pavilion, liepaja, latvia pilgrimagegreatdivide/photogvol_9_4.pdf · page photo.graphy volume 9 #4...

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PHOTO.Graphy Volume 9 #4

VOLUME 9 # 4 ~ Y2K

I S S N 1 0 3 8 - 4 3 3 2

pilgrimageand exhibition by Zigi Georges at Point Light Gallery, Sydney

PHOTO : Zigi Georges ~ Pavilion, Liepaja, Latvia

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Rock and Bald Rock Creek, Girraween NP

Zigi Georges at point light

R egular visitors to point light gallery will be familiar with the work of ZigiGeorges. Her photographs have appeared in several group shows, fromour first exhibition in 1996 through to Trees in October last year.Memorable images from those shows include a joyful pregnant nude woman and her

partner embracing in the surf at Noosa and the mysterious and enigmatic landscape entitled “Login Murdering Creek”.

pilgrimage is an eclectic selection of Zigi’s images taken during her travels over the lasttwo years, through Australia, India and her native Latvia. They are a unique blending of herfantasy and reality.

Zigi prefaces her artist’s statement with a quotation from the photographer Lewis Hine -“If I could tell the story in words I wouldn’t need a camera”, and so rather than tell you any moreabout this exhibition we invite you to visit, contemplate and enjoy.

pilgrimageZigi Georges * POINT LIGHT GALLERY

On show until April 23, 2000Gallery hours :Thursday to Sunday 11.00am to 5.00pm4/50 Reservoir Street Surry Hills NSW 2010www.pointlight.com.au

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House for sale, Charters Towers

Biographical and artistic note

Z igi Georges tends to be a peripatetic artist. She has lived and worked inmany places: from Riga to Oberstauffen, from Auckland to Pondicherry,to Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, New York and Poona.Over the years, Zigi has used a variety of visual media including drawing,

oil painting, water colour and pastels. After a sojourn on Brampton Island and a stintin Canberra, Zigi moved to Noosa and has continued to concentrate her creativityinto photography for more than a decade.

Predominant themes in her world include a celebration of wilderness, theunderlying spirituality evident in aspects of nature and people, resulting in land-scape photography, portraits and figure studies.

Zigi Georges chooses to work in silver based photography, permanenceand beauty of black and white being two major considerations. She also prefers towork with large format cameras (4 x 5 inch and 8 x 10 inch cameras) to get effectsthat appeal to her sensibility.

Her photographs are in collections with people in Australia and overseas.Zigi operates from Noosa under “Zigi Georges Photography” and is a member of theAustralian Institute of Professional Photographers.

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BHP WALTZING MATILDAWINTON, QUEENSLAND

A fter you drive for about a day and half north west ofToowoomba a brave new world gradually appears. Aplace that soft handed eastern seaborders would findalien and strange. This is the kind of place that four

wheel drive advertisements depict being conquered by knobbly tyresand dust clouds. For the traveller in such places reality strikes whensettlements are separated by a hundred plus kilometres and themobile phone gives up.

Myths and the mysterious are entwined in placenames likeCombo Waterhole, Lark Quarry, Min Min and Walkabout Creek.Tough people live here, their faces and their lands are the stuff thatwould end up as pictures in a National Geographic millennium issueor a host of postcards and coffee table books. You could say that thesepeople are photogenic but ~ talk with many of them and they will tellyou that they prefer to be behind the camera.

PHOTO ~ Victoria Cooper : The judge considering the works

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FIRST PRIZE B&W: The Outback Struggle ~ Graham Burstow

THIRD PRIZE B&W : Road Runner ~ Joy Klein

PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION 1999

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I met these outback photographers whilst being the judge for the 1999 BHPWaltzing Matilda Photographic Award. 1999 was the third year for this award and fromthe number of entries and the diverse geographic locations that work came from it isclear that this award is gaining national stature.

The theme of the competition was the photographic representation of the“outback” and must be a ‘real McCoy’ photo – none of that digital trickery was allowed.Entries can be color and black & white and must be presented framed for hanging. Thejudge’s task is to reward creative thought processes in relation to portraying the theme.

The preliminary viewing of the work took place in the Matilda Centre in Winton.Okay, you might expect a converted CWA hall with wooden floor and unlinedcorrugated iron tainted red with dust!! But no, this place is a modern facility that is anexcellent example of a modern gallery+museum symbiotic relationship. The gallery iswell appointed and enables the displayed work to presented to standards encounteredalong the Eastern seaboard.

Walk through the gallery door and you become immersed in personalphotographic representations of the mythical outback. Pictures of people, plants,landscapes and dust are encountered. As a constant traveller of the outback for nearlytwenty years many images provided me with a personal link to the subject.

SECOND PRIZE B&W : Dream Walk ~ Joy Klein SECOND PRIZE COLOR : Dead Tree ~ Jacqueline Curley


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Prize winning works were selected on the basis of the story telling content of the work.A dusty stockman, gnarled tree, jackaroos by campfire on a cold night, a portrait of a young girlmade at dusk with a rising moon, a dramatic image of cattle crossing a waterhole. After theselection process was complete the maker’s names were applied to the work and origins of workand photographer became known. It was of interest to me the number of images made byphotographers from outback Queensland. Three of the six winning works were localsessentially picturing their own back yards!

As the judging merged with the opening event and progressed into a two day workshopI had the opportunity to meet and work with many of the “local” photographers. These arepeople of passion for the photograph and what it captures and what it means. Names like FionaLake, John Knowles, Sash Whitehead and Robert McQueen come to mind as key representativesof this distanced group of image-makers, who, whilst isolated, continue to be active in projectsas varied as book and post card publishing to exhibitions and local documentation.

I do not believe I have met a more enthusiastic group of committed photographers anyside of the great divide.

Doug Spowart 8/11/99

An exhibition of Winton photographers works entitled “Perceptions X4” is currentlyon show at the Logan Art Gallery. PHONE (07) 3826 5519 for details.

FIRST PRIZE COLOR: On the Move ~ Louisa McKerrow

Prize winning works

were selected on the basis of the

story telling content of the work. A

dusty stockman, gnarled tree,

jackaroos by campfire on a cold

night, a portrait of a young girl

made at dusk with a rising moon,

a dramatic image of cattle

crossing a waterhole

PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION 1999

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THIRD PRIZE COLOR : Hot Tea - Cold Night ~ Fiona Lake

HIGHLY COMMENDED COLOR : Untitled ~ Rachel Noble

HIGHLY COMMENDED COLOR : Crossing Talpi Waterhole ~ John Rickertt


“I do not believe

I have met a more enthusiastic

group of committed

photographers

any side of the great divide”

Doug Spowart

The award will be judged in September this year.A call for entries will be advertised throughPHOTO.Graphy

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Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery

The Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery may acquire photographic worksentered in its Toowoomba Biennial Acquisitive Art Award and Exhibitionin September.

This year’s fine art competition, coinciding with the Carnival of Flow-ers, alternates ~ with Contemporary Wearables, the gallery’s biennial acquisitivejewellery award and exhibition. The total acquisitive prize money of $15,000 isavailable across the five categories of painting, works on paper, photography,ceramics and small-scale sculptures.

From works included the 1998 award and exhibition the gallery ac-quired ‘The Recluse’, a gelatin silver print by local photographer GrahamBurstow.

This year’s Toowoomba Biennial Acquisitive Art Award and Exhibition -Fine Art will be staged at the gallery from 21 September to 22 October. The Ac-quisitive Award winners will be judged from all works selected for the exhibition.

Entry forms are now available from the Toowoomba Regional ArtGallery, PO Box 2352, Toowoomba or by telephoning 07 4688 6652. A $15 feefor each entry and 35 mm slides of each work must accompany entries.

Artists whose works have been selected for the exhibition will benotified by Friday 21 July and award winners will be announced at the officialopening on Sunday 24 September.

All entries must be the artist’s own work and must have been com-pleted in the 18 months period prior to September 2000 and work must not havepreviously won an award. All works must be for sale and payment of sales andacquisitions will be made within 30 days of the close of the exhibition.

Entries close on Friday 30 June.

The Recluse ~ Graham Burstow

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‘Redox’ Issues

D iane Stoppard is a respected and successful New Zealand weddingand portrait photographer who services the northern town ofWhangarei. Recently at an AIPP seminar in Brisbane she spoke onthe topic of ‘redox’ at length from personal experience. She discussed

on a personal level the impact this problem had on her business, and also advisedof some methods she now uses, and recommends techniques to use to preserveblack and white plastic prints.

Redox is a problem that occurs when the black metallic silver takes on ashiny mirror-like finish, and is often mistakenly given as the diagnosis when thequality of the print begins to deteriorate due to other causes, such as problems inthe tray processing technique of the printer. ‘Redox’ cannot be avoided by simplyimproving technique or the subsequent handling of the print as it is to do with thechemical composition of the paper. This problem is evident in all R.C. (resincoated) black and white photographic paper regardless of brand. However it wasnoted that in one particular unnamed brand the problem was becoming evidentwithin a shorter time period (i.e. two months instead of a year in other cases).

The issue for Diane began in October 1993 when clients began phoningto inform her that her prints were going ‘funny’. She addressed the problem atonce by replacing the print with another identical one, and immediately checkingto see if there was anything that she was doing wrong in her printing technique,such as in processing times and materials used.

When increasing numbers of her prints were returned exhibiting redox

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characteristics, she turned to other causes such as framing techniques and materials (atone stage she was under the impression that it was the glue being used). When otherphotographers were contacted and she discovered that they were experiencing the sameproblem. It became increasingly apparent that it was the paper and not any other causes.In mid-1997, upon contacting the company and eventually suing them, the problem wasresolved for her. The company changed their paper to address the problem of Redox,and also agreed to finance the reprinting of any images that had been affected.

The result of the whole episode had had a detrimental effect on Diane’sbusiness, and she implemented many techniques to provide ongoing service andvaluable link with her clients. Some of these included:

➤ Regaining contact with everyone that she had provided prints to within thetime that she used the affected paper.

➤ Offering to come to the clients home and inspect the prints for anydegradation of the image, and if need be, have the image re-printed andback on the wall in the shortest possible time at no cost

➤ Free photographic services were also offered to compensate for theinconvenience, which helped to boost popular opinion of her reputation.

These simple techniques re-established her good name as a photographer. Afellow photographer in the same situation failed to implement these follow-upmeasures and hence lost a larger proportion of his business due to the episode.

Diane concluded her talk with some advice in the form of simple preventativemeasures to reduce the chance of this happening to anyone else by prolonging the lifeof prints made on resin coated paper. These included toning and using fibre basedpaper. Toning helps by coating the black silver halide crystals in a heavy metal suchas selenium or gold, which converts the compound into a more stable one. In theensuing discussion, some other techniques to deal with the problem were raised:

➤ Correct framing and hanging; away from pollutants and out of directsunlight; can prolong the print’s life

➤ It might be a good idea to keep a logbook detailing the exact details ofevery print produced, to assist in early detection of potential problems.

➤ Instructions from the manufacturer of the chemicals and materials beingused should be obtained and followed exactly, no variation of theprocedures (or special recipes’), should be done.

If these rules are followed, it could be a good selling point of your work, for theclient can receive a ‘quality-assurance’ guarantee.

Overall I found the topic to be very interesting and relevant, and the inputfrom professional photographers was valuable.

Charlotte Robertson

REDOX

Dianne Stoppard on Print fading

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Phone/Fax - (07) 4639 4951

Editor/Publisher - Doug Spowart

Box 1455ToowoombaQueensland 4350AUSTRALIA

The content of PHOTO.Graphy is determined by thecontibutions received from interested correspondents.As such I would be happy to receive and publisharticles and information about photography and pho-tographers. Please send articles typed double-spaced,neatly written or on standard text format either IBM/MacIntosh on a 3.5” disk.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO PHOTO.Graphy E-Mail [email protected] opinions, comments and beliefs contained inthe published words are those of the author andare not necessarily those of The Editor. It is theauthor’s responsibility to ensure the accuracy ofsubmitted material. The copyright of the published words is retainedby the author.

These two photographers have for over five years collaboratedon a number of projects in locations like Rwanda, Somalia,

Bosnia, the Phillipines, Malawi and the USSR. These projects havebeen commissioned for organisations like the Australian ArmyHistory Unit, the World Health Organisation. and World Vision.

The workshop revolves around the notions implicit in theterm Photo Documentary and, therefore, is the study and visualrecording of people and society. The purpose of this workshop is toexplore that blurred line that can exist between documentary andphoto-art. The intention is for us to become involved with, toparticipate in, and to visually record aspects of life we care about.The workshop also is about exploring the photographer’s position inrelation to the subject. That is either we take the “insider” positionwhich implies a position of engagement, participation, and privi-leged knowledge. Or we choose to remain in the “outsider’s”position and produce a more alienated and voyeuristic relationshipthat heightens the distance between the subject and the object.

We are privileged to be included in other’s lives and invited to sharetheir stories. Photo documentary is about the way in which wechoose to share these stories with others.

PHOTO DOCUMENTARY

Roger Skinner : Top of the Ladder, Karen

2000 Josephine UlrickAWARD PORTRAITURE

Tweed River Regional Art Gallery

Blakely+Lloyd : Detail from the work “The Take”

Josephine Ulrick was an artist, a writer and a mentor tomany. She was well known as the director and curator of

Art Galleries Schubert on the Gold CoastJosephine is remembered for her generosity, her

knowledge and her passionate devotion to the Arts.The Josephine Ulrick Photography Prize has been

initiated by The Josephine Ulrick and Win SchubertFoundation for the Arts as a lasting tribute.

The Administrator, the Tweed River Regional ArtGallery, Murwillumbah, invites entries for the Second AnnualPrize on the theme of the portrait.

The Prize is a $3000 acquisitive prize. The winnerwill receive a cheque from The Josephine Ulrick and WinSchubert Foundation for the Arts and the winning entrybecomes part of the growing collection of portraits held bythe Tweed River Regional Art Gallery.

National Prize for Portraiture

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