DOP - Boomgates - Whispering and Singing

Boomgates - Whispering or Singing from Powers of Ten on Vimeo.

I few weeks back I spent 2 days as DOP for director : Daniela Velickovic. We made this clip for Melbourne band Boomgates.  This was only my second adventure with the moving image. I really enjoyed the process and certainly challenged my skills.  Starring my Aunt SuSu and other babes.
The clip was shot on the Canon 5D.

Speaking For Country - A Revisit

In 2005 at what felt like "the tender" age of 23 I packed my bags and 20 disposable camera's and headed to the tiny town of Onslow in Western Australia. A friend Mandy Jean had approached me to collaborate on a project teaching Indigenous women photography.  We worked with women from Onslow and Roebourne aged between 18 and 75. We had a 10 day adventure. The project culminated in an exhibition called Speaking for Country: Indigenous Women Telling Stories.

After the exhibition the project was packed up and stored for the last 7 years in my mums dusty shed in Yandoit. I only stumbled upon it a few weeks ago. It was such a pleasure to see real film again and revisit these images.

Here are some of my favorite images and also some articles with more info.

Ladies at Python Pool - This is a sacred place for women. We ate Kangaroo tails and tried to catch fish. I was really nervous taking this photograph - it was a pretty power place and the women talked only in their language.  This photo shows how strong their connection to the land. One lady said, "Our land is like the Vatican to the Catholics".

Aunty Pansy wanted me to take her photograph right here. This is where she was born many moons ago.

We traveled in a mini bus. Bumping along dusty roads picking up the women along the way. We found Aunty Sandy waiting for us dressed in her favorite yellow dress.

The first group of elders were really old. They hadn't used camera's before so often they would take photos without looking through the viewfinder. It was natural and we all laughed a lot. They called me the "little one".

This lady in blue asked me to take a photo of her in the river bed. This was the last place she had seen all her 7 children alive.  Sadly 4 of her children had passed away.

Mandy and I stayed here.

This local cowboy took me on a roadtrip. His skin matched his ute.

On the last day I was taken to the house of a young guy called Stereo. It was rough...really rough. He and I bonded over Bob Dylan and he let me take is photo of him relaxing on the verandah.

Here we all are at Python Pool.

Working 5 til 6

Monday is my computer day. Processing, invoicing, processing, emailing, facebook and google trawling.  When I started photography I spent most of my spare time in the darkroom, it felt like a secret and truly technical craft, far removed from sitting on a chair for 8 hours.  Obviously digital is here to stay and sadly I find myself using my computer more than using my camera.

Sometimes I only use my camera when I'm told or paid. It sucks. So I have set a little project to spend an hour a day between 5pm and 6pm shooting around my block. ( between Smith and Brunswick, Gertrude and Johnston) I guess it's a treat for me.

I'm obsessively watching the progress of the construction site across from our building.

Entry 2 - Monday 24 September - 

Entry 1 - Monday 17 September -

Live Video - Darren Hanlon - Fraser Island, East Brunswick

This was shot on a cold night at Darren's "pop up" house/venue called Fraser Island, situated in the suburb of East Brunswick in Melbourne Victoria. Darren wanted to record his last night there before the bull dozers crushed it down. Evelyn /Pikelet popped in and played some piano.

The random footage features some highlights of the past happenings and beautiful people that walked through the door and experienced all that was Fraser Island.

Another Weekend In Yandoit - Women's Knitting Group

Often we visit Yandoit for a rest at the family homestead. A few weekend's ago we stumbled upon the annual Lesbian Knitters Meeting at the Yandoit Town Hall... how times have change since our school concerts circa 1990.
This was a 'women only' event, watched over by a picture of the Royals... I'm sure they would be proud. 
Most often they use wool from their pet sheep, as you can see the wool featured is named "Radclyffe" I assume in ode to iconic lez author Radclyffe Hall
On another note I was the lucky winner of the raffle...Now I just need to learn to knit.

This wonderful woman was indeed one of the head honchos of the Lesbian knitting scene, so far as I could tell. Her vest was knitted by a friend for her 70th birthday and it's colours customised to her favourites. She laughed a lot and chatted in a Canadian accent, and encouraged us to vote on our favourite pieces in the show. Her pockets were parts of old Hawaiian shirts on orange courdourouy. Naturally I was impressed. She said to say 'If anyone asks, I'm a naturally bearded woman. Not transitioning or anything, just lucky, and brave enough to wear it around'. Cheers to that!

Anne here was in charge of warming up the quiches, and keeping the cuppas flowing, and casually cruised around meeting and greeting. Her scones (or the scones she presided over) were top shelf. We nibbled and surveyed the scene. She was undeniably a strong part of the club. She politely but surely told blokes at the door that it was a bloke free zone and carried on with business, graciously pausing for a photo. (Ta Anne!)

Some more info:
http://www.yandoit.net/
http://www.pprune.org/jet-blast/492709-knit-your-own-lesbian-competition.html
http://foxslane.blogspot.com.au/2010/08/yandoit-lesbian-wool-festival.html

Collaboration with performer Shian Law - Thousand Pound Bend -INTERVENTION: A Strategy for Spatial Practice.

A few weeks back the beautifully talented dancer Shian Law invited me for an afternoon of photo taking and dancing at Thousand Pound Bend. Shian created a live-art intervention, a performance for micro-curatorial actions and I photographed it/them.  Here are some photos combining afternoon light and sequence flash. 

 

Performers are:

 Anna Belle, Emily Ranford and James Whalesby and Shian Law