Conor O'Brien - 16/05/2011

Conor O’Brien is in many ways an enigma. Showing a decade of his work, he seems to have come so far, yet, made no progress. From taking photographs for fun as a teenager, the young O’Brien moved to Vancover, Canada, where he started to use the medium as more then just a hobby. Taking Black and White film shots of the world around him, O’Brien decided to create and publish a small book/zine displaying these works. In 2003, O’Brien attended an exhibition displaying the works of photographer, Tim Barber, whose work continues to play a huge influence on the work of O’Brien. Unfortunately, in the opinion or this student and photographer, O’Brien’s work did not seem to grow after this series? Although there was the change to colour film, moving back to Australia, and growing recognition as an artist, O’Brien continued to document his surroundings in a manner that could be compared to that of Nan Goldin. In the tutorial we discussed the possibility that O’Brien, like the works of Goldin, no longer have such an affect on today’s generation, they’re images that we see everyday on Facebook. O’Brien however did continue to grow in his sense of presentation. He continually produces publications and exhibits throughout Australia. The white cube galleries he is seen in tends to juxtapose that of his work, something I’d like to hear him talk about and maybe use that juxtaposition to bring more depth to his work.

However, a great understanding of photography did occur to me during this lecture. Whether you the reader agree or not, I now believe that there are truly two types of photography, the intentional, and the unintentional. Intentional does not however mean a created shot, but a photograph taken with a previous agenda, thus including photo-journalism. The unintentional photograph however, the works I believe O’Brien falls into, is that of which every person captures when they go for night out. Neither is right or wrong, they are purely two different styles, and there are obviously times when everyone, particularly every photographer, would fall into both categories.

Hayden Fowler - 09/05/2011

I did not expect myself to be so fascinated with this lecture, however it left me in a state of… confusion. I should say… good confusion. Fowler presented he’s body of works over the past decade, but not in chronological order. It was awe inspiring to hear how he’s ideas and concepts transgressed as he continued to make his art. Many of his works left me asking, ‘what is he trying to show through this work?’ Whether it was goats walking around a set, lambs drinking milk from fake teats, or a women portraying Venus and graphically retrieving flowers from her vulva. Now, a few days on from the lecture, I’m still left unsure of how I feel about the work, if I was in a gallery showing it, would I stay and watch it? Regardless of personal taste, it was a priceless insight into an artists life work. Unlike previous lectures, it was the first time that the lecturer truly discussed how their concepts have changed so greatly over time, and yet they can all be traced back to one base concept.

Gregory Crewdson - 18/04/2011

There is not much one can say after an open lecture presented by someone as notable as Gregory Crewdson. Presented with images from his under-grad days, to his large, comprehensive series, Beneath the Roses, Crewdson openly discussed the images in a relaxed, seemingly effortless manner. The has always been an ‘epicness’ to Crewdson’s photography, they are almost a cinematic experience, from the way they’re shot, to the way they’re presented. It is interesting then to hear how influenced he is by the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Although I have not seen the movie, Crewdson showed a few shorts from the movie, and the realization of great an influence this was to him became evident. Unlike previous lectures, Crewdson discussed how he came to get that image, how he envisioned it and then how he set out to create it. But even more interesting, and unlike previous lectures, was Crewdson’s ability to not speak about or try to explain every image, and to just let it speak for itself.

I think everyone in the audience could have continued to sit and listen for hours on end, and the only wish was that we heard more about his latest series, Sanctury.

Liza Statton - 11/04/2011

“How do you get someone to spend more then 5 minutes in a show?” – Liz Statton

Former curator of Art Space in USA, Liza Statton, brought to us a presentation on her curation of a ‘single chanel video’ exhibition titles ‘Betwixt and Between’. Despite the interesting content of the show, I was disappointed as the lecture seemed to be a recount of the show, opposed to a discussion of how one would curate a show. Although this did enter into discussions, such as how sound affects different parts of the gallery, the artist by artist nature of the lecture did not lend itself to that discussion in a way that I believe would have been more interesting. Briefly touched on topics that could have opened into great discussions, such as how artists may now use mass media, such as YouTube, as a means of promoting, or to the opposite end, retaining the rights to their work. I would like to have also spent more time discussing the question of how one does create a show that people will spend more then 5 minutes at.

Prudence Murphy - 04/04/2011

Unlike previous lecturers, I have had luck of having been taught by Pru Murphy last year. However, seeing Pru give a lecture in this manner, opposed to the less formal tutorial last year, was quite different to what I was used to, but a great chance to learn about someone, and their work, who had taught me.

Initially I was sceptical with the lecture starting about Muybridge’s ‘The Horse in Motion’, worried that it would be more of history lecture, however it was a beautiful lead in to her early works, and was a very obvious and important influence on her art practice. Without recounting each series, it was fascinating to see the progression in an artists work from a uni student, to a full time artist, to a mother. Each of these life phases were reflected in her works, particularly that of motherhood in her past three series. Pru was generous enough to show us works in development for a show that would open this June/July. Although I did not take interest to these latest works as I did to her previous series, it did lead to an interesting discussion. The works showed young boys playing with guns or various objects that could in anyway represent a gun. From this, discussion grew as to whether parents should or should not let their children play in such objects, like most discussions of this nature, it finished unresolved, however, the work Pru had created did what it set out to do, that is, get the discussion going.

Blair French - 28/03/2011

Unlike previous lectures, there was nothing that I could quote French on for no reason other then the fact I couldn’t understand the complex language he used to discuss his lecture titled ‘Contemporaneity and the Heft of Photography’. This is lack of understanding is through no way of his fault. After the tutorial for the lecture, I so wish I had understood. For this reason, my post will be segmented between the pre and the post tutorial.

Pre-tutorial: There was no doubt in my mind the Blair French is extremely learned in the field of art and that of photography. The lecture however seemed disjointed. As he stated at the beginning of the lecture, ‘You can’t just look at a blank screen!’ So as a solution he was generous enough to show us MRI scans of a Polaroid camera, however, the relevance of these works to his lecture eluded me.

Post-Tutorial: Following on from discussion that came out of Dupont’s tutorial about the ‘death of photography’, a large portion of today was spent discussing the relevance of photography in the modern world, as well as this need for appearing ‘contemporary’. We all, artists, photographers, designers alike, struggle in the need of appearing contemporary, whilst battling an audience who can now capture images much the same on their mobile phone. Where does that leave us, the studying photographer? I wish I knew!

Stephen Dupont - 21/03/2001

“I don’t take images, I am given them.” – Stephen Dupont

The personal philosophy of Dupont, as shown above, is extraordinarily apt not only to photojournalism, but in the opinion of this writer, photography in general. As a photographer, Dupont is highly regarded for is imagery of war. His ‘Magnum-esque’ style of photography can been seen in his latest exhibition and book, Afghanistan –Perils of Freedom. The show and book depict all facets of the wars in Afghanistan from 1993 until 2009. The rise of the Taliban, the War on Terror, the local people, the allied forces, the deaths, and the national drug rings as a result of the war, are all captured and poignantly presented.

As a student looking at these images, I’m torn. As a society we claim that television and the news has left us desensitised to such imagery, and yet there certainly is no imagery quite so… genuine in the media. Yet, they are works of art.

The question that remains with me, and I was unfortunately unable to ask is, capturing images such as these must take their psychological and emotional toll? Is the hope that the images will bare light to the actual situation to the common person the remittance?

Stephen Dupont is nothing short of an inspiration to not only photojournalism, but to photography as a whole. If I can take only one thing from this lecture series, I hope it is to share his personal philosophy.

Anne Ferran - 14/03/2011

“How do you photograph nothingness?”

It can be argued that Anne Ferran is the most prominent female in contemporary art photography in the country at the moment; however, her lecture did not seem to do earn her the recognition that she has obviously earned. Her series, Lost Worlds 2, the focus of the lecture, was a series that undoubtedly held great importance to her. Aimed at remembering those who otherwise would not be remembered, the work was a series of large scale photographs showing grass, nothingness, something that could not draw any meaning and thus leave the audience with nothing but the chance to remember those who may not usually be remembered. However, as Ferran mentioned, it seems intrinsic for a human to try and find or draw meaning from a photograph. Unlike other art mediums, photography can only capture something that exists, a time, place or object, but never ‘nothingness’. The audience always wants to take it for something that exists because that is our understanding of a photograph. Ferran explained her motive for the work, children born to women in female penal institutions in Tasmanisa in the 1800s, who died before the age of 2 years, leaving this world as nothing but a name on a page. It is hard to not appreciate Ferran’s dedication to the research, however, this student and photographer questions the how well the final works reflected the research.

Bill Henson - 7th March 2011

“Photography saturates every aspect of our culture” – Bill Henson

The above statement by Mr Henson on Monday night’s lecture (07/03/11) could not be more apt to our studies. In an age where the common person has the ability and means to take, and edit, a photograph from the comfort of their computer desk, how are we, students of the discipline, meant to compete? Henson is one of, if not, the, most notable photographers in Australia, who’s work has had national impact, be it representing the nation at the Venice Biennale, or works that have changed the face of Australian Censorship and Classification laws. In the opinion of this writer, Henson wanted the students leave the lecture knowing that when they create a work, that they must make it for themselves and not the audience in mind.

Henson spoke of his love for creating his artworks; a love that must be so deep, that medium wouldn’t, despite his deep roots in analogue photography. This later came to light when he discussed his most recent works, all of which are Inkjet prints. Henson stated, “The more difficult it is… the more natural the editing process is” and that was one factor as to why he’d refused to ‘go digital’ for so long, that… and he had exhausted the global stocks of mural size, colour paper. Then emphasis for this reason was, as Henson stated, “(a) Photograph is an object… it needs to command the space” something that Henson’s photography has achieved consistently. A point that, hopefully everyone present, and certainly this writer, learnt.