When you think about it, a great wedding photographer has to have the lighting knowledge of a studio expert, the agility and unobtrusiveness of a street photographer, and the unerring sense of timing of a Cartier-Bresson. Nor is that an end to it. The truly successful wedding shooter also has to be a skilled diplomat and behavioural psychologist in order to cope with the surging emotions of a special day. And of course he or she can't ever miss any of the must-have shots of those not-to-be-repeated moments (the aisle, the rings, the kiss). ... [more]Visitors to Peter Strain's gallery in Broome, Western Australia, typically react to his macro photographs of mangrove tree snails with laughter and amazement. These Creatures of the Giant Tides, as he has called the series, are startlingly colourful, varied and ‘alien'. 'They're the barroom scene out of Star Wars really,' says Strain, who was recently visited by the writers of a children's television series who have it in mind to use them as animated characters in a dream sequence. ... [more]From the Archive: Photo Review Dec/Jan 2003:
Photographer Martin Mischkulnig knows that great portraits are rarely accidental. And that's why he leaves very little to chance.
Portraiture is an exacting discipline. It requires patience, a well developed sensitivity to the varying emotional states of the subjects and, says Martin Mischkulnig, if you're working outdoors, an acute awareness of the background. ... [more]From the Archive: Photo Review Aug/Sep 2002
Jack Atley loves sport. Photography is a job. He only took it up, he quips, because he wasn't good enough to win Wimbledon.
'At the end of the day I'm happy to put the camera in the locker and walk away,' Jack Atley explains. A little reminiscent of lines in an old Bob Dylan song about the boxer Hurricane Carter "It's my work", he says, ‘I do it for pay, and when it's all over I'd just as soon be on my way.' ... [more]From the Archive: Photo Review Aug/Sep 2002: Adam Bruzzone loves the vigorous light and strong colours of his native South Australia but, thanks perhaps in part to his heritage, he is equally passionate about the sublime and dramatic landscapes he's come to know on visits to Italy. ... [more]From the Archive: Photo Review June/July 2002: Anita Mathews Pollard's poised and slightly cinematic photographs are for the most part small objects, often no larger than a postcard - and that's exactly the way she wants it.
"The first thing I ask myself when I get my proof sheets is ‘where's the postcard?'", says photographer, Anita Mathews Pollard. "I want something that is instantly appealing. It needs to be clean and to be something people can immediately relate to. I don't see my work as six by seven foot prints mounted on a wall. Instead it's something I would prefer you put on your fridge and when people walk in, they say ‘isn't that a great shot!'"
... [more]Ross Eason bases his Sunshine Coast commercial photography business on exceeding clients' expectations, and he has the skill, creative confidence and work ethic to do so. It's the other factors - the ones beyond his control - which can make the task an unforseen challenge. ... [more]From the Archive: Photo Review Feb/Mar 2003:
New Zealand has been giving long overdue recognition to one of its finest photographers, Marti Friedlander. A retrospective exhibition of 150 of her black-and-white ‘instants kept open to scrutiny' - selected from more than 50,000 taken over 40 years - has been touring the country in conjunction with the publication of the book Marti Friedlander: Photographs.
The image chosen for the book cover and exhibition poster is appropriately iconic and says a lot about her work. It's probably the most hackneyed pictorial subject in New Zealand - a flock of sheep on a misty country road - and yet Friedlander managed to elevate it to another level. The seemingly ethereal sheep confront the photographer with their gaze and, for an exquisitely frozen moment, everyone gets to feel uncomfortable. It's not about sheep and the landscape; it's about relationships. Printed across the poster is ‘What are you looking at?'
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