Town of Tin

I recently took a trip to Stockton Beach, beyond Newcastle, to see this historic cluster of corrugated sheet dwellings isolated on miles of beach and sand dunes. I was taken in by the total lack of visual clutter. The visual white-noise we have become accustomed to in our city lives is replaced by two dimensions of sand and sky.

Stockton Beach

The weather stayed heavily overcast which only heightened feeling of desolation of this surreal moonscape. The sands of NSW's largest mobile sand mass were deposited here over 6000 years ago (must have been a helluva storm), forming dunes 30m high and constantly sculpted by the wind. Reminders of its WW2 history of barbed wire and tank traps are still uncovered as the sands shift. The shore is unforgiving, and many vessels have beached in the ferocious windstorms that cane the coast.

Sport fishermen roam about, and their 4x4's turn the beach into an extension of the M1, but a breed of blokes stay here permanently in tin dwellings. Full time fishermen, men of the sea, for whom a shower is a water tank with a spout, and a dunny is, well, a hole in the sand. Drink, sleep, fish, no other crap to get in the way. They welcomed us into their home and offered a place to spend the weekend.

I'm grateful to them, esp Dave Chapman, for the experience.

Shoot for M&C Saatchi

Well chuffed to get to work with young and dynamic creatives Nick Bonney and Matt Weston on an funky idea they had. Pulled a shoot together on a shoestring budget so I self-produced and got very hands on. It makes one realise just how much pre prod work goes into a project, even a relatively small one. Casting was spot on, and I was stoked to have stylist Kathy McKinnon and SFX MUA Jen Carlson aboard. The shots came together nicely, albeit juggling time issues and 35+ deg heat. I'll post the finished product in another post, but here are some outtakes.

Mosman Photography Prize

I popped in an entry for the local photo comp (mainly because it was free entry) and was chuffed to get the call that I won a category. Even better news came a week or two later when I sold a print through the Mosman Art Gallery. Strangely it wasn't the one that won the prize, but one of my favourite images of Lenny Warry. Anyway, it made it a cool 2 for 2. Hopefully I'll sell many more prints in the future. Congrats to fine artist Ben Ali Ong for winning the main category with the haunting Songs of Sorrow and Stephen Weissner for the amateur category. I really liked Stephens Anzac day image.

Now I'm gonna have a crack at the National Portrait Prize. If you gonna run with the big dogs...

SoHi

I am very proud to be a contributor to the ubercool SoHi Magazine. Its the kind of publication you just want to see your work in. Beautiful 250gm matte stock, minimalist layout, limited production runs, zero ads. Dig it. I hope they achieve great things.

Better Now

Just had a beer "n chat with Phil from the band "Serenik" They are wanting to use an image from my Personal work as album art for their EP "Better Now" http://www.myspace.com/serenik . Methinks its good exposure, so I'm happy to oblige. I wish them the best success, but, if you make it big ,Serenik, I'm gonna collect. More about this later...
Listen..file:///private/var/tmp/folders.502/TemporaryItems/com.apple.mail.drag-T0x40a320.tmp.PVU2v2/01%20Better%20Now.mp3

Peoples Choice

Always nice, as Friday pace slows, to see a little email to say that you've won something. Yup, after two gallery shows and a website poll, those two Zim painters have been chosen as the Peoples Choice of show. Yay. 1x Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection coming to me! Friday eve is here. Bon weekend

A guy, a valiant, a naked female form.

I'm having fun with recreating traditional darkroom techniques digitally. A solarized split-toned b/w print in the darkroom is a laborious process, but with a little playing around a very acceptable result can be achieved in software. A bit sad really, when true craft is lost, cheapened by digital, but it serves a purpose now and its pointless resisting it. At the end its the photograph that counts and not how it was achieved. The benefits of the digital age to are too vast and exciting to get stuck pining about how it used to be.
With every conceivable image treatment a tweak away, I find I am slowly being drawn back to an unmanipulated, natural aesthetic. Might be awhile off though.

The Global Recession (and other excuses)

So as we drag ourselves from the trenches of the WGR or WEC or whatever other acronym is tossed about, a few hard fought bad habits of clients that photographers have overcome in the past, have crept back in to our business. Under the veil of hard times, anything goes as long as survival is the excuse. Obviously, its not just us , or our industry, but everyone has a story of how they were shafted, or their jobs held to ransom. with the climate being the convenient scapegoat(that is a funny word isn't it).
Just recently I read that Omnicom, who owns the odd Ad ageny, has reviewed its "policy" regarding the paying of an upfront fee to secure their commission of a mega-buck stills or TV production. You see, apparently we should bankroll the costs of a project (which can be for a global blue-chip) right through to the point where we wait and grovel to get paid.OK. So already we own a fortune in equipment, studio and all those other business expenses, which have to be carried every month, but now an overdraft of a million bucks would be the next must-have accessory. All so that the huge conglomerate can offset their risk slightly, and dont they charge for that anyway. Mmmm. Something isn't right here.

I've also heard that it isn't POLICY to pay royalties or usage. Really. That simple. Well its the law, so its like saying its not policy to pay tax. Its intellectual property and, unless stated, will remain the copyright of the photographer. I'm sure that a the photographer did his utmost to make the budget work, and will be negotiable on usage, but it is his due, and clients have to respect that. I dont want to be a hypocrite, and in tough times, we are tempted to forget about it when clients play bully and threaten to go elsewhere, but I don't want to undermine what was fought for.

I hear the wedding guys are suffering because joe public can buy a super-duper SLR and immediately he or she is a photographer. Oh dear, I'd rather deal with the Ad industry, even though that perception exists in Adland too.

August (and everything after)

Firstly, I'm starting to see the point of this blogging thing. People are responding and I'm amazed at whom and where I get comments from. Thanks to those, I will make an effort to do this more often, otherwise there is really not much point, or motivation. Up to now, if this blog was a living thing that relied on me, it would have died and decomposed by now. So once again I will promise myself to post more regularly.

As of a few days ago, I have been in Sydney for a year, barring those trips for TV stuff. Its weird, bu it doesn't feel that way. The stranger-in-a-strange-land disposition has not worn off yet. Apparently it takes a few years for that to disappear, if it ever does. Its not that I miss SA or yearn for the place, its just the feeling of not being at home. Having said that, every day I appreciate being here and marvel at how much I enjoy my surroundings. The quality of light and smell of the air from the ocean will be the backdrop for new memories and slowly it will become home.

A familiar scenario in our business

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2a8TRSgzZY&feature=player_embedded

New Website

I finally have some semblance of a new website. Still teething and trying to sort out speed issues, but we have lift off. www.janyon.com. Now to get cracking on some new content....

I am super chuffed to be one of the three winners of the Australian Head On Alternative Portrait Prize 2009. I made a total hash of the acceptance speech, but I dont think anybody cared. Photographers are used to seeing their commissioned work around, but it is cool to see your shot on World Art sites and Japanese photography sites. Cool.

http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_new=30609&int_sec=2

http://www.artknowledgenews.com/node?from=20

http://d-d-photographics.com/blog/index.php/2009/05/

So, in the 3 weeks or so since my last post, I've returned to Sydney, and then back to South Africa again for another TVC. This time its Mugg & Bean thats dragged me back, but at least this ones going ahead. I have clocked more airmiles this past year than the previous 5 years combined, and melatonin is now the drug of choice. Obviously there are no complaints, as work is work, but something that is becoming a bother is travelling with photo equipment.

I've noticed how inconsistent the rules of air travel are, and one check-in will let you through carrying a couple of extra kilos, while the next one is strict on the rules. Dont get me wrong, I understand that rules and aviation are a good thing, but apply them consistently, so we know where we stand.

Back to SA

Here I am back in Joburg to direct a TVC for Chicken Licken for Terraplane. (wherever I go the chicken finds me) Client cancelled the shoot the day I arrived. Not the best way to try out this flying back and forth for TV thing. Anyway..It was great to see all my family and friends. Its been good to see them and catch up.

While I'm here I'm shooting tons of stills for my food portfolio. I have got a bee in my bonnet about a direction that I wanna go as far as getting a more natural and organic feel to the images, to break away from the staid style of the previous stuff. I think it will just broaden the range of the book, and besides, its great to just hand hold a 35mm DSLR and shoot what you see. Also managed to grab some great portraits on the side...here's one for now.

what blog?

Jeez, I must be the worlds worst blogger. I suppose the idea of a talk-shit in cyberspace is still catching on with me, but I'm always hugely chuffed when I actually get to publish something. Been an annual quarter since my last post, and Christmas has come and gone...and forgotten. Been a busy start to the year, as the "Green Square' project was looming and I really wanted to give my best shot(s) to the project. Basically had to come up with a concept for a photograph involving something green and square, and roughly associated with urban redevelopment blah blah. I am hoping the spinoff will be good for starting my career in Sydney so I put my all into cracking it

Well, as the deadline got closer, the pressure grew more intense. Pressure mostly that I was putting on myself. I was agonizing over what my concept could be, probably overthinking the whole thing, but not wanting it to be a half -hearted effort. I took walking and cycling trips around the city looking for inspiration, and many hours of brainstorms with Pat, Gavin, and any other creatives and friends that would listen, until finally, with one week to go, it came to me in the shower..

The other image involved about a hundred polaroids and three days of different weather moods.
I had forgotten what a pain in the arse those little white paper tear offs that pull the poli out can be, we kept finding them everywhere! Really pleased with the result though.