Jan 2nd
Happy New Year!!
Over the holiday break that is Christmas and New year, I take the chance to have a look back over my year in pictures. Every year one image will stand out. Sometimes it is an image that I took, sometimes it is one I’ve seen. This year it is one I was given. My favourite image from 2011 is very special to me because the first time I saw it was when I was taking it out of a fedex satchel on my 40th Birthday back in September. It is an image from one of my favourite photographers Sebastio Salgado. Besides just being an incredible portrait, I love this image because of the multiple meanings that it holds for me. The image is of a father and son, which instantly resonates with me because it was partly due to my father that I became a photographer, and now I have 3 budding photographers of my own. I also love this image because of the use of light – one of the things I like most to experiment with in photography. It is also a powerful image of people in a landscape, stirring in its simplicity – all stuff I love. But most notably, Salgado is one of a handful of famous photographers that provided me with inspiration in my early days in photography. Elliott Erwitt and Henri Cartier Bresson are also on this list. I looked at their stuff in awe, & it stirred a desire to capture the things I saw around me in that same ‘stop & feel it’ kind of way. Who am I kidding? The work of these guys still provides me with inspiration, and aspiration, today.
I love this image for all its meanings but mostly I love it because it reminds me that as much as i love being a photographer, it is not the most important job I have. The other special thing 2011 brought me was a poem that my eldest son Jackson gave me on Father’s Day, just a few days before my birthday (courtesy of his grade 2 teacher). I’ve reproduced it below. This poem + this image really helped ground me this year. 2011 was a year of ups & downs & challenges for almost everyone I spoke to. It is great to have a reminder that no matter what is going on in the world, the ones you love will see you through.
Walk a little slower Daddy
“Walk a little slower , Daddy” said a little child so small
I’m following in your footsteps and I don’t want to fall
Sometimes your steps are very fast, sometimes they’re hard to see
So walk a little slower Daddy, for you are leading me.
Someday when I’m all grown up. You’re what I want to be.
Then I will have a little child who’ll want to follow me.
And I would want to lead just right, and know that I was true,
So walk a little slower, Daddy, for I must follow you !
Nov 3rd
I woke up this morning and my weekend photography project had disappeared – loaded onto the back of a truck and taken to be recycled, dumped, buried, discarded. Little parts of people’s lives forming one large pile of rubble.
It had been council curbside collection week in our local area and as I carted our junk onto the footpath I couldn’t help but notice the buzz all this “junk” had created. People coming from everywhere to rummage through other people’s trash, marvelling at the treasures they discovered and carted away to serve a new life in someone else’s home. Amongst all this happening there was an underlying dimension that speaks volumes about people – it says much about who you are, who your neigbours are. What does what we throw away say about us? Couldn’t help myself, grabbed my camera & asked the questions.
Here are a few of the images, each one with a story to tell. You’ll find an old couch – how many stories would those chairs tell? What life did they bring to that family? The entire furnishings of a baby’s room – a new phase in the life of this family perhaps? A lone vacuum cleaner hose – what happened to the vaccuum that it belongs to? What of the image you will see of the disgarded beer and golfballs? The stories that could tell. Or maybe there is no story here. Just random pieces of various lives thrown on the sidewalk – a sad indictment to our disposable society.
For me curbside collection is like a cleanse – a fresh start, a change. So when I took these images I could not help but feel a sense of renewal in my neighboured, reinforced as I watched people load their new found treasures into the back of their car. Everything old is new again.
To view the complete gallery of “Found Treasure” click on the image.
Jul 25th
Each year we sponsor the Powerkidz program at the Brisbane Powerhouse. It’s a fantastic week of school holiday entertainment for the family and the perfect way to introduce your kids to all kinds of creative art. We usually just capture some of the fun & festivities. This year though, we wanted to go a step further an introduce kids to the fun of photography, so we enlisted the help of the team at In the Booth. Steve & his team set up a Photo Booth just near the Costumer Corner at Powerkidz and we just let the fun happen! There were some hilarious shots of kids in all sorts of costumes, and of some mums & dads too. Even Penny & my 3 boys couldn’t help to get in on the fun, although with boys they weren’t too keen on the costumes.
We’ve worked on a lot of weddings & events where In the Booth has provided the guests with hours of fun & entertainment at the reception. It really is a great way to have a little fun posing for the camera.
Thanks to In The Booth for helping us bring a little more fun to Powerkidz this year!
Jun 28th
Over the weekend thousands of photographers congregated on Sydney’s convention and exhibition center for the annual Australian Institute of Professional Photography Awards (AIPP) It’s certainly one of the most prestigious and also one of the toughest awards a photographer can enter.
Only a small number of GOLD awards are handed out each year and I’m very excited that Adam received one of them for his stunning image taken at a recent wedding here in Brisbane, at the Gallery of Modern Art, just as the bride is entering the wedding reception. Though hard to see at this size, I just love the expression and the eyes peaking over the glasses of the lady from gallery security about to say “You can’t photograph in here!”
Adam also received his double Masters of Photography, which is a pretty amazing achievement for a photographer who has only been a member of the AIPP for eight years. Congratulations Mr Finch.
Jun 9th
Well, here it is – Post number 2 on Russia that I promised. And YES there are people in Russia.
While I love photographing vast empty landscapes, I find that incorporating the human element in these scenes can add so much more to the story I’m wanting to tell. I do this in some of my wedding images where I include the couple as one element in the surrounds they have chosen for their wedding. Both compliment each other to create a more dramatic story.
So here is a bit more of the story of my Russian experience. By the way, did I mention it was COLD, really, really cold.
I don’t usually find myself on the other side of the camera lens, but sometimes it just happens. And well, I REALLY took to Russia. Here are my before & after shots from the trip.
Before: The Serious Photographic Artist After: My alter-ego vodka-swilling Russian version of myself. Za Vas!
Jun 3rd
Russia is one of the largest countries on the planet, as I found out first hand traveling across from St Petersburg in the west all the way to the other side in the far east. It’s an incredible place to visit, with so much to capture I’ve split the post in two, the first showing a few of the landscapes and the second a few people scapes .
Bringing photography to life
Describes what we do. This blog is about exactly that - here we will share a little of our life and a lot of what we love - people, art and photography. Whether you are planning a wedding, a family portrait or building your own professional photography business, I hope you find something to inspire you here. Thank you for visiting.
- Marcus Bell | Brisbane, Australia
