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Ever wondered what the view from Flinder’s Street Station Clock Tower was like? Well, now you know…
I’m currently creating a series of bespoke photographic art works for a client’s building, and was shown an historic 180-degree-view photographic print of South Bank, taken in 1920. Despite the resolution you can make out early trams and hansom cabs on Princes Bridge, and see the smoke from a train crossing the railway bridge, now a pedestrian walkway from the Crown end of South Bank. I was sure the image was taken from the Flinder’s Street Station clock tower, and I’m setting out to re-create a contemporary view of the original photograph.
I’d been up there many years ago while shooting my Melbourne in Spires fine art architecture series. Metro Trains kindly granted me access to the clock tower once again, a rare privilege these days. The climb was higher and harder than I’d remembered, but well worth it. Not only for the view, but to see the inner workings of the clock tower. The beautiful mechanism, the stained glass of the four clock faces, and the famous ballroom, still strikingly beautiful, with a dignified patina of decay, despite its decades of neglect.
This photograph is from my initial reconaissance trip. I’m looking forward to re-creating the historic 1920 image, with one major difference. My panorama will need to take in the 84 storey Eureka building! Nothing in the 1920 view was higher than two storey factories.Meet the Artist Deferred ‘til Feb
Just a quick note to let you know that the “Meet the Artist” evening at the art@adelphi bar on Thursday 5th January will be deferred until February. Stay tuned for the date. Cheers, David.
Finding “sacred space” in a suburban car park!
Well it seems this image is the hot favourite from my recent exhibition Finding Sacred Space in a Secular World. Everyone wants to know where it is, and a friend even told me she’d seen it in a current car ad on TV.
I’m not sure if it’s the same one, but I found it while photographing a supermarket for a client. I was looking for a good angle but the surroundings were so cluttered and crowded I walked up the car park looking for a new vantage point from the roof. There wasn’t one. On my way back down I was suddenly taken by the light and the symmetry, so went back to get tripod & camera. If I’d been driving I would have missed it!
This fine art photograph (limited edition 2/5) is currently on view at the art@adelphi bar in The Adelphi Hotel, 187 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. So drop in anytime for a look and a drink. You can also MEET THE ARTIST (ie. me!) at the art@adelphi bar Thursday 5th January 2012 from 6-8pm for a drink and a chat.
There’s a FUN COMPETITION running from now until 5th Jan - guess the location & leave your business card at the bar with your answer written on the back. The winner (with closest correct answer) will be drawn on that night.
THE PRIZE - a 2 hour personal photography lesson from David Simmonds. Starting and finishing at The Adelphi, exploring the city however you want (David is an experienced photography mentor and tutor, and lectures in photography at The Australian Academy of Design, along with his other fine art and commercial work).
Exhibition now in November in Melbourne
Well, my exhibition “finding sacred space in a secular world” was well received at the Ballarat International Foto Biennale (read the comments) and it will now show again in Melbourne in November. So if you couldn’t make to Ballarat, come along to the Clement Meadmore Gallery in Port Melbourne 6th - 17th November 2011. Details here.
The Making of an Exhibition: finding sacred space in a secular world
Since Melbourne In Spires and Light, Line and Space, I’ve wanted to do another exhibition for some time, and I’d been musing on some of the wonderful public building interiors we have here in Melbourne. Their qualities of space, line and light were really calling to me and I was remembering my responses to a beautiful exhibition of Dome Photographs by David Stephenson some years ago, where I found myself wanting to be taken much closer, higher, right into the dome space itself. So I set out to explore how I could create images that take us into a different place, a new viewpoint and therefore a new response. To become immersed in such a way as to sense the deep beauty, great space and peace that can be found, even in busy public spaces – a “sacred” moment in a secular world.
So I set out to get up close and intimate with some of Melbourne’s most powerful and beautiful interiors, both contemporary and period. This meant using some different techniques. I didn’t simply want to put on a wide-angle lens and so push the detail that was already 30 to 40 feet (or more) above me even further away. I also knew I wanted to print these images quite large. I wanted to take you close enough to be amazed, delighted and, hopefully, take your breath away. To this end I used my beautiful and very sharp Canon 17mm tilt-shift lens using techniques usually reserved for panoramic landscapes.
One special moment occurred when we were packing up at The Royal Exhibition Buildings. A subtle, repetitive sound made us look up to see a man on a bicycle pedalling his way unhurriedly through the whole length of the building. A little while later it happened again and I was able to get this photograph (above), one of those delightful, whimsical moments that happen in life sometimes.
It’s been a challenging and immensely enjoyable project, which I hope to expand in the coming months. It’s been a priviledge to be able to photograph these beautiful spaces and I’d like to thank those who assisted me with permissions and access. I’d also like to thank my sponsors whose generous support has made this exhibition possible, and those friends who gave of their time to help hang the exhibition. So far, comments and feedback have been very positive, it’s nice to hear the first reaction of many is the involuntary intake of breath as they step into the room.
My exhibition “finding sacred space in a secular world” is now on show at the Ballarat International Foto Biennale until 18 September 2011, at St Patrick’s Community Hall, Dawson Street South (near corner of Sturt Street) Ballarat - download directions here.
The Hidden World of Robin Boyd
I had the great pleasure of working for Archicentre in the legendary Robin Boyd House recently. It’s now in Trust and not open to the public, unless you attend a function there. So I was delighted to have the opportunity to see inside. The house is a remarkable space. No, more than just a space. It’s full of life - art, books, furniture, magazines, flowers. The garden is inside as well as out, and it all still looks and feels contemporary, like it was designed yesterday, except our current OHS rules would never allow a balcony with no end rail! So the the balcony looks/feels like it totally integrates with the external surrounds. In its day, the Boyd House was well ahead of the field. Designed in 1958 it’s regarded as one of Australia’s architectural icons of the Twentieth century. I hope you enjoy these photographs.
Making images, not just taking pictures
New Year’s Eve 2010 and I’m up in the air getting a good view of the crowd at Birrarung Marr Park. Better weather than last year, thankfully, when we had wind, rain, thunder and lightening! I had to re-create the hero images for my client to capture the look and feel of the night, but without the downpour and fireworks blowing off in the wrong direction.
Even with good weather the ultimate fireworks image is not just one capture, and my job is to create an image that tells the whole story - the people, the energy, the feeling, the look, the scope and scale in relation to the CBD. I’ve done all my planning and logistics re the site and frame up, and go into action as the first burst hits the sky. For an intense 10 minutes I’m shooting each spectacular explosion, anticipating its peak display. Later, back in my studio, I bring it all together into an image of the ‘total experience’.
You may be tempted to think this is all just digital trickery and a few buttons in Photoshop, not “real” photography. But photographers have been manipulating their images since the beginning. It takes more than just pointing and shooting to craft a really great image. It takes passion, imagination, skill, tenacity, experience and a commitment to delivering the very best result, no matter what.
All the great masters spent hours, days even, in the dark room manipulating the process: dodging & burning to get just the right shade/tone of black, just the right zone in the highlights, often adding images with multiple exposure, or painting onto the print and re-photographing it for the desired effect.
My favourite example of this is an image created by photographer/pilot/adventurer Captain Alfred George Buckham in 1923 (see photo). Taking several images, which he amalgamated in the dark room, he “married art and craft into a composite whole”. Sometimes even painting in the crucial element. In my view the final image would not be nearly as powerful without the bi-plane. It would lack scale and drama.
Photograph: Bi-plane over The Thames, London, 1923 by Captain Alfred George Buckham. Discussed in Photogenic: From the Collection of the Royal Photographic Society (p292) by Pam Roberts (Scriptum Editions, London 2001) - a beautiful book I highly recommend.
The artist, David Hockney, speaks of the value of more than one decisive moment in a creative image. I advocate this wholeheartedly, providing I can marry art and craft into a whole and powerful image that brings my vision of the experience to the viewer in a way that moves, touches and inspires them. So, back to New Year’s Eve and midnight fireworks. I’ll let you be the judge: are you there on the night?
Gundagai, psychedelic carpet, Art Deco & Tom Ford.
How do these possibly connect? Well, bear with me…
Heading home from the AFA rally in support of photographer’s rights at Sydney’s Campbell Cove, we ended up in Gundagai close to 10pm just minutes before the last local take-away closed. Making a dash for the Chinese Restaurant we came back to the pub and, too tired to look further, we booked a room. It was only $50 and couldn’t be that bad.
At first we wondered what we’d done with flouro-green psychedelic carpet in the upstairs hallway, a tiny room with barred windows, no en-suite and (horrors) no TV, no fridge, no table and only one chair. Not much more than the bed (sans extra pillows) and a hand basin in the corner. But the bed was comfy and everything was immaculately clean, so we warmed to the particular charm of The Criterion, with it’s clash of Art Deco exterior and 1970’s inspired psychedelic interiors.
Looking around in the morning I realized Gundagai has a number of fine and interesting buildings and bridges, worthy of a longer stay next time we pass through.
Then, as this blog was waiting in the wings, Sandra brought home the DVD of Tom Ford’s film A Single Man, which was very moving and beautiful story of relationships set in 1960’s LA. Like an animated Hockney painting a la Mad Men pastiche, with a most original score by Polish composer Abel Korzeniowski. I just had to add it to my WATCHING list.
Photo: Parliament House, Canberra (taken on a very chilly night 4 days after Julia Gillard replaced Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister of Australia)
IMAGINE - 3 September 2010
(Musings over a glass of chardonnay 2 nights before the federal election)
Imagine if only our leaders could lead and work as a cohesive, functional, well-designed whole, just like this gracious building they sit in on our behalf. Imagine if we didn’t have this “schoolboy” parliament based on a factional and adversarial system of government. Imagine if our politicians encouraged us to think beyond the slogans and spin.
I have long imagined an alternative system of national governance to our current two party system (and mindset). Firstly, retaining our past Prime Ministers and senior leaders as a “Council of Elders” to function as an official advisory body setting the agendas (after all, we are still paying them). Past leaders of all persuasions brought together to serve the great vision for this country, free from the addiction of staying in power. It would be their chance to be real statesmen and women, instead of fighting and deriding each other they would be called to something much bigger - the future of our nation, the Australian people and our place in the world. They would be the nation’s thinkers and dreamers for the future.
Secondly, replace the current parliament with an executive comprising all elected members, like a large corporate board made up of skilled people from different backgrounds, faiths and political beliefs. Men and women charged with running the country for the benefit of all Australians successfully, equitably and profitably. Placed on a 5-year contract at the end of which they are assessed based on their record to stand, or not, for a second term. Remuneration, bonuses and superannuation are tied to productivity and how well they have served the country, not the party.
Thirdly, all the government departments are run by real-world CEO’s answerable to the executive, and the best practices and targets set by the executive and the people.
(A week and a bit later, and another glass of chardonnay)
Well, I might not have my wish, but there is a shift in the status quo in the air, which I personally am celebrating. In their negotiations, the independents are challenging the system with an opportunity for real change in the way our parliament and government operates. Shifting emphasis from the “red and blue team” competition to a more co-operative style of government. I say, let’s show some real Aussie guts and initiative and maybe we’ll have not just this fantastic building, but an empowered group of people working for the best outcomes, regardless of what team they barrack for. Let’s leave the competing where it belongs, in the sporting arena and the AFL Grand Final, where some look forward to a victory for both black AND white (Go the Pies!). But let us remember that everywhere else it takes great patience, courage, commitment, love and kindness to negotiate the many beautiful shades of grey that make a complete picture. Let’s hope our politicians can rise to the task.
FULL CIRCLE - 11 August 2010
To blog or not to blog? That’s been the question. But I’ve taken the plunge and am putting my thoughts out into the “ether”. I hope you’ll be informed and entertained as I take you on some of my meandering journeys through time and space in pursuit of beautiful light.
Last week in Sydney, between a client meeting and a board meeting, I was in George Street and found myself beneath Harry Seidler’s iconic building Australia Square. It was the subject of my first architectural photograph, taken as a boy of 14, while travelling back to Perth from a scout jambouree in Queensland.
With my 2-1/4 square Seagull Camera, the ones with the fold out lens, I just had to photograph what was the tallest building I’d ever seen (Perth was a small place in 1967!). With such a limited camera I could only fit such a tall building in the frame by lying down on my back in the middle of the footpath, turn the camera on its side and frame the building on the diagonal.
Somewhere I know I still have the negative and the print. Made by simple contact process with photographic paper, no enlarger, just a desk lamp and a couple of trays of chemicals. My very first foray into the world of black and white photography!
So, 43 years later, I recreated the image (above). Lying on my back with my trusty Ricoh GX200 set to raw and the wide-angle adapter. A completely digital version this time. Back then I had no idea that, as a young boy from Rhodesia with ideas of becoming a rock-collecting geologist, this was the start of a journey that still enthralls most of my waking hours today.
I follow..
