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.

Mother of three, Kim Nguyen, put her love of photography on hold to raise a family. Now that her children are at school, she is pursuing her life's dream by studying an Advanced Diploma in Photography at Photography Studies College. Read about her journey from amateur to professional, why she thinks gold fish are underrated and how Photography Studies College helped her tap into a creative side she never knew she had. 

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. 

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. 

"Photography nourishes your soul. That’s essentially what it has done for me. You can’t place a monetary value on your creative soul. I am so glad to see Melbourne grow as a creative hub and really happy to be on my creative journey at PSC."

"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 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.