Frustration

I picked up a couple of rolls of film the other day to scan and found myself frustrated at the results.  I started to get really down on myself that I had wasted all this film and money to only come back with a handful of mediocre photos a moreover, photos that could have been good if I had put into practice what I knew needed to be done to get the results I wanted.

Rather than beat up on myself I decided to take my own advice and not be discouraged when you are disappointed in your own shots but rather have  a look and see and learn what you can do better next time.  And they are all simple things.

1. Take a tripod with me when I shoot

2. Shoot with a smaller aperture to get everything in focus

3. Start using higher ISO film

4. Take more time to get it right

One Down/Three to Go

So I've finished the first semester of Photoimaging at RMIT and I'm starting to enjoy it more and more.  I'm learning that you can and really should manipulate briefs and assignments given to you by teachers into what you want to do with photography.  My teachers and lecturers seem to all really get where I'm coming from and enjoy my work, so that's nice.

This is what I've been up to.

These two images (above) were made for the Process for Output class which basically taught us how to edit images for print properly.

The brief for this assignment was to make one high key and one low key images with two words acting as linking themes.  After much umming and arring I decided one the words Obscured and Identity as my words.


For my Lighting Technique class we had a few major assignments.  The first two I've mentioned in previous post and we had to use large format Cambo Cameras.  The film used in these camera is 4 inches wide and 5 inches long so the amount of detail it gain gather is incredible.

I was kind of disappointed with this shot (above) because it came out almost painterly, which isn't exactly a bad quality in a photo but it just wasn't what I was going for or had in mind.  Saying that though it was probably the most fun I had with really comercial based briefs we had to fill this semester.  I found myself really getting into trawling home ware shops and op shops searching for the perfect plates, cups, bottle and table cloth. Plus the teacher dug it so that was nice.

I took this image (above) of my good mate and fellow RMIT bro Terry for the Rembrandt Lighting assignment.  Part of the brief was that we had to use the shitty old lights with no ability to change the intensity of the light, besides moving it backwards and forwards.  The fact that the Cambo cameras show you an upside down and back to front image made this a super challenging assignment.  It really made all the students, especially the ones who have never worked with film before, realise how much used to go into creating a single photo and I hope we all take that care for detail into out future assignments.

Finally we have the last assignment for the Lighting Technique class.  The brief was relatively open with only a few limitations put on what we could and couldn't do like they had to be making eye contact with the camera, there had to be some kind of not plain background and they had to be holding a prop.  Originally my idea was supposed to be a send up of the old Noble Savage portraits that various European painters and photographers made of the natives living in their new colonies and I guess it changed a little along the way.

Sentences on Photography by Torbjørn Rødland

Warning. This post was written after consuming 8 psilocybe subaeruginosa.

I came across Torbjørn Rødland's Sentences on Photography was taken aback by Number 5 in particular.

5. Good ideas are easily bungled.

I realised how many times in my own work I have had a concept that I have gone after and somehow along the way messed up and that feeling of disappointment knowing that I won't be able to share this idea.  Then I remembered being a kid and watching those old Loony Tunes episodes where Whiley Caoyotte would be chasing Road Runner and come up with brilliant schemes to catch him and, of course, it would fail and then he would move onto the next thing.  I remember as a kid thinking that these ideas were good but they just didn't happen to work the first time and that if he tried one more time he prooobably would have caught that Road Runner.

Which I guess brings me to Number 6.

6. Banal ideas can be rescued by personal investment and beautiful execution.

I guess what I am trying to say is that maybe in photography or whatever part of life you choice to apply it to some ideas are worth going after even if they fall on their face in their first attempt and that if they actually are really good ideas or images eventually they will come out.

The full list of Sentences on Photography by Torbjørn Rødland can be found here.  

Suburban Melbourne

Part of what I am interested in photography is the idea of the Australian identity.  A large part of that identity lies in the suburbs, as such, I am drawn to documenting that side of our identity.

I have been focussing on the suburbs that I spend most of my time in.  The middle class suburb of Box Hill (below) in Eastern Melbourne is where I currently live and photograph when ever possible.

I also work in the inner suburb of Abbotsford (below) where I have been trying to document the differences of between inner city life and life further out in the suburbs.

I don't hate or look down on the suburbs, I know it's where I was born and raised and perhaps where I will end up when I settle down.  However, with these photos though I am trying document all aspects of suburban life in particular the parts we rather not think about or look at.

In my photos it's clear to see an American influence, an idea of what a photo should look like that is informed by American photographers like Stephen Shore and William Eggleston and other New Topographic photographers.  Part of this stems from being from the suburbs, which are essentially and American idea.

Update

So I just finished my 7th week (I think) of my course at RMIT.  I guess I am enjoying it, I'm learning a lot of important stuff about photoshop, colour management, printing and that kind of techniqual stuff but I haven't really had a chance to get my hands on a camera and actually take some photos.  Next week I am doing a food shoot and I get to use a large format 4x5 Cambo camera so I am pretty stoked about that.  I've never used large format before.

If anything I suppose it has cemented the idea in my head that I want to study fine art photography and pursue that.

Anyway.  Here are some photos of a truck stop I made while traveling with my family between Melbourne and Wadonga.  Really haven't done that much but getting back into the swing of studying has got my creative juices going and inspired me to do some photography just for myself and not for school.

First Week

I started at RMIT on Monday and just completed my first week.  Pretty stoked about it because I didn't really think that it was the course for me but now that I have seen and heard what they are on about it's starting to become more appealing.
Saying this though I am going to have to buy a shit ton of equipment and fast and I have no idea how I am going to afford it short of selling my body on the streets.

~Results~

After completing my uni interviews I got an email telling me that I am going to get a first round offer next month.  Pretty stoked on that, I have been working towards this all year and the positive result is just what I needed.  The RMIT course is a definite because there are no pre-requisites but the course I really want to do at VCA requires you to have completed a few things at high school.  I graduated high school like 4 years ago now so I am not one hundo percent sure that I'll get in but my fingers are perpetually crossed.

In other news I should go back and correct aaaall the spelling mistakes in my old blog entries, they are quite embarrassing.  Ain't gonna happen though.

In other other news I need money for film and processing.