kept every letter from every grandchild ever written (once I discovered this archive, I was a lot more careful what I wrote!). My grandad is a photographer (maybe that’s where I got it from?), and his framed prints of the many mountains he has climbed line the hallway in their house. Both of them will annihilate you at Scrabble.
On my mother’s side, I have just one grandparent. Everyone calls him Popsie. I’m absolutely in love with this candid photo of him in the garden. Popsie grows the best vegetables, and I always look forward to eating them when I go back over there. He has a dog named Zeus, who will come up to you and put his foot on you. Whenever we stay with Popsie, mum always tries to buy him some new form of technology. He’s mastered the usage of cordless phones and the digital set-top box, but he narrowly escaped being set up with an Optus mobile phone plan this January.
カメラと私 