Favourite Cactus

© Andrée Lawrey

Pure self-indulgence. I love that gentle green, the soft-looking texture of the leaves, those interlocking curves...

Alternatives at Abell's Kopi Tiam

Camogli at Dusk © Andrée Lawrey

Afternoon Silhouettes, Portofino  © Andrée Lawrey

Alternatives is an exhibition by three photographer friends – Lorna Sim, Susan Henderson and Andrée Lawrey – who enjoy experimenting with alternative capture and printing processes in our work.  We happily mix and match advanced digital cameras, medium format film, basic plastic cameras, traditional chemical printing processes, digital stitches and montages, retro phone camera apps and anything else we think of in our quest for evocative images.  While these processes are never an end in themselves, but only tools we use to craft our images, we have a lot of creative fun along the way.

This exhibition has been in the back of our minds at least since we were making cyanotypes together in 2010.  At that stage we were thinking purely in terms of alternative printing processes (cyanotype, Vandyke brown) but over time the concept evolved to reflect new directions in our work.  When we finally started selecting work for the exhibition, we found ourselves stretching the boundaries to include plastic cameras and modern, digital "alternatives" as well as cyanotypes and other traditional processes.

Susan is showing cyanotype and Vandyke prints – subtle, organic, ethereal still life studies of shells, feathers and flowers – with two jewel-like landscapes captured on medium format film with a Holga plastic camera.  Lorna has combined her hi-fi dance photography with lo-fi dream-like landscapes to create images with a strong, almost surreal mythological feeling.  And I am showing a selection from my iPhone in Italy series, which began as a light-hearted attempt to express my delight in a wonderful trip and somehow found its way onto my "personal best" list.

Lorna, Susan and I are very happy to present a selection of our favourite "alternatives" at Abell's Kopi Tiam restaurant in Furneaux Street, Manuka (ph. 6239 4199).  

Catching Up

On the Way to Portofino © Andrée Lawrey

I love January. It is the quietest month as summer settles in after the silly season. Suddenly there is time to catch up with sleep, friends, family, the backlog of half-sorted photos, unfinished projects, the blog (ahem!), travel plans and everything else that gets pushed aside during the busy times.

I am still sifting through my photographs from Italy. This pair were taken from the bus on the way to Portofino, on the last afternoon of the Liguria Within The Frame workshop.  I love the challenge of photographing from a moving vehicle – it is a lot of fun as well as a wonderful exercise in timing and composition – and wrote about it in my November 2011 Different Strokes article, here (on page 23 of Capital Image).

My last article for the year was Holiday Tasks (here, on page 13), which takes a light-hearted look at ways to keep some photography happening during the festive season when we don't really have time and energy to spare.

Twelve Months

Inspired by Susannah Conway and some of her blog friends, here is a review of my photographic year.

January

Near Guthega © Andrée Lawrey

A weekend Southside Camera Club excursion to Guthega, Kosciuszko National Park, NSW gave me a chance to test my legs on some easy mountain walks and prove I was fully recovered from past injuries.  I still grin with delight at the memory.

February

Sydney Reflection © Andrée Lawrey

Seen on the way to the Annie Leibovitz exhibition on a busy day trip to Sydney.

March

3 Yallourn Street, Fyshwick, ACT © Andrée Lawrey

Still working hard on the Fyshwick project.

April

Venice © Andrée Lawrey

Italia!  A joy, a delight and a photographic feast, including a wonderful tour with my friend Luiza and an excellent Within the Frame photo workshop with David duChemin and Jeffrey Chapman.  Special thanks to all concerned, old friends and new, for a delightful experience.  It's thanks to you that I'm still dreaming of Italy!

More of the iPhone in Italy series can be seen on my website.

May

Night Tree © Andrée Lawrey

Home again and having fun challenging the iPhone camera in tricky light.

June

40 Kembla Street © Andrée Lawrey

A gift!  Spotted at the very end of shooting for the Fyshwick exhibition.

July

Done at last!

August

Wired © Andrée Lawrey

Taking a break and playing around with the iPhone.

September

Squares, Bibo Café, Ballarat © Andrée Lawrey

I love this Ballarat café, with its retro décor, soft colours and hearty breakfasts.  The 2011 Ballarat International Foto Biennale was also a special treat.

October

Lamp, Benedict House © Andrée Lawrey

Benedict House is always a joy to visit.  We love the food and the photo opportunities in equal measure...

November

Favourite Cactus © Andrée Lawrey

Two splendid potted succulents guard the front door of PhotoAccess.  Sometimes I snatch a photo as I go by.  More often, I remind myself to go back when I have time to make some cactus portraits...

December

Kiln Reflection © Andrée Lawrey

A visit to the ANU School of Art brought some unexpected photo opportunities.  I particularly liked the fragmented reflections in the faceted surface of a kiln (I think it's a kiln) in the courtyard.

Have Cameras, Will Travel – the Art of Being There

Beach Huts Near Portofino © Andrée Lawrey

I had a wonderful time in Italy last April – not least on the Liguria Within the Frame workshop with David Duchemin, Jeffrey Chapman and a small group of committed photographers. I am still absorbing what I learned along the way – more on that and the workshop in future posts and/or articles – but my latest Different Strokes article talks about the core lesson: preparation is important, but being there is essential. You can find it here, in the July 2011 edition of Capital Image (page 25).