SALA

Words                                                                                                                                                Paint a picture with………..words                                                                                                    Say it so that a blind person can see it!                                                                                            Don’t just say it, feel it.

These phrases have been whizzing around in my head for years, they come from a very strict schooling and a rather terse Nun, “if you are going to write, write something with meaning, make your words paint a picture…………………….” I was around 6 years old!

A lady made me cry!                                                                                                                           In fact several people have made me cry since my SALA exhibition opened, no, not through nastiness, through kind words of praise……………….my words have transported them, have stirred their imaginations and in some instances even excited them.
Yes, I am deeply moved, and I am sure my feisty, overbearing Sister of Charity would be most impressed if she were still with us………………the nuns in the late 50’s & 60’s were extremely tough, but……….. I seem to have reaped the rewards!
When I look at the subjects of my images the words of that nun resonate…………a landscape, a seed, a person or an inanimate object, doesn’t matter – my imagination runs free and I tell a story………..simple! Come and have a look.

What do I do?

From weddings to ……………..I don’t know!   But after editing and sending the finished photos from the last wedding off, I  found myself trying to sort the myriad of images I have saved on the hard drive and the portable hard drives.

What am I going to do with all of these images…………..fact is – nothing!  Why have I got them?  An interesting question!  I have pondered it for a very long time now, thinking that I should purge the whole lot and start again, however, I keep going back to images to reassess them, look at them  and compare them with current images……………..have I improved?

Well, that depends………………the more I thought I knew the more I realize I don’t know, but hey, that’s life and the older I get the more I realize that there’s not enough time in this lifetime to learn everything you want!

I definitely have different categories of images, from the family, commissioned shoots, fine art, portraits, landscapes; you name it I’ve got them, but there is a distinct  pattern to my photography and it’s leaning very much towards the fine art and exhibition “arty, farty” style of photography. What’s that you ask?

Vibrant colour in negative space

Well, that’s a whole new subject and probably deserves a more in depth debate by experts, not me; suffice to say I think that Fine Art Photography is not necessarily about technical excellence but more about expressing thoughts and feelings emotively within an image. Fortuitously whilst I was penning this blog  I came across these quotes by two extraordinary artists:

Painter Robert Henri (1865–1929) admonished his students to “Paint the spirit of the bird in flight, not its feathers, ” and another quote by photographer David Alan Harvey: “Don’t shoot what it looks like, shoot what it feels like.”

WOW, yep, I get it, I love texture, shapes, the drama of light and dark, the absolute power of negative space and the jumble that positive space can portray and of course portraits……….Oh no, not the boudoir or the studio, not fond of the contrived, but the emotive candid capture, the intense look in the eyes, the furrows in the brow, the crows feet around the eyes, the wrinkles of the elderly that disappear with a smile, proof of life, of experience or, in the case of a child, innocent mischievousness.

 

So now I have a whole new perspective on my saved images, those old images are teaching me, they’re showing me graphically my flaws, my strengths and giving me that all important springboard on which to improve; more importantly they are giving me the confidence to continue to capture images, to find the emotion and tell the story!     Are other photographers  like me, are we all inextricably connected to every image like serial hoarders?

Now, what am I doing with all of those old images………..I’ll buy another external hard drive!

So back to the other question……….have I improved…………probably……..but………..I think it’s time for the next journey…………….thank goodness I like studying!!

To pose or not to pose

That’s the question!

As an amateur photographer I’ve not as yet developed the ability to pose people to make them or me feel comfortable, for some having a camera in hand is close to being the “boogy man”!  It’s hard work gaining peoples trust, getting them to relax – just a little!   Probably why I have developed such a love of  candid portraits, people let their guards down, emotions on show!

A Dabble, a Doodle………….and decay!

I love dabbling and doodling; I always have a pencil or pen at the ready; at meetings or on the phone my hands (or is it a restless mind?) are always busy. I draw flowers, shapes and love the abstracts made with angles and shadows………..Oh, of course at meetings I’m paying attention to the matters at hand, although…………… sometimes …………..I’m grateful for the distraction of the “doodle”!

I dabble in crafts.  An exquisite feather, a twisted piece of bark,  a dried rose, even  a bleached skeleton will have me diving for the camera and hoping the light will make magic of the drama of  their decay.   If I don’t “snap” them I will collect them and add to the ever mounting “debris” stored, waiting for just the right project. and for Christmas, the pine cone collection is increasing.  No chance of idle minds or hands here.

Through photography I can capture graphically the beauty of decay be it animal, vegetable or mineral……….these remains  can be dramatically, beautifully and respectfully portrayed in the creativity of art.

At a recent exhibition “Food for Thought” at the Coorong Council, a superb sculpture/wall hanging by Pamela Gillen titled Miratengi Pies made of rusted bowls welded on a frame they contained feathers, shells, seeds, old bones and chrysalis etc. collected from, I believe, Pamela’s wanderings  through the Coorong, that piece won the overall competition.  It was truly beautiful in it’s composition, but also extremely dramatic, confronting and fascinating in it’s contents.

Last weekend I was commissioned to do a photo shoot in the Mallee, exploring the wonderful old sheds on the property  I discovered a bird, a Starling, it had been caught up in string and unfortunately had died, however, the day, the light, the amazing old shed with it’s rough sawn beams all added to this extraordinary image.  Yes, of course I took photos, but………..maybe a bit too graphic, save for another project.   A still life of luscious farm grown fruit might be a better alternative!

In the meantime I’ll hop on the phone, chat to a friend, doodle away and dream of dabbling in some crafty exercise………..or, perhaps I’ll just go out and take some photos!  Whatever I do the cycle of life will always fascinate me and be a creative source for the next project or the next photo!