Snapfactor: Allan Duncan

Ryan, 2012
ALLAN DUNCAN

We're pleased to be see our 10 x 8 camera getting good use by our current Photomedia students. Allan Duncan recently shot Ryan's portrait in the lighting studio in preparation for his upcoming fashion shoot. Keep posted for future images.

New tech vs old tech

Fragmented closure, digital prints & sepia toned gelatin silver photographs, 813mm x 1220mm
KRIS SMITH

Kris Smith has been busy in the darkroom creating a new work for the Tracing Site exhibition opening at Newcastle Museum this Thursday. We're not sure if Kris is the first to take an iPad into the darkroom and use it to create an image with help from a trusty enlarger, but we reckon he must be up there. The image above comprises both digital and analogue photographs representing in a physical way the integration of old and new technologies. Kris speaks of the work as 'referencing the fact that so-called outmoded technology underpins and is embedded into the new. In a reversal of this, the new embedded into the old, the iPod/iPhone screen is used in a literal sense, via a projection lens, to create an image on traditional photographic paper.' The image below is a detail of an analogue component.

Fragmented closure (detail)
KRIS SMITH

Background: Ellen Kozakiewicz

Untitled
ELLEN KOZAKIEWICZ

Our background image this week comes from Ellen Kozakiewicz. The image was made for the Alchemy class with a self-made pinhole camera and processed at Big W. In Ellen's case the film came back scratched, marked and folded which is not usually the result artists are after. In this case the image takes on a surreal beauty and interest with just a hint of melancholy thanks to all kinds of mistakes at the processing end.

Dear Photograph

We've become fans of this rather intriguing website, Dear Photograph. The premise for Dear Photograph is simple: take a picture of a picture from the past in the present. There is nothing more to say other than take a look.

Call Out: Hand + Eye

The Hand & Eye International Competition of Handmade Photography is currently calling for entries. While the prize money is limited, the exposure potential is high. Entries close 15 August. Full details can be found here.

Transit(ion) - II

Untitled
TRACEY LANG

Tracey Lang's contribution for Transit(ion) is an intriguing traditional black and white image that invites serious pondering.

When size does matter

The Great Picture

We're always impressed by experimentation especially when it is taken to the limit. The Great Picture (above) is quite possibly the world's largest photograph at about 32 metres wide. Although it was created in 2007, it is always good to be reminded of what can be done when you put your mind to a task. Aside from being large in scale, the image required some 600 gallons of developer and a further 1,200 gallons of fixer to produce. Click here for more information about how it all came about.

Look Out: Duck or rabbit? Or fish?

Head
BEGONA PRETORIUS

Here at Fine Art we've been treated to an inspiring round of Honours presentations these past couple of weeks. Perceptive painting student Liam started his presentation by showing the illustration (below) and how it may relate to his practice in relation to the gestalt. The following week Photomedia student Begona made the print above. We couldn't help but note the similarity between the two. What do you think?

Just days to go

PENNY DUNSTAN

Penny Dunstan's We who are many exhibition is currently on at Podspace with just days to go. The alchemic nature of the Van Dyke process breathes new life into old hymnbooks onto which carefully selected plants from the artist's garden have been exposed. With close to a hundred images, this exhibition details the myriad forms of nature and its inherent beauty.

Light experiments

CHRIS BYRNES

Current Honours student Chris Byrnes has taken to the pinhole camera with gusto producing intriguing large-scale images of familiar land and street scapes. Effectively painting with light, Chris is interested in the human experience evidenced in her experimention with science and light and the elements of photographic practice. Chris is currently preparing for her Honours examination with a major body of new work.