November 15, 2013

Friday Round Up - 15 November

This week on Friday Round Up Sydney takes the spotlight with three new exhibitions on show. Also view part two of the photo essay Stu Steps Up, check out the latest trends in photobooks, see what Sam Harris is posting to The Photographers’ Gallery Instagram feed and celebrate the launch of L’Oeil de la Photographie (formerly Le Journal). Plus Sydney photographer and publisher John Ogden’s Saltwater People series takes out this year’s National Maritime Museum Biennial Frank Broeze History Award.

Exhibitions: Sydney

Tim Page – Diggers in the Nam
© Tim Page

This week Tim Page’s exhibition Diggers in the Nam opened in Sydney at Blanco Negro. The exhibition features 20 silver gelatin prints of photographs taken between 1965-1969 when Page, then a young man in his twenties, threw himself headfirst into life as a war photojournalist.

Page is known as one of the iconic photographers of the Vietnam War. His pictures have appeared in newspapers and magazines around the globe over a career that has spanned five decades. Infamously reputed to be the inspiration for Dennis Hopper’s outlandish character in ‘Apocalypse Now’, Page has had a lauded, and at times, immensely dangerous career that has left him at death’s door on more than one occasion. Through his lens he has shown the world images that define generations and his photographs can be seen in museums and galleries around the world, and within the pages of books. And also on this blog with the Tim Page Unseen series featuring never before published photographs. 

All money raised from Diggers in the Nam goes to Soldier On an organisation supporting veterans with physical and psychological wounds.


Pictured L-R: Tim Page, Stephen Dupont, Marianne Harris and Ben Bohane, all members of the collective Degree South (Photo John Odgen)

Until 14 January 2014
Blanco Negro
Shop 4, 44-54 Botany Road
Alexandria
By appointment + 61 2 9698 4552

Jane Burton Taylor – Grove







For three consecutive years Australian artist Jane Burton Taylor travelled to Puglia in Italy to photograph that region’s olive groves through their seasonal cycles - many of these groves were planted in the Middle Ages and their longevity is testament to the passion and love given to nurturing them. Burton Taylor chose 12 groves where today the farmers still care for the trees by hand.

The result of her exploration can be see in the exhibition Grove currently on in Sydney. Shot on film using a 50 year old Hasselblad medium format camera Burton Taylor has presented her images as large-scale triptych panels. These works not only capture the wonder of nature but also “the spiritual and physical relationship humans have with” Mother Earth.


© Jane Burton Taylor

Until 1 December
Barometer Gallery
13 Gurner Street (cnr Duxford St),
Paddington

Rennie Ellis - Kings Cross 1970 to 1971
© Rennie Ellis

In August the book DECADE: 1970-1980 by Australian photographer Rennie Ellis was launched. Featuring iconic images that capture the dichotomy of 1970s Australia in black and white DECADE reflects a period when creative exploration and cultural anarchy ruled.


Now the State Library of New South Wales is presenting an exhibition of Ellis’ works shot during a year spent documenting Sydney’s notorious Kings Cross, images that are also featured in DECADE.

16 November – 16 February 2014
State Library of New South Wales

Photo Essay:
Ludovic Robert - Stu Steps Up Part Two
© Ludovic Robert

In September we blogged about brave Stuart “Stu” Nixon and his attempt to raise funds for MS by walking 60 kilometres – except Stu can’t walk as he is an MS sufferer himself. London-based French photographer Ludovic Robert has been documenting Stu’s story and you can see part two here. And check out part one at this link if you missed it before! Keep a box of tissues handy.

Stu Steps Up Part One
Stu Steps Up Part Two

Paris Photo:
Photobook Fever

Later today in Paris (1pm local time) the winners of the Paris Photo Aperture Foundation Photobooks Award will be announced. Leslie Martin was one of this year’s judges and her interview with Wired is an interesting read. In ‘Take It From a Publishing Pro: The Photobook Format Is Up for Grabs’ Martin reveals that the photobook genre is wide open and the only constant is change. Of the 20 books on the short list in the Paris-Photo Aperture Foundation Awards First Book category 14 are self-published. 

(Photo Andrew White, Wired)

Martin says, “Increasingly, these self-pub books are very sophisticated in their construction and the materials they use…People are manipulating bindings, making beautiful cloth selection and doing things that you don’t find in the usual factory processes. I really respect the creativity in the self-pub world and the level of production has really increased dramatically...” 

Read the full article here - Wired

Check out the list of finalists in Paris Photo Aperture Foundation Photobooks Award here.

Instagram Takeover
The Photographers' Gallery London

If you haven’t already, check out The Photographers’ Gallery Instagram Feed which is currently in the hands of our very own Sam Harris (until 17 November). In parallel with the Gallery’s current exhibition Home Truths: Motherhood, Photography and Identity, curated by Susan Bright, the Gallery has engaged photographers whose work sits in this stream. 

© Sam Harris

Harris is known for his work which is an “ongoing family diary”. His book Postcards from Home has won multiple awards. Of his focus he says, “As I witness my daughters’ transformation in what feels like the briefest of moments, I’m compelled to try and preserve something of our time living together".

See Sam's Instagram Feed here

Celebration:
L’Oeil de la Photographie Launches
The L'Oeil team

“Seventy-five days after leaving Le Journal de la Photographie, we’re back with L'Oeil de la Photographie (The Eye of Photography). The seventy-five days were turbulent and full of passion, and we owe our return to ten sponsors who will support us as we develop a more sustainable business model. We will introduce them in the near future. We would like to thank them all. Our return also owes itself to our team: of the 36 regular and occasional contributors to Le Journal, 34 are with us today as The Eye. And above all, we are here today because of you. The hundreds of messages we received in the past weeks reinforced our determination to return as soon as possible,” Jean-Jacques Naudet Editorial Director.

On a personal note I am delighted to continue to be part of a great team of writers who are passionate about the photographic medium.

Subscribe to L'Oeil de la Photographie today

Award:
Saltwater People 


Cyclops Press aka John “Oggy” Ogden’s Saltwater People series – Saltwater People of the Broken Bays and Saltwater People of the Fatal Shore - have won the 2013 National Maritime Museum Biennial Frank Broeze History Award. 


 
“Sydneyʼs beaches are recognized as the birthplace of Australian beach culture, but few realise that the coastal clans of the Dharug, Eora and Dharawal Nations, who lived along this coastline for tens of thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, were the custodians of the beaches and the many creatures who inhabited this interface between land and sea. Their rich culture and sustainable lifestyle holds many lessons for the current Saltwater People in addressing the environmental issues confronting the ocean beaches” – John Ogden, author, photographer and publisher.

Check out the books at Cyclops Press

Have a great weekend.


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