Valentine

I have quite a few childhood memories of sitting bored in the back seat of Dads car, pulled over on the side of the road, with the emergency lights 'ticking'. And Dad off in the trees trying to get a photo of something he had just seen. "You cant go past a 'white wooden bridge' if you want a good photo!" I think that may have been my fathers only aesthetic advice passed onto me over the years. Dad would also often stop along side countless rose gardens and squint into his heavy chrome Minolta and 'click' for what felt like hours. I'm worried some of it has rubbed off though. As I scan through my aperture folders and see how many random shots I have taken of roses and flowers, some of which you'll see on these pages. All the old school roses are in full bloom in and around Brunswick where I live, I'm so tempted to pull over and photograph them all, but resist through the fear of becoming too much like my Dad.

I did take a few snaps of these ones though...

Happy Valentines Natalie!

UP NORTH

Tamworth and Nambucca (and a single cloud below from Morewell)

Amazing Story, Amazing Photos

Very little is know about the photography of Vivian Maier, a street photographer who took photos from 1950 through to the early 90's. She was a Nanny but took a camera out on her days off. It wasn't until she died and her things were sold at auction that thousands of medium format negatives and undeveloped rolls of film were discovered.

Observed, playful and with an unique eye for unusual characters and details. It's hard to believe if her whork had not been discovered by accident this incredible catalogue of photographs may have remained unseen.

The story below reveals some details of her life, but essentially she remains a mystery.

Alot more info and photographs at this blog.

She and her photographs remind a little of what Chuck Close is saying in the post below. I don't think she was bundled up waiting for inspiration to strike. She was out there 'doing it'.

THIS WEEK

Finished the offline with Pete at The Butchery for the commercial we shot last week...

Then jumped in the car for a two day solo road trip through country Victoria and New South Wales to my home town of Tamworth...

More photos after the break...

Arrived to find my father in-law Keith, waiting patiently for Santa.

And Super Natalie and the kids who flew up a few days before.

Three weeks holidays! yipeee!

LAST WEEK

MORE HAIL

Some more photographs I took on the set of Amiel Courtin-Wilson's Hail. A bunch more over at the Hail website.

AN ISLAND, A ROSEBUD

stuffed

Last week I went to a taxidermist to research an element of a film I'm developing which I haven't mentioned here (yet). Needless to say the place was pretty fascinating. I've always found taxidermy and the process itself interesting. This particular place was large and sterile and they delt with a huge number of dead things from both here and over seas. It was very 'factory' like. I'm actually looking for something a little more, shall we say 'backyard'.

Also... on this same day while riding home from the office I crashed my motorcycle when a driver changed lanes and didn't "look left, look right, look bike'! I ended up slamming into the gutter and breaking my arm. So while I may not be as stuffed as our little friends above I am a little battered and bruised and will be typing with one hand for the next five weeks or so. Bummer.

Yes, no... maybe?

A photograph of photographs being edited...

HAIL

I've spent some time recently taking photographs on the set of my friend Amiel Courtin-Wilson's feature film Hail. It's been really inspiring sitting on the front line and watching Hail come together. Amiel is known for his wonderful documentary films and this is one of the few times he has directed 'fiction'. And I'm sure from what I have been seeing the lines between documentary and fiction will be well and truely blurred. If you are a regular reader, you'll know this is the kind of approach to film that really gets me excited. Amiel is working with a very small crew of only about five people, allowing him to work intuitively and spontaneously. I like it a whole lot! Below are some portraits I have taken of 'Dan' who not only 'stars' in the film, but the story of Hail is drawn closely from his life and those around him. The film is currently in post and will premiere early next year. Can't wait.

CAMERA BAG

I have really enjoyed looking through the short films and images at CameraBag.tv. A site that aims to "Celebrate image makers and highlight the beauty and style of the camera". The profiles find a nice balance between creative process and camera geekery. There are only four photographers profiled there at the moment, but it looks as though it will continue to be updated.

I'm BACK

I had a great time at the Vladivostok International Film Festival. The film was received really well. I always thought it had a bit of a russian thing going on in it. It's always nice to get feedback directly from an audience and I had a really lovely man come up to me after one of the screenings and say via an interpreter that he very much enjoyed the simplicity of the story, the more he watched, the more he realised there was more to the story than he first thought, and then in broken english he told me "In the final scene, my brain said 'yes', but my heart was saying 'no'..." I think that was what I was always looking for. I also had an interesting question in the press conference about the violence towards 10 year old 'Chook' (played by Tom Russell). The journalist asked "In Russia there is a saying where children tell their parents 'You did not beat me enough', meaning they have grown up to 'soft' and it is their parents fault. Do you think children should be beaten?" Needless to say there was an 'awkward' pause, before I went on to say that I could never condone any kind of violence towards a children. Not my own, and not to anyone elses. But then again, perhaps I'm one of the soft ones. It was an interesting cultural take on the film though.

I haven't travelled to as many festivals as I have been invited to this year for various reasons, but I was really glad to head back to Vladivostok. I hadn't watched Last Ride for nearly a year and although it was one of those screenings where I sat through and cringed at all the mistakes, the could have beens and I should haves and what ifs, it was really nice to be sitting in the dark and watching the film we made so far away from where we made it.

The photos I mentioned I was going to take have worked out well. I won't post any here just yet. But I wanted to say a special thanks to Dimitry who assisted me in finding a few a people and locations, as well translating and driving. It was really good getting to see another side of Vladivostok with him. Here he is posing with his cool russian made Zenit 35mm complete with a sinister looking 300mm lens and sniper like add ons. Thanks Dimity!

GOING BACK TO VLADI

Tomorrow morning I'm jumping on a plane to Vladivostok, Russia. I'm heading to the 'Pacific Meridian Film Festival'. I travelled there six years ago with Cracker Bag and the festival have now invited Last Ride into their feature film competition. The last time I was there. I got a really bad dose of food poisoning. I remember counting down the minutes till I could get on a plane out of there. I vowed never to return to Russia, anywhere in Russia, with the just the thought of it making my stomach churn for months afterwards.

But time heals all wounds it seems and I was quite pleased to be invited back. It's quite a fascinating place. When I was there last I took a bunch of photos and I have always wanted to go back and try and document the place a little better. This time I have organised a driver / interpreter / fixer to assist me. I have no real plans, just a list of places and things that might lead to one thing or another. I'm quite excited about what I might find.

Below a few selects from my last trip.

pictures of pictures

I can't help taking pictures of pictures. I'm OCD about it. To the point where I can't actually remember taking some of the photos below, let alone where they were taken. I just have to take them. If I don't take it when I see it, It will keep me awake at night. I've been taking pictures of pictures for years. My film / clip Paradise is all about shooting pictures of pictures. Kind of the motherload of pictures of pictures. I think for me it's about seeing how the light falls in the original picture and how that corresponds to the light in my picture. A selection from the last few months...

DONE OFF SPRING

I've finished my time with Offspring. I locked off the edits for my two episodes last week and I'm quite happy with the way they have come together (Eps 108 and 109 go to air in October on TEN). I have had an absolute ball with the cast and crew. I have learnt alot and the experience both personally and professionally, has been invaluable. My fingers are firmly crossed that the show is the success it deserves to be. Below from top to bottom. Sacha Horler, an absolute acting force, who I was lucky enough to cast for the guest role of 'Stacey'. Kat Stewart, this still was taken as part of a visual effect sequence, but here is something I really like about it. Kat is one special actor, who I can't wait to work more with. Asher Keddie, in character in the delivery suite. I have so much admiration for Asher. As the 'star' of the show she has had such an intense and tiring workload, but she continually strived to make each and every take the best she could make it, with impressive results. And Don Hany, who is one of the most down to earth and lovely guys I've ever met. It was a pleasure to watch these guys (and all the cast) at work each day.