Photography Studies College - Blog

Coming up at ACCA on the 16th of February 4:00-6:30pm - a panel discussion on the theme of art in a global political climate including PSC's Lecturer, Hoda Afshar.

This event is hosted by Vault Magazine

'Panellists: Angela Tiatia (Artist), Hoda Afshar (Artist), Dr Danny Butt (Associate Director (Research) at the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne)

 The art world has always both reinforced and challenged questions of power. Through history, privilege and access have played as big a role as artistic talent when it comes to elevating artists and deciding which legacies to preserve. This panel addresses the growing conversation about representation and visibility in the art world. It also explores the impact of our polarised political climate on the process of making and showing art — as well as the pressures and possibilities for artists who’ve had to fight for their work to be seen. Ultimately, it asks: how important is for art to respond to this political moment? And how can we make the art world an equitable place for everyone?'

PSC Alumni Ivan Kemp is about to launch his first solo exhibition. Ivan transitioned his career from IT Software to photography. It was his love of portrait photography and music that led him to this exciting project.
We caught up with Ivan to ask about his exhibition, his journey and to share some of his valuable music photography tips!

'Cutting the Chord - The Exhibition is an intimate exploration of Melbourne’s vibrant, dynamic, live music scene and is part of the Midsumma Festival. The images were taken over the last 18 months and capture moments in performance that cross genre, gender and venues.

Normally in an exhibition, photographs have the same colour palette to create uniformity. The images in this exhibition are anything but uniform. They are created to reflect the character of the performer, gig and the venue. Hence, black and white images and different colour palettes are used to highlight the diversity. Some of the musicians are well known but others are just starting their musical careers. All of them play to please their audience and to create their own style of music.' 

How did the opportunity to exhibit at the Midsumma Festival come about?

Last year, through a contact I was asked if I wanted the opportunity to photograph publicity shots for the production of Antigone X which was part of the Midsumma Festival 2018. I photographed the cast using the studios at PSC. This was followed up by photographs of the dress rehearsal. This was a great experience and introduced me to other opportunities since that event.

This year I took publicity photographs for Aidan Rolfe (singer / songwriter and guitarist) who has a show Kado Warehouse in Cremorne. After discussions with Aidan and Matthew Grant (owner of Kado Warehouse) we decided to combine a photography exhibition built around live musical performance around Melbourne with Aidan’s performance.

"The most rewarding moment at PSC was probably when I realised that my work could contribute to something bigger than just making an image.
It could tell a story, create emotion and feeling."

PSC Alumni, Teagan Glenane shares how she turned her creativity into a career.

 What inspired you to study photography?

Since I can remember I loved making things, and all things creative bought me so much joy. I love art, magazines, books, movies, all things visual, but it turned out I was actually pretty crap at painting and drawing. My studio arts teacher in year 11 took the paints away and lent me an old film camera instead. The first photos I took were pretty crappy, but they felt good to make. Watching those images form from nothing but light and chemicals in front of my eyes, was magic. 

"I wanted recognition. Proof that I could be a photographer. A degree gives you that and it also opens doors in the future. It could be the one deciding factor to getting a job."

Did you have a career change? If so, what were you doing prior to photography?  

Yes, it was a career change. But not a massive leap from what I have already done in the past. I’ve always been a creative. I’m a qualified graphic designer and I’ve made a living through photography and video in the past. Before going to PSC I was 50% owner of a design agency with 15 staff and a studio in Southbank. But the bigger the company grew the less happy I became. I wasn’t creating anymore. I was managing mundane issues, dealing with finances and fixing IT problems. So, I sold my shares to my business partner and went travelling. I took my family back to my homeland in Wales, and we spent 6 weeks hiking mountains and trying to rekindle my grasp of the Welsh language. 

It was a wonderful moment to have PSC Alumni Takeshi Miyamoto visit our shores from Paris, to attend the Photobook Making Workshop, here at the college.  
We seized the moment to catch up with Takeshi to ask him about the international photography career he has forged since graduating.

Takeshi has travelled from Paris especially to attend the Photobook Making Workshop with book designers- Teun van der Heijden & Sandra van der Doelen from Heijdens Karwei in Amsterdam. 
This workshop attracted many prominent international, national and local photographers to PSC over a five day intensive program in December 2018..

Welcome back to Melbourne and PSC Takeshi! 

Tell us how you ended up living in Paris from growing up in Japan?

Thank you. It is very special to be back here and to see many familiar faces.

After graduating from PSC, I worked in Tokyo for about 4 years working for travel magazine, and I thought it was a time to discover new things in my life. I never lived in Europe before, and I was interested in the diversity of art & culture in Paris , so I lived there for one year and ended up staying.

"The main purpose of my work is to bring human rights issues to the forefront of public awareness with the long-term intent of changing governmental policy. I find that as a photojournalist I am perfectly placed to do this by telling the stories of those that otherwise wouldn’t have been seen or heard." 
- Chris Hopkins

Photograph by Chris Hopkins © 2018 for SBS Online 

Firstly, congratulations from all of us at PSC on your recent award and your amazing career to date!
Thank-you!


Can you tell us about the 'Nikon/Walkley Photographic Essay Award' and how it came about? Do you enter every year?
I enter most years and won a Walkley slideshow in 2012 but this is the first time I have won one of the major awards. I was commissioned by SBS in June to work with the small Rohingyan community living in Melbourne. In particularly we were following Yunus' story as he resolved to find a place in Australia whilst helping his family who were still in the camps in Bangladesh. Yunus left the violence in Burma a few years back, so not only was he living an uncertain future as an asylum seeker, he had to deal with the unknown of what was happening to his family last year (during the genocide) from afar.

"Every day I get up and do something I love which is pretty amazing."

Sean McDonald decided to study photography part time just to learn the basics. 10 years on he now runs a rocking portrait /wedding/commercial /documentary photography business in Melbourne ! 

Did you have a career change? If so what were you doing prior to photography?

Sure did! I went from working in a marketing team at a big corporate company, doing 10 hour days while sitting at the same desk every day. Now I work all sorts of strange hours but it’s for myself and I love it. Very different lifestyle! 

"The opening night for Fresh 18 bought together the varied work from the Art Major class all in one place. From the emotionally charged portraits on silk by Susan Humphries to the large photo mosaic house by Peter Riordan.

With about 300 people coming through the door to see the work, there was lots of compliments, many laughs, great speeches and a lot of chatter. Overall the perfect end to the year. "

Jacalyn Mann | Exhibiting student at Fresh

Photo: Susan Humphries and Peter Riordon with their photographic installations.

There's still time to check out our Bachelor of Photography Graduate Exhibition
'In Light '
at the  Centre for Contemporary Photography

The opening night was a huge success, attended by family, friends, the photographic industry and the PSC community.
A great way to celebrate the end of an era and the beginning of an exciting new one for our Photography Graduates!

Graduating students from the Fine Art, Photojournalism and Commercial Majors
CONGRATULATIONS!
Here are some highlights from the show...

       Photo : Jim Davison – Chair, Higher Education Council, Robin Williams - Chair, PSC Academic Board & Member of PSC Higher Education Council, Gigi Williams-Professional Photographer, Julie Moss- Managing Director and Daniel Boetker-Smith-Higher Education Course Director.

"The sense of community is just awesome. Everyone knows everyone and they are all really supportive and encouraging. It’s unlike anything I've ever experienced elsewhere"

We sat down with Final Year Bachelor student Kaitlyn Church, to ask her why she chose to study Photography over Law?

Was photography the only thing you were considering to study? Or did you have other things in mind?

It was a toss up between law and photography for me. Although I'm still very interested in law and politics, I decided to follow my passion for photography. I don’t regret my decision, I think it’s the best decision I’ve made.

What made you decide to choose photography?

 For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed taking photos. I used to always ‘borrow' my Dad's cameras. It was just something I always did. When I was in high school I used photography as a means of relaxation. But in my later years of high school I became  more and more passionate about the medium. I don’t remember exactly what the reason was that made me change from Law to Photography . But I’m glad I did.