Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - 12th May, 2017

This week on Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - three very different exhibitions are on in Melbourne with works by Helga Leunig, a group show on street photography and Tom Goldner. Plus David Katzenstein's fabulous Bronx Bodegas photo essay. And for those in Sydney, don't forget that Head On Photo Festival is on until the end of the month.

Exhibitions:
Helga Leunig - 3 weeks in Cuba
Australian documentary photographer Helga Leunig brings to life the everyday in her beautiful, relaxed and joyful images of Havana, Cuba.
















(C) All images Helga Leunig

Until 7 July
3 weeks in Havana
Epworth Art Gallery
1 Epworth Place
Waurn Ponds Geelong
(about an hour from Melbourne)

Group Show - Shot in the Heart of Melbourne
This annual street photography and photojournalism exhibition, which is now in its 6th year, features work by 21 diverse photographers who use the city as their canvas to “celebrate the decisive, and often indecisive, but always graceful moments that occur within our gritty, yet beautiful city”. Presented by the Australian Association of Street Photographers.

'Degraves Street Reflection' Mark Lourensz

'K9 Uber' Kathy Chapman 

'Footscray Station Footbridge' Joe Chow 

 
'Bourke Street from Spencer Street' Joe Chow

Until 22 May
Victorian Artists Society
430 Albert Street
East Melbourne 

Tom Goldner - Passage
Melbourne photographer, and gallery owner, Tom Goldner's Passage features photographs taken on medium format film and meticulously printed by Goldner in the Fox Darkroom which he founded in 2014. These contrasty, black and white images of the Mont Blanc regions of Italy, France and Switzerland taken in 2015 and 2016, capture this majestic landscape, and show how analogue practices can bring something new to the contemporary landscape discourse.

  

(C) Tom Goldner

Until 21 May
The Fox Darkroom & Gallery
8 Elizabeth Street
Kensington
(enter via laneway)

Photo Essay:

David Katzenstein - Radiant Excess: Inside Bronx Bodegas

I love this series that captures this American tradition in all its colourful eccentricity and celebrates the diversity of one of New York's most iconic boroughs, The Bronx. To see more visit David Katzenstein's website. 

(C) All images David Katzenstein

Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - 5th May, 2017

This week on Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up – part two of the Head On Photo Festival features my interview with Markus Klinko about his Bowie Unseen exhibition, plus a sneak peek at exhibitions by Rennie Ellis (Kings Cross 1970-1971), Younes Mohammad (In the Name of Religion) and Stephen Dupont (The Australians).

Special Feature:
Head On Photo Festival - Part Two

On Saturday 6th May the annual Head On Photo Festival will officially kick off in Sydney with the announcement of this year's Head On Photo Festival Awards winners. The Festival features an eclectic array of photography exhibitions spanning all genres plus special events. Many of the featured exhibitions are showing in and around Paddington and the CBD making it easy to gorge on this visual feast. Check out the Festival's website for daily happenings.

Don't forget to register for the debate with photographers from around the globe, and moderated by myself, on the question "Does photojournalism facilitate or counteract 'fake news'? Click here to register. It's free! This Sunday 7.30pm, Beauchamp Hotel, 265-267 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst.

Exhibitions: 

A reminder of some of last week's top picks:

Juli Balla

Dina Litovsky

Maggie Steber

If you missed Head On Photo Festival feature part one, you can see more images here.

Interview:

Bowie Unseen - Markus Klinko 

by Alison Stieven-Taylor

(First published in the Australian Financial Review Weekend)

“When Iman came to the studio to choose the photograph for the cover of her book I Am Iman, she brought her husband with her, which was a great surprise,” says Swiss-born photographer Markus Klinko recalling his first encounter with David Bowie back in 2001.

At the time Klinko, who had been a notable international harp soloist before an injury cut short his career, was trying to break into the highly competitive field of celebrity photography. Working out of a small studio in New York, he says he was blown away when the musician walked in. “He was every bit as charismatic and extraordinary as one can imagine, but really kind and lovely to talk to”.

Impressed with the photographs of his model wife, Bowie suggested that Klinko work with him on the cover for his album Heathen. “That was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had…David was so collaborative. He came with a lot of ideas, but was also interested in my thoughts”.

“Iman and David opened a lot of doors,” says Klinko who has since photographed a procession of contemporary musicians from Beyonce and Lady Gaga to Kanye West and Mariah Carey. He’s also an A-list photographer for celebrities including Kate Winslet, Will Smith and Eva Mendes. 

Now based in Los Angeles, Klinko is in Sydney for the debut of his exhibition Bowie Unseen, one of the headline shows for this year’s Head On Photo Festival. The show features 22 images of Bowie along with two of Iman, which were shot for the cover of Vanity Fair on the model’s 60th birthday. The images of Iman were taken with his photographic partner, Koala, who has also curated the show.

Bowie Unseen includes photographs from the Heathen shoot as well as a series of complex composite images used in the 2002 GQ Men of the Year issue. In these photographs Bowie is pictured holding wild wolves on a leash. Or is he? In fact these images are a combination of two shoots, as Klinko explains.

“GQ wanted to feature David on the cover, but he wasn’t available. I had this idea of David with these wild wolves and talked it through with him. I told David I could extract elements from the Heathen shoot and combine them. He was intrigued and trusted me. When he saw the photographs he loved them, joking that he’d never have to do another photo shoot!” 

(C) All images Markus Klinko

Klinko hired a “very brave” model to act as a body double. The wolves were smuggled into his Soho studio, as it was illegal at the time to have wild animals in the city. The wolves’ trainer kept them placated with raw meat treats, while Klinko set up. “It was an adventure,” laughs Klinko adding that while he was nervous about having these enormous creatures in his studio, he wasn’t scared. “It was intense, but I wasn’t shaking like I was when I was working with Janet Jackson and had two wild black panthers in the studio!” 

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Until 3 June

Blender Gallery

16 Elizabeth St 

Paddington

    

More exhibitions to add to your 'must see' list (there's a black and white thing going on):

Kings Cross 1970-1971: Rennie Ellis

Head On Photo Festival, Rennie Ellis Photographic Archive, and Mossgreen Gallery present this series of images by one of Australia’s most iconic photographers, the late Rennie Ellis (1940 – 2003).

This exhibition features photographs taken by Ellis over the summer of 1970-1971 in Sydney’s notorious red light district of Kings Cross, where Aussie rock, social protest and the freedom of youth rubbed against the underbelly of the city. Ellis’ images unmask the subculture of the Cross, as it is known locally, in all its out-there glory capturing a place that Ellis said “has a pulse rate and a lifestyle unlike anywhere else in Australia”.

(C) All images Rennie Ellis Archive

Until 2 June
Mossgreen
36-40 Queen Street,
Woollahra


Younes Mohammad

In the Name of Religion

Kurdish freelance photographer Younes Mohammad presents a series of images capturing the devastation of wars made in the name of religion. Younes took up photography in 2011 and since that time his work has been shown in more than 50 exhibitions and published by AP, Getty Images, CNN, The Guardian and the Daily Mail amongst others. 

(C) Younes Mohammad

Venue: Lower Town Hall - Sydney

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Out of town:

Stephen Dupont - The Australians

(C) All images Stephen Dupont

One of the world's most awarded photojournalists, Australian Stephen Dupont presents images from his ongoing series The Australians in which he focuses his camera on local artists and community figures from Wollongong and its surrounding regions (south of Sydney). This exhibition is part of Ambush Gallery’s Here There & Everywhere program and is being held in Wollongong.

Venue: The Gateway Building
Wollongong Central
200 Crown Street
Wollongong

Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - 21st April, 2017

This week on Photojournalism Now: Friday Round Up - Australian photographic artist Murray Fredericks showcases his latest work in Melbourne and London, Greek artist Aris Georgiou's exhibition opens in Sydney and New Zealand photographer Thomas Slade makes his solo debut in Wellington. Plus grant rounds are open for Getty Grants and W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography and the Indian Photography Festival - Hyderabad calls for entries. Next week, a preview of the 2017 Head On Photo Festival, which promises to be fantastic!


Exhibition: Melbourne & London
Murray Fredericks - Vanity

Australian photographic artist Murray Fredericks has built an international reputation on his epic vistas of Australia’s Lake Eyre, his signature a dead flat horizon that conveys the vastness of space. It is this concept of space that Fredericks is chasing, the idea that in the landscape there is limitless discovery, the opportunity to shift to a different plane, to transcend the known and drift into possibility.

Fredericks keeps going back to Lake Eyre, which is 144km long and 77km wide, to find new ways to engage. He’s now made 17 trips and in his latest series, “Vanity,” he uses a large mirror as a device through which to further explore the vistas of this otherworldly landscape. “Rather than reflecting our own ‘surface’ image, the mirror is positioned to draw our gaze out and away from ourselves, into the environment, driving us towards an emotional engagement with light, colour and space,” he says.

Last night I attended the opening in Melbourne at Arc One Gallery. These are stunning images that when viewed in the gallery are just breathtaking. And no, they are not Photoshopped!

(C) All images Murray Fredericks

Murray Fredericks' 'Vanity' opens at Arc One

Currently showing in Melbourne until 27 May at Arc One Gallery 45 Flinders Lane
Opening in London at Hamiltons Gallery on 28 April, 13 Carlos Pl, Mayfair, London W1K 2EU

Exhibition: Sydney

Aris Georgiou - Circumstantial Evidence 

This exhibition is the first major survey of photographic works by Greek artist Aris Georgiou to be shown in Australia. Curated by Jack Pam (who is the son of Australian photographer Max Pam) Circumstantial Evidence includes photographs spanning a period of thirty years taken in Greece, USA, France, Germany, Israel and India. 

(C) Aris Georgiou

Pam says Georgiou’s body of work “explores the possibilities of human endeavour through a powerfully romantic, creative sensibility. Themes of repetition, memory, hope, dreams and love are consistently confronted in Georgiou’s work as they are warped and exploited by the passage of time”.

Georgiou will be in Australia for the show and will hold an artist’s talk at 2pm on 13th May. A limited edition publication will be produced for the exhibition by the Australian Museum of Contemporary Photography.

26 April to 21 May
Delmar Gallery
Trinity Grammar School
144 Victoria St, Ashfield (Sydney)

Exhibition: Wellington, New Zealand

Thomas Slade - What brings you here? & Translating a silent language


From: What brings you here?

Thomas Slade's first solo exhibition features two bodies of work: What brings you here? and Translating a silent language. 

Slade says, "What brings you here? is a comparative study that examines both the positive and negative changes in rural New Zealand. Why does one town decline while another prospers? Using photography, statistics and interviews this body of work explores differences and consequences of change for two towns (Waverley and Shannon)...These images of rural New Zealand highlight change. They remind us where we have come from as a country and of our identity as New Zealanders."

In contrast, Translating a silent language is a series of photographs made in 2016 in which the chosen subjects were photographed in urban environments under the direction of Slade and the constructed scenes were captured using a high-end digital camera. Both show the artist's versatility.

(C) All images Thomas Slade

Until 15 May
Photospace
1st floor, 37 Courtenay Place
Wellington New Zealand

Grants:

Getty Grants - 5 Grants of US$10,000

Past winner Kirsten Luce

Five photojournalists will be selected to receive grants that will aid in funding projects of personal and journalistic significance. This year the judges are: Alice Gabriner (TIME), Chelsea Matiash, (The Intercept), Thomas Simonetti (Washington Post), Damon Winter (New York Times) and Jean-Francois Leroy (Visa Pour l’Image). Applications close May 15. Apply here. 

W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography

2016 Recipient was Justyna Mielnikiewicz

Annually the W. Eugene Smith grant awards a photographer “who has demonstrated an exemplary commitment to documenting the human condition in the spirit of Smith’s concerned photography and dedicated compassion.” This year the grant has been increased to US$35,000 and entries close on May 31. Click here for details.

Last year’s recipient was Justyna Mielnikiewicz for her project A Diverging Frontier, which she says, “explores borders as ever-changing spheres of influence that overlap physical borders marked on the map. It documents life on the frontier of Europe, and delves into the symbolic meanings and reconstructed historical narratives of these borderlands, which contribute to the formation of national identity and shaping the images of the neighboring countries”. 

Festival:

Indian Photography Festival - Hyderabad

The Indian Photography Festival - Hyderabad invites photographers from all over the world to submit for the 2017 exhibition program. The festival runs from 21 September to 8 October. To find out more visit the website.