Photography Studies College - Blog

Documentary photographer and Photography Studies College Lecturer Dr. Kristian Häggblom's latest exhibition with Paul Batt 'Brunswick Surfaces' shows the Melbourne inner city suburb in a very different light. His work documents the wears and tears of this multicultural suburb through an experimental lens. Häggblom talks about the ongoing series and the genre of expanded documentary he works in.

Confronting and visceral is one way to describe visual artist and Photography Studies College graduate Sophie Gabrielle's haunting series (currently on exhibition via Foam gallery in New York and featured in Foam magazine). While her body of work may tug on our fears of being human lab rats, she says it was all part of her healing process . We talk to Sophie about her experimental work, artist residency in Iceland and how PSC helped nurture her award-winning artistic sensibilities. 

Current Photography Studies College student Susan Brunialti  has gone from being an accountant to having a flourishing career in photography. Her heart is in street photography because she loves to capture the essence of a time, place and its people. Majoring in art photography and studying part-time, she talks to PSC about how surviving breast-cancer was the catalyst for her to turn her passion for photography into a bonafide career, why she entrusted Photography Studies College with her photography education – and her first solo exhibition. 

PHOTOGRAPH THE BEST OF SOUTHERN CHINA
AND HONG KONG

11 Days and 10 Nights:
Guilin, Lijiang, Yangshuo, Chengdu, Danba

Photography Studies College is proud to present Kate Disher-Quill for our first Image Makers Seminar of 2019. Kate’s talk will coincide with the launch of her latest photography book Earshot, and accompanying zine Fish on the Floor.

Both publications offer a rare, visceral insight into the world of deafness and hearing loss. After winning the POOL grant in 2014 Kate developed this work for a photographic exhibition, which was shown in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Earshot is the latest extension of this project and uses photography, illustration and intimate stories from over 35 subjects to reveal the diversity and complexity of deafness. Diagnosed with hearing loss at 3 years of age and fitted with hearing aids when she was 10, Kate’s driving force behind this project was to create something that would have helped her accept her deafness much earlier in life.

This special event will be held in the PSC Studio, Ground entrance next to 65 City Road. Wheelchair access is available from the rear of our building in Fawkner Street. Our building is clearly marked. Call 9682 3191.

An Auslan interpreter will be used in conjunction with this talk.

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.