Feature article on UN photographer Martine Perret

The August issue of Pro Photo features my interview with Martine Perret as the cover story. I met Martine in Fremantle at this year's Foto Freo festival. She was exhibiting photos from her essay on transexuals in East Timor. This is her story.

Pro Photo feature on Foto Freo is out

Thanks to Claire Martin, Amy Stein, Narelle Autio, Joy Horwood-Cooke and Magda Stanova for their time and their awesome photos. Writing these articles are food for my creative soul.

Max Pam's Atlas Monographs Winner PHotoEspana

Congratulations to Max Pam and Gianni Frinzi of T&G Publishing on taking out the Best Photography Book Prize (International Category) for the 2010 edition at PHotoEspaña in Madrid.

Atlas Monographs Makes Top 100 PhotoEspana Festival Book List

Congratulations to Max Pam and Gianni Frinzi T&G Publishing - Atlas Monographs, Max's latest book, has made the top 100 Best Photography Books of the Year exhibition in Madrid. Quite possibly the first Australians to do so, both photographer and publisher.

Foto Freo Femme Fatales

My next article in Pro Photo magazine is a feature on five of the women who exhibited at this year's Foto Freo festival in Fremantle. There are interviews with Australians Claire Martin and Narelle Autio, American Amy Stein, Slovakian Magda Stanova and South African Joy Horwood Cooke.  

Now working on my feature on Martine Perret, a UN Photographer based in Timor who has created a fantastic photo essay on the transexuals in Timor.

(Photo by Claire Martin)

More photos from Italy

   

Urban environments, architecture, layered reflective imagery – these are the creative threads that influence my photographic work. Here are some photos from Lucca and Rome taken earlier this month.

  

What Caught My Eye Today in Milano, Italy

 Milano is so beautiful. And today is reflection heaven, blue skies, clear air, brilliant sunlight. There is still snow on the Alps, visible from the top of the Duomo, the air is cool and fresh. Here are some photos from today's shoot, mostly reflections, but a couple that are not! So fantastic to spend the day shooting, it's been too long since I've had time to indulge, but my love affair with my camera continues . . . how can I not be inspired with such a location.
       

 

Foto Freo Opening Event

Opening nights are often boring, endless speeches where organisers drone on about the fantastic support they get - which of course is vital to the existence of the event, but perhaps would be better acknowledged in a different environment. And before guests are fueled by alcohol and busy chatting with people they haven't seen since the last gathering. Last night didn't disappoint.

As a social gathering it was a spectacular success. A special thanks to Brad Rimmer who was the best unofficial 'host' I could have asked for introducing me to everyone. I'm always on the look out for interesting people to interview and Martine Perret, a UN photographer based in Timor, is my next subject. I'm catching up with her tomorrow to discuss her work photographing transexuals in Timor. Fascinating.

Foto Freo Interview Score

Am in Fremantle, Perth at the moment for the Foto Freo Festival. Arrived this morning from Melbourne. Already viewed five exhibitions and tomorrow am going to interview the five women photographers whose work I've been enthralled by today. 

Joy Horwood-Cooke - who spent two years traveling around Africa in the 1950's. Her black and white photos capture moments that are timeless and still relevant today in terms of sharing the cultural richness of this vast continent

Amy Stein - from New York whose exhibition Stranded is an extraordinary portrayal of abandonment and loss shot over a protracted road trip across America

Magda Stanova - a Slovakian visual artist who incorporates sketches, painting, and photography into her art. Until I saw her exhibition today I wasn't familiar with her work. She is quite unique in her interpretation of photography's role in our lives and her inclusion of words in her work takes the viewer to a headspace that perhaps we wouldn't arrive at on our own - that's the power of art

Claire Martin - an Australian photographer whose documentary style has the ability to draw you into the moment in the most vivid and intense way. I am really taken with her portraits of squatters in the Californian desert and the work she's done in the "slums" of Vancouver 

Narelle Autio - another Australian who has spent the past decade capturing our obsession with the beach except there are no photos of people, rather photos of the things we leave behind and the detritus the sea throws on shore. Not a topic that initially interested me until I saw her images which are really works of art - crisp and vivid, with almost a pop art feel

These women will feature in upcoming articles in Pro Photo magazine. 

Rock Chicks US edition is on its way

Totally pumped. Just finished the update for Rock Chicks US release which is out in October 2010. Was psyched to be writing about the girls again adding in Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth), Kim Deal (The Pixies and The Breeders) and Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and doing updates on those rock chicks who were in the original book - the ones that have been super busy like P!nk who in the two years since the first book came out has been touring the world, putting down a heartbreak album after her split with hubby Corey and then reconciling. That's a lot in a short period of time, but she's not one to muck around. The update on Tina Turner gives me hope - she's thinking about doing a final, final world tour. At 71. She's one rock chick that I would love to see live. If she doesn't tour to Australia I'm going to fly to see her. Doesn't matter where. That's one gig I don't want to miss.

Am now waiting to see the new photos from Tony Mott. And the new design. 

More China Photos

Here are a couple of shots of the Great Wall of China which I took in September when I visited Beijing. We chose to visit a less popular spot on the Wall at Mutianyu and had the great pleasure of being able to walk without crowds - on the day we went there were no more than a dozen people over a couple of kilometres. We took the chairlift to the Wall (the only way up) and then rode a 2.5km toboggan down the mountain. What fun!