JOURNAL
The process diary of film director Glendyn Ivin
Filtering by Category: Photography
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE...
Glendyn Ivin
For the last few years (here & here) I've made the two day road trip from Melbourne (Victoria) to Tamworth (New South Wales) for Xmas with family. Each time I've stopped in a little town called Peak Hill to have a break take a photo of this weird potted plant outside some closed down shops and the 'Gents Hairdresser'. 2010
2011
2012
IF NOT HERE, THEN WHERE?
Glendyn Ivin
LAST NIGHT
Glendyn Ivin
AUCKLAND
Glendyn Ivin
THE WEEKEND
Glendyn Ivin
Over here in Auckland, New Zealand shooting a commercial but had a much needed day off yesterday which also coincided with my birthday. Choice az bro! Spent the day walking around browsing in book shops, sifting through and listening to records and taking photos of things I saw along the way...
On vinyl I discovered the joyous and somewhat indefinable Wild Bill Rickets. Kinda dub, kinda jazz, kinda musical in a way I haven't heard before. Bought two albums. Kinda obsessed with him now. Loo Loo (below) was the gateway track, groovy, haunting and strange!
Also I had been wanting to see Beasts Of The Southern Wild for ever and I had missed it when it was on at our local cinema. I didn't want to see it on a plane, train or download so I was excited to see it was screening in downtown Auckland. It's a beautiful film and I can see why for such a small, strange and extremely art house film it has managed to cut through.
A good day.
ROSEBUD
Glendyn Ivin
QF FLIGHT BLAH BLAH SYDNEY TO MELBOURNE
Glendyn Ivin
ISTANBUL 3
Glendyn Ivin
ISTANBUL 2
Glendyn Ivin
ISTANBUL 1
Glendyn Ivin
DRIVE BY DUBAI
Glendyn Ivin
Greeted by a nine hour stopover in Dubai (on route to Turkey), we left the airport and visited the Burj Khalifa 'the tallest building in the world'.
FLAMING EBOOK
Glendyn Ivin
Flaming Youth, Photographs from Puberty Blues is now also available as an eBook here for AUD$4.99 (or click on the book cover, top right, for more info). The eBook is pretty much the same as the hardcover version except you can't feel the weight of it in your hands, or the texture of the paper on your fingertips or press your nose firmly to the page and inhale the sweet perfume of freshly printed ink. The eBook also costs a fraction of the price of the physical copy, which is a true indicator of the cost of nice paper, ink and boutique printing these days.
I could have just created an eBook, but I love, love, love the printed page and buy photographic books almost obsessively. Apart from actually taking photos (or making films), sitting and observing the work of others is the best education there is!
Also available on iTunes.
A TERRIBLE THING
Glendyn Ivin
I live a few blocks from where 29 year old Jill Meagher was recently abducted (and then raped, murdered and buried in a shallow grave ). It's a terrible thing that has shocked our suburb of Brunswick, the city of Melbourne and the country as a whole. I visited a candle light vigil on Friday night at the baptist church just a few meters from where Jill was last seen alive. The vigil was set up in response as a man was arrested and charged with Jills rape and murder. Almost a week to the day after Jill was last seen alive. Today (Sunday), I marched silently with 30 000 people down Sydney road in an emotional show of support for Jills family and friends. A sombre yet powerful display of a community making a stand against violence. In amongst the shock and sadness of the march there was something quite affirming about it. It was nice to know we live in a place where this kind of act can bring such an emotional and supportive response from 'strangers' on mass. Despite everything thats so wrong about this horrible crime, I came home from the march feeling there is way, way, way more good in the world than there is bad.
Above: the corner of Sydney Road and Hope Street last Friday night.
R.I.P JILL MEAGHER
FLAMING YOUTH
Glendyn Ivin
Here it is, Flaming Youth, a book of my photographs from Puberty Blues.
Available in two flavours.
1. Hardcover, 100 pages (AUD$75.00+p) HERE
2. eBook, 100 pages (AUD$4.99) HERE
I started documenting the making of the show from the start. Like visual notes the photographs became part of the process of discovery of how the series would look and feel. From casting and location scouting to scene ideas, documenting a colour or how the light looked at a certain time of day. What worked, what didn’t. Portraits of actors I admire deeply. The people, places and things that make up the texture and tone of Puberty Blues.
Most of the time the photos were taken in the moments just before ‘Action!’ was called. Or in-between 'takes' to maintain focus and momentum throughout the stop / start rhythm of shooting. Brenna Harding (Sue) called it ‘the gap’. That small amount of precious time just before the cameras roll. I would sometimes take a quick shot just as that moment of transformation would take place, from 'actor' to 'character'.
Sometimes the photo would become the key on how to shoot a scene. A way of trying to find the essence, or a reduction to a single image. An attempt to find stillness in and amongst the chaos of a film shoot.
From the foreword, written by Alice Bell... This book is not a behind the scenes look at Puberty Blues (2012). It’s much quieter than that. It’s as if we’ve been invited to visit a world within the world of Puberty Blues. A place where these characters live and breathe. In Glendyn’s gentle and collaborative way he has captured moments that otherwise might have slipped away, a fleeting glimpse of untamed innocence found somewhere between the sunlight and the shadows.